Audi Takes First 1-2 Win in Nürburgring 24 Hours

AudiAudiGermany, 1909 > present83 models
8213 photos
27 videos
had a fantastic motorsports weekend. Not only did Mike Rockenfeller put his A5 DTMAudi A5 DTMGermany, 2012 > present12 photos
in third at the DTM race at Brands Hatch, Audi took its first ever win at the Nürburgring 24 Hours taking first and second place with its customer R8 LMS UltraAudi R8 LMS UltraGermany, 2012 > present6 photos
race cars in front of 235,000 spectators. 

The Audi Sport Team Phoenix who also race in the DTM was the winning team. The winning car was driven by Marc Basseng, Christopher Haase, Frank Stippler and Markus Winkelhock. The Team Mamerow Racing Audi was in second driven by Christian Abt, Michael Ammermüller, Armin Hahne and Christian Mamerow. The Hankook Team Heico Mercedes SLS AMG GT3Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3Germany, 2011 > present19 photos
with Christiaan Simonsen, Andreas Kaffer, Pierre Arnold and Lance David took third. BMW's customer carsBMW Z4 GT3Germany, 2010 > present7 photos
finished just off the podium with its highest car in fourth and three other cars in the top 10. 

"It was a massive show and a great atmosphere. The competition was very strong and the cars were at a high level. To be at the very top at the finish is obviously amazing because things didn’t run so sweetly to start. Qualifying wasn’t perfect and we weren’t so good in the opening hours. Today you saw just what can happen in 24 hours," said winning driver Markus Winklehock.

The end of the race was exciting for other teams as well, when the Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R pulled off the track after crossing the finish line with 10 seconds to go in the race. The team did not have enough fuel to complete another full lap. It appears that the Renault ClioRenault Clio Gen.3 [III]France, 2005 > 2012184 versions
229 photos
1 video
behind the Porsche did not know about this strategy and slammed into the back of the car spraying debris across the start/finish line as the 24 hour race was ending. 

Here is a video of the incident. 

The top 11 cars all came from the SP9 GT3 class, and the best placing car outside of that class was the Ferrari P4/5Ferrari P4/5 by PininfarinaItaly, 2006 > present1 photo
in 12th place. The Gazoo Racing Toyota GT-86Toyota GT 86Japan, 2012 > present9 photos
won the SP3 class. The factory-entered Subaru WRXSubaru Impreza WRX Limited Japan, 2010 > present1 photo
won the SP3T class, and the Toyota Swiss Racing Team won the V3 class in a GT-86. 

You can view a complete list of the winners here.