One of the most fiercely contested races for years ended with victory for Porsche, just ahead of the chasing pack of BMWs and Audis.
This year’s N24 lived up to its fearsome reputation as one of the world’s most punishing racetracks in an extremely close contest that saw the Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 RSR hold off last year’s winner to secure the title.
The top four cars, which included two Audi R8 LMS cars, and a BMW M3 GT, all managed to beat last year’s record of 154 laps of the winding Nordschleife circuit, and there were plenty of close overtakes and spectacular crashes to keep the 220,000 strong crowd entertained.
All the German brands had a strong presence, with BMW, Audi and Porsche all well represented, and VW celebrated 35 years of the Golf GTI by entering three specially prepared ‘Golf 24’ cars – each boasting a 450bhp version of the 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine from the Audi RS3. Also entered in the S3 class were two natural-gas Sciroccos which remained competitive throughout.
Only one of the Golfs finished the race though, after one suffered gearbox failure and Italian DTM rookie Edoardo Mortara was the victim of a nasty pit lane incident and had to be taken to hospital.
Once again, it was a fiercely attritional race, with almost all the competitors bearing heavy battle scars and broken bodywork as the sun came up on Sunday morning. A Farnbacher Ferrari 458 that had been leading the race dropped to 68th place before storming back up the field to finish in 8th place.
Two BMWs – a classic 318s and Z4 GT – ended up flipping over the barriers around the track and into the catch fencing, but luckily none of the crashes were quite as fearsome as the two high-speed incidents at Le Mans this year.
British drivers were well represented too, with EVO Magazine’s Chris Harris and John Barker both finishing inside the top thirty runners, in a Cup-spec Porsche 911 GT3 and an Audi R8 V10 respectively.
Meanwhile the Aston Martin V12 Zagato driven by EVO's Richard Meaden – which only made its official debut in production form at the Ville d'Este Concours event last month – was taken out in yet another pit lane accident, and fell back to a lowly 134th place finish.
The top four cars, which included two Audi R8 LMS cars, and a BMW M3 GT, all managed to beat last year’s record of 154 laps of the winding Nordschleife circuit, and there were plenty of close overtakes and spectacular crashes to keep the 220,000 strong crowd entertained.
All the German brands had a strong presence, with BMW, Audi and Porsche all well represented, and VW celebrated 35 years of the Golf GTI by entering three specially prepared ‘Golf 24’ cars – each boasting a 450bhp version of the 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine from the Audi RS3. Also entered in the S3 class were two natural-gas Sciroccos which remained competitive throughout.
Only one of the Golfs finished the race though, after one suffered gearbox failure and Italian DTM rookie Edoardo Mortara was the victim of a nasty pit lane incident and had to be taken to hospital.
Once again, it was a fiercely attritional race, with almost all the competitors bearing heavy battle scars and broken bodywork as the sun came up on Sunday morning. A Farnbacher Ferrari 458 that had been leading the race dropped to 68th place before storming back up the field to finish in 8th place.
Two BMWs – a classic 318s and Z4 GT – ended up flipping over the barriers around the track and into the catch fencing, but luckily none of the crashes were quite as fearsome as the two high-speed incidents at Le Mans this year.
British drivers were well represented too, with EVO Magazine’s Chris Harris and John Barker both finishing inside the top thirty runners, in a Cup-spec Porsche 911 GT3 and an Audi R8 V10 respectively.
Meanwhile the Aston Martin V12 Zagato driven by EVO's Richard Meaden – which only made its official debut in production form at the Ville d'Este Concours event last month – was taken out in yet another pit lane accident, and fell back to a lowly 134th place finish.
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