The first official practice session of the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours started at 2:30pm. Since the beginning of the week, the weather has been unsettled and quite cold in the Eifel Mountains where we have even had snow showers between periods of sunshine… The N°6 Aston Martin Vantage (Young Driver AMR), the N°2 Audi R8 LMS (Phoenix Racing) and the N°20 BMW Z4 GT3 (Team Schubert) all took turns at the top of the timesheet before the Michelin-equipped Porsches started to take control. With half an hour remaining, the N°11 Porsche/Michelin GT3-R (Wochenspiegel Team Manthey) of Lieb/Dumas/Luhr/Lietz posted a time of 8m35.460s. Then, with just five minutes to go, the N°27 Timbuli Racing Porsche 997 GT3-R/Michelin (Hennerici/Seefried/Busch/Siedler) improved by four seconds with a lap of 8m31.058s round the 25.378km circuit. The last flying lap of the N°2 Audi R8 LMS/Michelin (Fassler/Mies/Rast/Stippler) clinched the second best time (8m’35.459s), while the N°20 BMW Z4 GT3 (Hürtgen/Schwager/Bastian/Adorf) ended the session in fourth place, ahead of the N°3 Audi R8 LMS ultra/Michelin (Team Phoenix Racing). The N°6 Aston Martin Vantage was sixth and the N°65 Mercedes SLS AMGT (Hankook-Team Heico) was seventh. This afternoon’s top 10 features six different car makes. The drivers will go back out this evening at 7:30pm for the first qualifying session.

The best place to start is probably with last year’s winning team Manthey Racing which will have Holzer/Tandy/Bergmeister/Long in the N°10 Porsche/Michelin, while the N°11 sister car will be in the hands of the German make’s four factory stars (Lieb/Lietz/Dumas/Luhr). The N°12 Porsche 997 GT3 MR will be shared by Weiss/Kainz/Jacobs/Krumbach and Haribo Racing Team has recruited Menzel/Collard/Stursberg/Riegel to drive the N°8 Porsche GT3 R. Audi’s ranks feature Fassler/Mies/Rast/Stippler (N°2) and Basseng/Haase/Stippler/Winkelhock (N°3) at Phoenix Racing, while the interests of Team WRT (Audi N°4) will be defended by Jarvis/Sandström/Piccini/Simonsen. Raeder Motorsport’s Audi Ultra (N°9) will be raced by Biela/Hohenadel/Ludwig/Mutsch. BMW Team Schubert has enlisted the services of BMW experts Müller/Müller/Alzen/Adorf for the N°19 car, whereas Pedro Lamy will be in the N°18 Z4 GT3 entered by Vita4One Racing. Black Falcon also has an impressive squad for the N°15 Mercedes SLS AMG, namely Edwards/Bleekemolen/Metzger/Schall. F1 ‘veteran’ Nick Heidfeld will be in the Gemballa-run McLaren and Marc VDS will be represented by Belgium’s Leinders/Paltala/Martin (BMW Z4 GT3). The former DTM champion Bernd Schneider has found a seat in the N°65 Mercedes, while Haribo Racing will run a Corvette for the American brand’s factory trio: Westbrook/Milner/Magnussen.

This year, it is the Nürburgring’s turn to host the first 24-hour race of the European calendar and the event’s organisers have attracted a quality entry which includes the majority of Germany’s carmakers. The 2011 Spa 24 Hours-winning Audi R8 LMS will be targeting victory after three consecutive podiums finishes. Audi Sport Team Phoenix and Audi Race Experience will each have two Michelin-equipped ‘ultra’ versions of the car, but the brand will also be represented by Speedhunters Team WRT, Raeder Motorsport and Mamerow Racing. Porsche has won five of the past six visits to the Eiffel Mountains thanks to Manthey Racing which is looking after three Michelin-equipped 997 GT3 R/MRs this year. There is an incredible number Porsches entered for the race, but the Stuttgart-based firm faces a fierce fight with the different Audis, as well as with the efficient BMW Z4 GT3s tended by Vita4One Racing Team, Team Schubert and Marc VDS Racing. There will also be a number of Mercedes SLS AMG GT3s (Black Falcon, Rowe Racing), the car which came close to springing a surprise in 2011. Other top cars include the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 (Young Driver AMR), the McLaren MP4-12C (Gemballa Racing, Dörr Motorsport), the factory-run Nissan GT-R and the two Peugeot RCZs entered in the SP2T class. Action starts with Thursday evening’s qualifying practice session (7:30pm), although festivities are due to kick off on Wednesday with the ADAC’s FanFestival.

While his former team-mate Stéphane Sarrazin is busy giving the new Peugeot 208 R2 rally car its first public appearance in Corsica this weekend, Franck Montagny will be in the USA for the third round of the American Le Mans Series, at Laguna Seca, where he will be able to familiarise himself with the HPD-ARX03b he will race at Le Mans. The two former team-mates in the N°8 Peugeot will be competitors at Le Mans, in the LMP2 class, in June: Sarrazin in the Starworks Motorsport HPD-ARX03b and Montagny in an identical car entered by the Level 5 Motorsport. Franck’s first test in the car yesterday at Laguna Seca went well, since the N°95 Level 5 prototype was accredited with the second fastest lap behind the Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD-ARX03a (LMP1). The nine drivers who represented Peugeot last year have now all found drives: Alex Wurz and Anthony Davidson have been snapped up by Toyota (the Briton is testing the hybrid prototype car at the moment in Aragon); Marc Gené is Audi’s reserve driver and won last weekend’s Spa 6 Hours; Sarrazin and Montagny will race in the LMP2 class at Le Mans; Sébastien Bourdais and Nicolas Minassian will share Pescarolo Team’s Dome 102.5; after racing at Sebring with Muscle Milk, Simon Pagenaud has switched to IndyCar; Pedro Lamy was also at Sebring (with Larbre Compétition) and has an endurance racing programme with BMW (including the Nürburgring 24 Hours).

All four Audis, the JRM-run HPD-ARX03a, Rebellion Racing’s two Lola-Toyotas and the OAK Racing cars spent much of Monday lapping at Spa where the weather was just as poor as it was last weekend. Audi used the day to perfect its pit-stop routine, simulate problem scenarios and practice changing different parts on its cars. The objective for JRM and Rebellion was to evaluate a selection of suspension and aero set-ups for Le Mans where they stand to earn double WEC points. The WEC is provisionally topped by Romain Dumas and Loïc Duval (43 points) who came second at Sebring and won at Spa. McNish, Kristensen and Capello follow on 41 points, while three-time Spa winner Marc Gené has scored 25 points. Audi drivers monopolise the top 10 places, and the brand itself tops the LMP standings with 52 points. In the Manufacturers’ LMGTE World Cup, Porsche (68 points) enjoys an advantage of one point over Ferrari. Corvette (30) is third after notching up eight points in Belgium thanks to the performance of Larbre Compétition. In the different Trophies, Rebellion Racing has a four-point cushion over Strakka Racing in LMP1, while JRM is a further six points behind. Pescarolo Team led after Sebring but failed to score at Spa since its nominated car did not start the race. OAK Racing was also deprived of points last Saturday when suspension failure halted the run of its N°15 car with three minutes remaining! In LMP2, newcomers ADR-Delta emerged in front thanks to a grand slam display at Spa (victory + pole). OAK Racing is five points behind, while the USA’s Starworks Motorsport is seven points adrift after picking up just four points last weekend. In the LMGTE Pro Trophy, AF Corse and Felbermayr-Proton are exactly level on 43 points. Luxury Racing (16) and Aston Martin Racing (15) follow in third and fourth places. The ‘Amateur’ classification is led by Felbermayr-Proton which has gone 14 points clear of Larbre Compétition. Imsa-Performance won at Spa but is not registered for the WEC. Audi dominates the provisional MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge standings. AF Corse is third overall and first in the GT class.

Hiroaki has been suffering from back pains resulting from the high G-forces produced by today’s LMP1 prototypes. After taking medical advice, he has decided not to contest the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours: “It was a hard decision because I have always dreamed of racing at Le Mans. However, I do not feel physically fit enough to drive an LMP1 car this year. Instead, I will focus on my Super GT programme and on the Nürburgring 24 Hours.”

The news was officially announced by Toyota Racing this morning, although no replacement has been named. Italy’s Andrea Caldarelli is the squad’s Junior Driver but it is unclear whether he will be called in to join Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi.

After a long pause in its development programme following Nicolas Lapierre’s crash at the beginning of April, the Toyota TS030 Hybrid was back in action for a test at Magny-Cours, France, last week. Lapierre and Alexander Wurz completed 81 laps during the first day.

