Preining Dominates N24 Opening Hour

Manthey EMA led the first hour of the Nürburgring 24 after a charging opening stint from Thomas Preining.

The No. 911 Porsche 911 GT3 R started the 53rd running of the Eifel endurance classic from pole position and maintained the lead at the start before Preining rapidly pulled away from the pack.

Behind him, Maro Engel’s No. 14 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo overtook the No. 45 Realize Kondo Racing with Rinaldi Ferrari 296 GT3 to capture second.

As Engel dueled with Perel as well as the No. 33 Falken Motorsports Porsche of Sven Mueller, Preining pulled away, extending his advantage by over 10 seconds.

In the middle of the hour, Preining briefly saw his advantage dashed as he was stuck behind a slower car under yellow flags on the Dottinger Hohe.

That allowed Engel to close back in to within three seconds, only for Preining to again stretch out an advantage.

The Austrian led by 10.910 seconds over the No. 33 Falken Motorsports Porsche of Mueller by the end of the hour, with the first round of stops ongoing at the time.

Mueller was followed by the No. 48 Black Falcon Team EAE Porsche, No. 63 Ford Mustang GT3 and No. 7 Paul Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, which all still needed to pit.

Perel’s No. 45 Ferrari was at the head of a group of cars to make the first fuel stop at the earliest available opportunity and is set to filter to the lead of the race as a result once the pitstop cycle is completed.

Perel was joined by the No. 17 Mercedes-AMG of Adam Christodoulou and the No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo driven by Mattia Drudi, who are on course to take over second and third, respectively.