28 GT3 Cars Headline N24 Qualifiers Entry

A field of 28 GT3 cars is to set headline this weekend’s Nürburgring 24 Qualifiers races, with defending winners Frikadelli Racing Team joined by factory-supported entries from Mercedes-AMG, Porsche, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and BMW.

Teams will contest a pair of four-hour races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. The opening contest kicks off at 5:30 p.m. CEST (11:30 a.m. EDT) and will run into the darkness, with the second race starting at 1 p.m. CEST (7 a.m. EDT) the following day.

As confirmed on Wednesday, last year’s N24 winners Frikadelli field the No. 1 Ferrari 296 GT3 for Nico Varrone, Luca Ludwig, Daniel Keilwitz and Felipe Fernandez Laser.

While the entry list only shows Keilwitz and Laser, the team itself has stated that Varrone and Ludwig will be at the wheel for the opening four-hour race on Saturday.

BMW, which finished runner-up behind Frikadelli in the Eifel endurance classic last year, is represented by three cars – two from ROWE Racing and one from BMW M Team RMG.

Raffaele Marciello will share the No. 98 ROWE BMW with Maxime Martin and Marco Wittmann, while Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor and Augusto Farfus pilot the No. 99 sister machine.

RMG, meanwhile, will rely on the previously confirmed trio of Charles Weerts, Max Hesse and Dan Harper.

Mercedes-AMG will field no fewer than five factory-supported entries at the Qualifiers, entered by Haupt Racing Team and GetSpeed Performance.

Maximilian Goetz, Daniel Juncadella, Arjun Maini and Luca Stolz have been entered aboard the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT Evo, while Maini will also share the No. 4 car with Michele Bretta, Frank Bird and Jusuf Owega.

Similarly, Mikael Grenier and Adam Christodolou will pull double duty aboard a pair of GetSpeed entries.

Grenier will drive alongside Lucas Auer and Christodolou aboard the No. 8 car and team with Philip Ellis and Fabian Schiller in the No. 9 Mercedes-AMG.

2016 N24 winner Christodoulou, meanwhile, while also get behind the wheel of the No. 130 machine together with Maro Engel and Jules Gounon.

Porsche is represented in the SP9 Pro class by Falken Motorsports, Dinamic GT, Manthey EMA and Herberth Motorsport.

Falken’s pair of 911 GT3 Rs will have Julien Andlauer, Klaus Bachler, Sven Mueller and Alessio Picariello take turns aboard the No. 33, while Mueller also joins Tim Heinemann, Nico Menzel and Martin Ragginger in the sister No. 44 machine.

DTM teammates Ayhancan Guven and Thomas Preining will compete aboard the No. 911 Manthey EMA Porsche, while Herberth will have Dennis Olsen, Vincent Kolb and Robert Renauer behind the wheel of the No. 5 car.

Olsen will be competing against fellow Ford factory drivers and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance cup co-drivers Christopher Mies and Fred Vervisch, who both form part of the Scherer Sport PHX lineup.

Vervisch, who was part of Audi’s most recent N24-winning crew in 2022, teams up with Christopher Haase and Dennis Marschall behind the wheel of the No. 15 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II. Mies is set to pilot the No. 16 car with Frank Stippler and Ricardo Feller.

Aston Martin teams field five entries, spearheaded by the No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Vantage GT3 Evo that will see Nicki Thiim and David Pittard drive alongside Christian Krognes and Kuba Giermaziak.

Notably, Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS race winner Chandler Hull has been entered aboard the No. 35 Aston Martin, which competes in the SP9 Pro-Am class.

Finally, Lamborghini is represented by two cars as Nordschleife stalwarts Konrad Motorsport are joined by the ABT Sportsline entry for Kelvin van der Linde, Marco Mapelli and Jordan Pepper.