The programme is continuing with a single chassis which is expected to be at Le Mans for the official pre-race test day on June 3. Another chassis is in the process of being built in time for the French race.

Although the track was wet for the start of the 6 Hours of Spa, it had stopped raining and a dry line soon began to appear once the competition started: “I could feel the car moving more and more on my wet weather tyres,” reported Marc Gené who achieved back-to-back victories in Belgium after his success with Peugeot in 2011. “I consequently decided to fit ‘intermediate slicks’ when I made my first stop.” The three other Audis completed a second stint on ‘intermediates’ but were slower than the N°3 car which moved decisively into the lead at around the two-hour mark. The Felbermayr-Proton Porsche team went for the same plan: “The car was difficult to drive to begin, but then my wet weather tyres got up to temperature and it was fantastic,” related Richard Lietz. “That said, the conditions were drying quickly and we were losing ground to the Ferraris. I asked the team to bring forward my pit stop to fit medium-compound slicks. It was a good choice. At the end of the race, we managed to complete a stint-and-a-half thanks to the durability of our Michelin tyres, and that enabled to do a splash-and-dash stop at the finish.” The N°77 Porsche won the LMGTE Pro class by a margin of four-tenths of a second over the N°51 AF Corse Ferrari. The N°71 ‘sister’ Ferrari started on ‘full wets’, which proved an ill-founded option since the weather conditions improved relatively quickly.

Unsurprisingly, Audi dominated the second round of the 2012 WEC with its two new prototypes. Despite the appalling weather, the diesel-fuelled Audi ultra and the hybrid diesel/electric e-tron quattro got their respective careers of to a flying start at Spa. The race got off to a wet start after heavy showers fell overnight and during the morning. The rain then stopped, however, and the track gradually dried, allowing the drivers to trade their wet weather tyres for ‘intermediates’ and, ultimately, for slicks. On Lap 3, André Lotterer (N°1 Audi e-tron quattro) succeeded in passing Allan McNish in the pole-winning N°2 Audi. Two hours’ later, it was the turn of Loïc Duval (N°3 Audi ultra) to emerge in front, and his team-mates Marc Gené and Romain Dumas went on to defend their lead until the chequered flag. The N°2 Audi was delayed by a headlight problem but it made amends by winning the MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge. While the four factory Audis dominated at the sharp end of the leaderboard, the ‘petrol’ runners delivered by interesting battle which ended in a one-two triumph for Rebellion Racing. Jani/Prost/Heidfeld (N°12 Lola-Toyota) crossed the line ahead of their team-mates Belicchi/Primat and Strakka Racing’s HPD-ARX03a. The Dome S102.5 of Bourdais/Minassian looked competitive until it encountered trouble with its electrics. In LMGTE Pro, the N°77 Porsche/Michelin of Lieb/Lietz managed to keep the chasing Ferrari 458s of AF Corse (N°51) and Luxury Racing (N°59) at bay. Porsche and Michelin also won the LMGTE Am class thanks to the N°67 Imsa-Performance-Matmut car of Narac/Armindo/Pons. The LMP2 victory went to the Jota team’s N°38 Zytek which came out on top of its thrilling fight with the N°25 ADR-Delta Oreca03-Nissan.

Loïc Duval brilliantly double-stinted on Michelin slicks and succeeded in passing fellow-Frenchman Benoît Tréluyer (N°1 Audi) in gradually drying conditions shortly before 5:00pm. Duval then handed over to Romain Dumas who survived being blocked exiting the pit-lane (safety car on the track) to hold on to first place and even pull further clear. The N°2 Audi is third despite suffering a headlight problem early on. The ‘petrol prototype’ category is led by Nicolas Prost (N°12 Rebellion) who is fifth overall, ahead of the Strakka Racing HPD-ARX03a and the Dome S102.5. These cars also switched to slick tyres, while the Rebellion Lola-Toyotas are all running triple-stint strategies. In LMGTE Pro, Marc Lieb has handed the N°77 Porsche/Michelin Felbermayr-Proton to Richard Lietz who continues to lead the class ahead of the battling N°51 (AF Corse) and N°59 (Luxury racing) Ferrari 458 AFs. The LMGTE runners are also in slicks now, and Raymond Narac (N°67 Porsche) is continuing the good work of his team-mates Nicolas Armindo and Anthony Pons to top the order in the ‘Am’ class ahead of the N°88 Porsche.