Manthey To The Fore At The N24 Quarter Mark

There are now 18 hours remaining of the 2019 Nürburgring 24. We’ve reached the quarter mark, and Manthey Racing’s #911 Porsche 911 GT3 R is leading the way.

The fifth and sixth hours of this one were thrillers, with an eye-opening battle for the lead and plenty of incidents up and down the field.

It all started with further bad news for BMW, the retirement of another M6 GT3, and later several other class leaders hit trouble too, including the iconic Kissling Motorsport Opel Manta!

But the highlight of the evening was an astonishing pass for the lead, on the grass, on Dottinger Hohe, from Kevin Estre in the #911 during Hour 6.

There was another fine SP9 battle underway at the top of the fifth hour, for 20th position. The #39 KCMG and #45 Kondo Nissans and the recovering #1 Manthey and #44 Falken Porsches all ended up duking it out.

And while that was going on, BMW’s chances of winning all but ended with the #42 Schnitzer M6 retiring.

The #42 Schnitzer BMW was collected by the class-leading #170 Hyundai TCR at Brunchen, both cars sent flying into the barriers. The Touring Car appeared to suffer either a braking issue or a stuck throttle. Timo Scheider climbed out of the #42, which was missing its front left corner and Guelden was able to get out of the i30.

Just the #100 Walkenhorst M6 GT3, which currently sits 25th overall, remains.

ROWE Racing Team Principal Hans-Peter Naundorf, following the retirement of both his team’s M6s, said that this year’s race has been “the worst 24h race we’ve ever had.”

The #170 Hyundai’s retirement meant Tiago Monteiro took the lead in TCR in the #172 Team Castrol Honda Civic.

Another BMW team manager, Walkenhorst’s Niklas Königbauer after his #101 M6 GT3’s retirement early in the race.

“After towing we were able to take a closer look at the damage and decided not to take the risk of the repair.

“The crash into the barrier was caused by a penny article: a clamp on the radiator broke, the radiator hose broke loose, and we slid off on our own coolant.”

A bad day for BMW…

Both the #20 Ring Racing Lexus RCF and the #19 Bandoh Lexus RC F GT3 then had incidents at Tiergarten just seconds apart. The #20 stopped out on the circuit with some front-end damage.

The charge from the #44 Falken Porsche also ended towards the end of Hour 5, as the car was forced into the garage. A puncture on the Nordschleife saw the tread tear the cable from the ABS sensor.

Then came real drama for another fan favourite, the Kissling #122 Manta having an off. The car, out of control, swiped a passing BMW (the #52) and collected the SP8T leading #46 AMG GT4. This left the Manta with a very broken left-front corner at the exit of the first two corners on the GP loop with Olaf Beckmann out of the car.

It may not be over though, as the DSC Editor established that the team intends to try to repair the ‘Foxtail’. Its crew are concerned though that damage to the rear axle may be race-ending.

As the sun sets they are waiting for their charge to return to the pits, likely for a push to send the car for a final lap tomorrow.

The AMG concerned also went on to lose the class lead after a spell stationary following the incident.

And the SP4T leading #121 VW Golf was in trouble too and under tow! The #59 Porsche Cayman taking the lead in the category.

Then came the sixth hour, and Kevin Estre proved to be the star. The Frenchman spent time reeling in the leading Black Falcon AMG GT3, with its lead of 40 seconds down to a visual gap after his efforts behind the wheel.

Estre would not be denied a chance to take the top spot from Dirk Muuller in the #2. Estre hunted him down, and took the place by going three wide on the Dottinger Hohe as Muller passed a slower car. It was brave, Estre putting two wheels on the grass as he went by on Lap 34.

The Porsche pulled away by 5 seconds on the following lap.

Further back, the sister Manthey car was pushing on in its recovery drive. The #1 suffered a puncture in Hour 2, and has since been climbing the order. It did though hit further trouble as the quarter mark approached, the car heading to the pits for a routine stop, losing time due to its left-hand door being replaced.

Another SP9 car also received treatment, the #7 Konrad Lamborghini which was still running inside the top 10. It had repairs done in the pits, a replacement rear wing.

The #30 Frikadelli Porsche meanwhile, is having a replacement power steering pump fitted.

Top 10 and Gaps

#911 Porsche – Estre
#2 AMG Mueller +24 secs
#48 AMG – Hohenadel+1:50
#31 Porsche – Campbell +1:51
#705 Glickenhaus – Fernandez Laser +2:05
#4 Audi – Kaffer – +2:13
#14 Audi – Winkelhock – +2:13
#8 AMG – Buurman – +3:10
#12 Porsche – +3:19
#3 AMG – +4:04

Class leaders

27th overall – SP7 – #62 Porsche
31st overall – SP8 – #49 Porsche
34th overall – AT – #320 Porsche
35th overall – SP10 #70 AMG
38th overall – Cup X – #111 KTM
39th overall – SP8T – #36 Aston Martin
40th overall – Cup 3 – #303 Porsche
41st overall – SP3T – #88 Subaru
48th overall – TCR – #172 Honda
56th overall – Cup 5 – #235 BMW
72nd overall – V6 – #133 Porsche
78th overall – V5 – #146 Porsche
93rd overall – SP3 – #115 Toyota
98th overall – V4 – #150 BMW
100th overall – V3T – #718 Porsche
104th overall – V2T – #162 BMW
108th overall – SP4T – #159 Porsche
116th overall – SP5 – #84 BMW
117th overall – SP4 – #325 BMW