Audi bags overall victory in 50th Nürburgring 24 Hours with R8 LMS cars

MANILA: Audi has won the 50th Nürburgring 24 Hours after the German carmaker's team endured overtaking challenges and a finale with rain showers. 

Audi Sport Team Phoenix race drivers Robin Frijns, Kelvin van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor and Frédéric Vervisch celebrated victory with the Audi R8 LMS.

Overall, they brought the "sixth overall victory in a decade for Audi," the company said. At the 50th Nürburgring 24 Hours, Audi saw three more R8 LMS cars finish in the top 10.

“This victory has a special meaning, because strong nerves were required in the changing conditions, especially during the final hours – from the drivers on the track, as well as from the mechanics, engineers and strategists in the pits. The fact that fans were finally allowed at the track again and turned this race weekend into one big party makes the success particularly valuable," Audi Sport Customer Racing Head Chris Reinke expressed. 

The 50th Nürburgring 24 Hours saw Audi's number 15 car finish 159 laps, equal to the record set by Audi in 2014. The Team Phoenix teammates started the race from 22nd position on the grid, did not incur any penalties and avoided any major accidents for the entire duration of the race.

During brief but heavy rain showers at some areas on the track in the final hours of the race, the team made the right tire selections. For van der Linde, Vanthoor and Vervisch, it is their second 24-hour victory with Audi and the first success for Frijns. The Phoenix squad led by Ernst Moser has won the race for the fourth time with Audi.

The triumph of the four rings on the Nordschleife was completed by the other Audi R8 LMS cars in the field. Christopher Haase, Nico Müller, Patric Niederhauser and René Rast narrowly missed the podium with fourth place.

Meanwhile, the quartet from Audi Sport Team Car Collection had a promising second-row start and field position in their R8. Despite their race pace, two-time penalties set the number 22 squad at the back of the grid and becoming too far from the leading group during the final hours of the race.

Two other Audi R8 LMS cars managed to make it into the top 10 overall: Michele Beretta, Kuba Giermaziak, Kim-Luis Schramm and Markus Winkelhock in the car from Scherer Sport Team Phoenix finished fifth. The number 24 car from the Lionspeed by Car Collection Motorsport team, with Mattia Drudi, Patrick Kolb, Christopher Mies and Patric Niederhauser sharing the cockpit, finished in sixth place.

The sister car from Lionspeed by Car Collection Motorsport, with Dennis Fetzer, Klaus Koch, Dennis Marschall and Simon Reicher, finished 13th. The number 5 car from Scherer Sport Team Phoenix, shared by Ricardo Feller, Kelvin van der Linde, Vincent Kolb and Frank Stippler, was the only one of a total of seven Audi R8 LMS cars that had to retire early after van der Linde collided with a lapped car during the night.

Success also for the Twin Busch by équipe vitesse team, which competed in the Pro-Am classification with Elia Erhart, Michael Heimrich, Pierre Kaffer and Arno Klasen, and finished 14th overall. The Audi RS 3 LMS from the Max Kruse Racing team, which competed in the fiercely contested TCR class, was forced to retire after an accident in the morning.

Photos from Audi 

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