Nurburgring 24hr race – Through the Field, first 6 hours

#40 Aston before even being able to take the start, seen stopped in the middle of the track at Hohenrain.
The second group took the green flag in quite a muddled order, the KTM dropping behind the Hyundai before getting the power back down; however a clear lead was being built up for the alternatively fuelled #320 Porsche.
Not a good start for Niels Borum’s SP8T BMW, coming into the pits at the end of the pace lap.

Group three went five wide on the GP loop, but was lead onto the Nordschleife by the Subaru WRX.
The two Dorr motorsport Lamborghini Trofeos got a little too close for comfort, with one of them spinning into the dust.
Transmission issues for one of the favourites in SP10, Mathol’s Mercedes AMG – a lengthy pit call early in the race.

FAMILIA racing’s Kevin Warum was involved with Haupt’s Mercedes; the incident bought out the slow zones at Döttinger Höhe, which encouraged several of the leaders into the pits.
Proom Racing’s Cayman spun and continued at Tiergarten

The #123 Toyota Thailand Corolla out on track, smoking and leaking oil – the following cars having to take it incredibly careful.

The first hour neared it’s end and the #92 Opel Astra needed rescuing from the gravel on the exit of the GP loop – Roberto Barin in the SP4 BMW braked for the slow zone, Fässler in the BWT Audi did not and contact was made.

Hour 1 class leaders
SP7 #61 Tim Scheerbarth Porsche 911 25th Overall
SP8T #190 Bernd Schneider Mercedes AMG GT4 29th
AT #320 Daniel Schellhaas Porsche 911 38th
CupX #203 Arne Hoffmeister KTM X-Bow 40th
SP8 #46 Walter Csaba Porsche 911 41st
TCR #831 Peter Terting Hyundai 46th
SP3T #90 Carlo Van Dam Subaru WRX 48th

The top 3 in the BMW Cup class were covered by less than a second with Yannick Fübrich in #242 leading
#138 Stephan Köhler had a healthy 40 second lead as top production car (99th overall)

Retirement on the spot for the #718 Cayman – hitting the barrier and spilling oil and coolant everywhere just before Hatzenbach.

We saw a replay of the #40 Aston Martin high wide and definitely not handsome, really kicking up the dust and grass trying to tame the green hell.

The TJ Racng Opel Calibra & 124 & #254 BMW Cup had a coming together on the Quiddelbacher Höhe bringing out a lengthy caution.

#124 TJ Racing Opel Calibra (Jenichen/Weinstock/Bulgrin/Boidron) Image © Sam Pierce @CLRSam

The sad sight of the Manta Foxtail being worked on in the pits was next, without much work being done…
At the end of two hours, six production class cars had worked their way into the top 100
88th #136 Mathol Racing Porsche Cayman
92nd #144 Pixum Team Porsche Cayman
93rd #138 Black Falcon Porsche 991
94th #146 GTronix Porsche Cayman
96th #143 Pixum Team Porsche Cayman
97th #133 Pixum Porsche Cayman

#147 Hofor BMW was attacked by Norbert Siedler’s SP9 Porsche at Brünnchen, both skating into the barriers.

#147 Hofor Racing BMW E36 (Glenn/Halse/Marcos/Lyons) Image © Sam Pierce @CLRSam

The #41 Audi R8 GT4, leading the SP8 class able to set lap times below 9 minutes – easily in the top 50 3 hours into the race; Nicolaj Møller Madsen waiting in the pits for his turn behind the wheel.

#236 TCR Opel hit the barrier in a big way at Hatzenbach, knocking a wheel off which continued down the hill – one of the SP9 Mercedes having to brake heavily in avoidance.
The driver was able to get out uninjured but slightly winded.

#92 Opel Astra had to be taken back to the paddock to try and complete repairs while the #46 FAMILIA Porsche was seen with a puncture on the Döttinger Höhe

The TCR class leading #831 Hyundai of Nicola Larini had to come in to the garage for what looked like a leak from the engine bay.

Wayne Moore was busy trying to recover from the earlier delays in the #49 BMW 335i but the car was clearly not in rude health – hardly able to lap below 11 minutes.

Xavier Maassen was really pushing hard in the #55 Prosport Porsche, chasing hard for 2nd in SP7 – 15 seconds faster than the number #58 ahead and actually keeping pace with some of the SP9 cars coming round to pass.
Then the leader of the SP7 class #57 Gigaspeed Porsche with a tyre gone & front end damage at Pflanzgarten.

More trouble for Toyota Thailand #123 – smoke pouring out of the car as it trundles along the track.
Meanwhile, the #92 Opel Astra was having a change of engine.

As the clock approached 6 hours into the race, the #40 Aston Martin with Peter Cate behind the wheel was seen stopped at Brünnchen, the car already well down the order due to a fuel pickup problem.

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