Porsche’s Estre Expecting “Much Closer” Race to Last Year

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/SRO

Kevin Estre said he’s expecting a “much closer” race between multiple manufacturers in this weekend’s Nürburgring 24 but believes top honors could again come down to the “three or four” teams that typically execute perfect races on the Nordschleife.

The Frenchman returns to Manthey Racing’s ‘Grello’ entry, again sharing the No. 911 machine with fellow Porsche factory drivers Ayhancan Guven and Thomas Preining after the trio won last year’s race on the road but were handed a 100-second post-race penalty for an incident that Estre had with a GT4 car in the closing stages of the Eifel endurance classic.

The contentious penalty, which was protested by the German squad, was thrown out by race organizers ADAC.

“It’s like a decision you make in a fraction of a second together with a decision from someone else, and it goes really fast,” Estre told Sportscar365.

“Last year, I think we had quite a big gap with the BMW, but also because Lambo had issues, Audi the same, there was only one BMW, Mercedes didn’t have a great preparation.

“This year is a lot closer, a lot more competition. I think a lot of brands can be fast.

“We can see that there are many, many brands, even Ford and Aston Martin, which was not the case last year.

“It’s going to be tight but when the competition is close, it pushes everyone. Everyone wants to take more risks and this can lead to mistakes, and that’s what we can’t slide into.”

When asked who he believes the toughest contenders are, Estre pointed to the ABT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVOs, which swept the front row in Top Qualifying 3, but in addition, other SP9 class cars in what’s a significantly larger, 41-car class this year.

“I think [Lamborghini] is the fastest but somehow history tells that they tend to have issues or have mistakes,” he said. “But at some point they will do a clean race and if they have the pace, they will be there for sure.

“Mercedes, the two cars are very strong. The car from Max [Verstappen] is definitely going to be very fast. But we also see Ford being quick, Audi being quick, Aston [and] Ferrari [as well].

“It’s about the package, minimizing mistakes and being solid throughout the race.

“Many teams can do that but [to be] consistently good throughout the whole 24, there’s probably only three or four teams. The rest would be a bit of a surprise. If everything aligns, they can do it.

“But I would say in terms of pace, the toughest competitors are probably Lambo. In terms of execution, package, the Mercedes is very strong for sure.”

Estre, who was part of Manthey as well as Porsche’s last race-winning lineup in 2021, said he doesn’t feel any extra pressure this time around given the number of milestones surrounding the team and Porsche.

“It’s a lot of activation about Manthey 30 years, the [ten years of] Grello, the 75th anniversary of Porsche [Motorsport]. But I don’t feel extra pressure,” he said.

“I’ve done this race many, many times. When you drive the Grello, you always have a certain amount of pressure. You have a target on your back and many fans and everyone is looking for the Grello to be in the mix.

“I can definitely cope with the pressure. I’m OK with that but definitely this year would be a nice year to win.”

Three-Driver Lineup An Overall Benefit to Race

Estre believes that having a three-driver lineup comes as a benefit in the N24, an approach that Manthey has largely taken in recent years.

“I think so, especially in the build-up,” he said. “During the race, you have more rest. If you have four drivers that are all the same, as we had with Laurens in the past or something, it’s fine.

“But during practice, you see now, my qualifying [on Friday morning] was my fourth lap in the dry this weekend, and some only had one. Because if you have four drivers, some didn’t have any dry laps before quali.

“There’s pros and cons to having three or four. But I think it’s definitely better to have three well prepared than having a fourth one that should be on the level but didn’t have the preparation or laps. This is always to balance it out.

“Plus, Porsche has so many cars here that I don’t think we could have had a fourth driver.

“Matt [Campbell] would have been a perfect candidate but I think Porsche wanted to make sure that one driver is there [for everyone] and he’s the one.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John