Estre Controlling N24 at Half Distance

Manthey EMA’s No. 911 Porsche 911 GT3 R continued to extend its lead in the Nürburgring 24 at half distance.

The car qualified on pole by Kevin Estre has dominated the race since its resumption from an early red flag, caused by a power outage, and strengthened its position through the night as Ayhancan Guven, Thomas Preining and Estre took turns behind the wheel.

The pursuing ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO had a 32-second penalty looming over it after Kelvin Van der Linde was adjudged to be at fault for contact earlier in the race with the Sorg Rennsport No. 959 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, but this was annulled by race control.

However, that made little difference for the Manthey EMA crew and its advantage had surpassed two minutes by the end of the 11th hour, as Jesse Krohn in the BMW soaked up pressure from Nicki Thiim’s No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

After Krohn handed over to Augusto Farfus, ROWE retained its second place as Thiim continued to seek a way through, but had fallen two minutes and 35 seconds off the lead.

Luca Engstler occupied fourth spot in the No. 28 ABT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, after teammate Marco Mapelli had moved ahead of the sole remaining GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

After its sister No. 14 machine retired with a drivetrain issue, the No. 17 AMG with Adam Christodoulou aboard also survived contact with the W&S Motorsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 at the Karussell to hold fifth.

The Yokohama-shod Realize Kondo Racing with Rinaldi Ferrari 296 GT3 is running out of sync after an earlier tire problem brought it to the pits. David Perel was 38s behind Estre when he made his most recent stop and occupied sixth at the hour mark, putting pressure on Christodoulou.

Dylan Pereira heads the Cup2 class in the No. 48 LOSCH Motorsport by Black Falcon entry, while the factory No. 830 Hyundai Elantra N with Christer Jöns at the wheel has thus far dominated the TCR category.