The ‘Grello’ driven by Ayhancan Güven and factory drivers Thomas Preining and Kévin Estre led the endurance classic on the 25.378-kilometre traditional circuit for long stretches. With Dinamic GT’s 911 in sixth place and Falken Motorsports’ number 44 in eighth, two more Porsches were able to hold their own in the top 10 at eight o’clock in the morning.
A curious interruption marked the start of this year’s 24-hour race: at 17:30 – after a good 90 minutes of action on the combination of the original Grand Prix circuit and the around 20-kilometre Nordschleife – the power supply in the pit building broke down. This meant that, among other things, the fuel pumps were no longer working. When the race resumed at around 20:00 after a two-and-a-half-hour break, Kévin Estre took the lead again in the Manthey EMA Porsche. In midsummer conditions with tarmac temperatures of up to 56 degrees, the Frenchman and his co-drivers Ayhancan Güven from Turkey and Thomas Preining from Austria dictated the action with a flawless performance throughout the shortest night of the year. The trio started the race from pole position in front of what was probably a record-breaking crowd.
At the time of the restart, the two Falken Porsche were in second and tenth position with Belgian Alessio Picariello ahead of German Dennis Marschall. Daan Arrow from the Netherlands in twelfth place maintained the lead in the Pro-Am classification for Black Falcon. His compatriot Loek Hartog in the Dinamic GT Porsche followed in 15th place, with Canadian Steven Cho in the Hankook Competition 911 GT3 R in 19th.
After two thirds of the race, the number 54 Porsche from Dinamic GT was in seventh position. Former Porsche Junior Bastian Buus from Denmark, Matteo Cairoli from Italy, Dutchman Loek Hartog and German Joel Sturm the reigning FIA Endurance Trophy title defender – also delivered a largely faultless performance in the first 16 hours. As runner-up in the Pro-Am classification within the SP9 top class, the nine-eleven from Black Falcon finished 14th, although a high-pressure fuel pump had to be replaced. In addition to Arrow, German Ben Bünnagel, Mustafa Mehmet Kaya from Turkey and Italian Gabriele Piana drive the number 48 car, followed one place behind by the 911 GT3 R from Hankook Competition with Cho, Marco Holzer from Germany, Recardo Bruins from the Netherlands and South Korean Jongkyum Kim.
For Falken’s number 33, the race came to an end after 23 laps at just after 22:00: The race car, which was in second place at the time, collided in turn 2 with a Cup Porsche behind a blind corner. This car had been turned round by another competitor and blocked the racing line. The collision meant the end of the race for local hero Nico Menzel, Alessio Picariello and the two former Porsche Juniors Julian Andlauer and Sven Müller. The sister car came to a halt on the “Döttinger Höhe” at around 8:20 am on Sunday morning. As a result, Marschall, Dorian Boccolacci (France), Morris Schuring (Netherlands) and Tim Heinemann (Germany) were also eliminated from the battle for top positions.
“The Manthey EMA Porsche continued to show its strength during the night, drove smooth stints and found a good rhythm – so far a very clean race without any mistakes or penalties. Now we’ll see how the final of this 24-hour race develops,” explains Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R. “The guys in the Dinamic GT Porsche also completed their laps flawlessly. Unfortunately, we experienced a few unlucky moments with Team Falken. They were able to push and had a very good pace, the choice of tire compounds always matched the asphalt temperatures. On the way to the front, however, Julien Andlauer got caught out. He collided with another car that he couldn’t see. We now have to analyse the retirement of the second car.”
Like the equally long race in Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), the 12 Hours of Bathurst (Australia), the 1,000 kilometres of Suzuka (Japan) and the 8-hour race in Indianapolis (USA), the 24-hour endurance classic in the Eifel region is part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. Porsche won the manufacturers’ title in this unofficial GT3 World Championship in 2024.
The 24-hour race live on TV and streaming
The official race website offers a free live stream and live timing at www.24h-rennen.de/live/. The track announcers also provide the numerous fans at the circuit with up-to-date information at all times via Radio Nürburgring on the FM frequency 87.7 MHz.
Drivers’ comments after the second third of the race
Ayhancan Güven (Porsche 911 GT3 R #911): “I drove into the sunset and sunrise – that was really something special. Unfortunately, some Code 60 zones caught me on the wrong foot. That cost us some time. The most important thing was not to make any mistakes, even in the early morning, when concentration wanes. Our nine-eleven works perfectly. However, we had to adjust to the changing temperatures. It gets pretty hot again in the last few hours of the race.”
Bastian Buus (Porsche 911 GT3 R #54): “We’ve done quite well so far and haven’t made any mistakes. Thanks also to the problems of other teams, we are continuously improving our position. With all the fans, the lights and the fireworks, it was great to drive in the dark. The night is fun when you don’t have to worry about rain or changing conditions and you can rely on it being dry everywhere.”
Gabriele Piana (Porsche 911 GT3 R #48): “Our pace is good and I’m having a lot of fun on the track. But unfortunately a technical problem set us back almost half an hour and since then our race has just been an extended test drive. Because it’s our first year with the Porsche 911 GT3 R, we’re now concentrating on learning.”
Steven Cho (Porsche 911 GT3 R #55): “It could be better, but it could also be worse. We are contesting the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring for the first time and are taking it easy because we want to learn above all. To be honest, our Porsche and the tires harmonised better than initially expected. The night went completely smoothly. Our Porsche is running like clockwork, which is really positive.”
Interim status around 8:00 in the morning:
1. Estre/Güven/Preining (FRA/TUR/AUT), Porsche 911 GT3 R #911, Manthey EMA, 90 laps
2. Farfus/Krohn/Marciello/van der Linde (BRA/FIN/ITA/DEU), BMW #98, +28.242 seconds
3. Perel/Fernandez/Jefferies/Neubauer (ZAF/GER/ZIM/FRA), Ferrari 296 GT3 #45, +1.03.614s
7. Buus/Cairoli/Hartog/Sturm (DEN/ITA/NLD/DEU), Porsche 911 GT3 R #54, Dinamic GT, -1 lap
8. Boccolacci/Heinemann/Marschall/Schuring (FRA/DEU/DEU/NLD), Porsche 911 GT3 R #44, Falken Motorsports, -1 lap
14. Arrow/Bünnagel/Kaya/Piana (NLD/DEU/TUR/ITA), Porsche 911 GT3 R #48, Black Falcon, -3 laps
15. Bruins/Kim/Holzer/Cho (NLD/KOR/DEU/CDN), Porsche 911 GT3 R #55, Hankook Competition, -3 laps
Current live timing at https://livetiming.azurewebsites.net/events/50/results