Weekend Recap: Phoenix Audi Wins Nürburgring 24
Results from last weekend's 50th edition of Nürburgring 24...
Audi Sport Team Phoenix won the 50th edition of the Nürburgring 24, defeating Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed in a race that was decided by changing conditions in the later stages.
The No. 15 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II driven by Kelvin van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, Frederic Vervisch and Robin Frijns took the checkered flag and were declared the winners after a tense ending in which their entry’s final pit stop was placed under investigation.
Phoenix spent the early stages trailing both TF Sport and ROWE Racing’s No. 98 BMW M4 GT3 after Vanthoor continued following contact with his brother Laurens at Tiergarten.
The two cars made side-by-side contact which pitched the No. 1 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R into a spin before hitting the barrier hard, ending the race for the defending winners.
The No. 15 Audi, however, carried on and was able to assume the lead as night fell when both TF Sport and ROWE Racing were eliminated in quick succession.
First, Nicki Thiim crashed out of the lead in the No. 90 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 at Galgenkopf around seven hours in. It was suspected that the Dane came across an oil patch on track, which caused the car to slide off the track and into the left-side barrier.
Moments later, Sheldon van der Linde experienced a high-speed crash when his BMW suffered a suspected failure between Bergwerk and Kesselchen, which pitched the car hard into the barriers and eliminated it on the spot.
The No. 15 Audi inherited the lead with the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Adam Christodoulou, Maximilian Goetz and Fabian Schiller moving into second, thus setting up the primary battle for the remainder of the Eifel classic.
Read the Full Report on Sportscar365
Phoenix Keeps Win After Pit Stop Infraction; Handed Fine
BMW ‘Disappointed’ After Not Converting Speed to Results
Vanthoor Brothers Have “No Hard Feelings” After Crash
SP9 Battling Resulted In “Really Wild” Opening Phase
GetSpeed: “Wrong Decision” on Tire Choice Dashed Merc Hopes