Catsburg in Control at Halfway for Frikadelli

Frikadelli Racing Team’s Ferrari 296 GT3 held a commanding lead at the halfway point of the Nürburgring 24 ahead of two BMW entries.

Nicky Catsburg possessed a buffer of almost two minutes over ROWE Racing BMW driver Maxime Martin after 12 hours of racing in completely dry conditions.

The Frikadelli Ferrari that Catsburg shares with David Pittard, Felipe Fernandez Laser and Earl Bamber recovered from an early puncture that disrupted its pit strategy and led to a cycle of different leaders through the early stages of the night.

That changed in the 10th hour when Bamber emerged from a pit stop ahead of the No. 2 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, asserting Frikadelli as the team in control.

Bamber led throughout his double stint, while the fleet of BMW M4 GT3s offered strong pace during the night and established themselves in the podium positions.

The No. 98 BMW from ROWE Racing and the RMG-run Junior Team example ran second and third at halfway, with the No. 2 Mercedes-AMG circulating in fourth.

Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed was hit with a 32-second penalty that appeared to dent its challenge, however it was rescinded upon video review.

Fabian Schiller was around 35 seconds behind Junior Team factory driver Dan Harper at the halfway stage, with Connor De Phillippi 15 seconds behind in the other ROWE car.

Audi’s goal of defending its N24 win from last year took a major blow around the halfway mark when the No. 1 and No. 5 Phoenix cars slid off the track early in the Grand Prix loop.

“I slipped on a slick of oil,” said Frederic Vervisch, driver of the No. 1 Audi.

“It came as such a surprise and was so massive that I was only a passenger. Then came the crash into the crash barrier. Now the race is over for us.”

The top Porsche 911 GT3 R was the Rutronik Racing car in eighth, while Manthey EMA elected to retire its ‘grello’ entry which dropped off the lead lap early on after a puncture-induced spin for Kevin Estre.

The No. 163 KKramer Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup led the CUP 2 class at halfway, while KCMG moved to the head of the SP10 class with its Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo.