Estre Leads N24 After Opening Hour Completed

Kevin Estre led the 52nd running of the Nürburgring 24 after an eventful, rain-hit opening hour.

The No. 911 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R, which had qualified second, took the race start in the lead after the pole-sitting No. 72 BMW M4 GT3 of Dan Harper pitted before the green flag.

Harper had started the formation lap on slicks while the remainder of the top five switched to wet tires prior on the grid as rain hit the Nordschleife.

On the opening lap, Estre was then overtaken by the No. 130 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Maro Engel, which charged to the lead on cut slicks but then plummeted back down the order when he encountered wetter conditions at Schwedenkreuz.

Estre and the No. 99 ROWE Racing BMW of Augusto Farfus then engaged in a battle for the lead, trading first place back and forth.

Farfus first passed the Frenchman at the Goodyear Kehre when Estre got caught in traffic, only for the No. 911 Porsche to return the favor at Adenauer Forst not much later.

The No. 99 BMW then attempted to retake the lead at the Yokohama-S towards the end of the first hour, but ran wide which allowed Estre to accelerate out from underneath Farfus and hold on to the lead.

Farfus, along with the majority of the SP9 field, then came in for his first pitstop and a switch to slicks, which dropped him back to the field.

Luca Stolz ran in second place at the end of the hour just before pitting, surviving a scare when the No. 4 Mercedes-AMG slid off the track and into the barriers at Adenauer Forst.

The No. 8 Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG of Adam Christodoulou held third, ahead of Farfus, Frank Bird and the No. 5 Herberth Motorsport Porsche driven by Dennis Olsen.

Bird and Olsen pitted after five laps were completed, the earliest SP9 cars are allowed to stop for fuel in this year’s race.

Olsen managed to get by the No. 72 BMW of Harper when the British driver rejoined the track after pitting, with the BMW in seventh.

After he stopped for wets prior to the first lap, Harper charged back up the pack and ran as high as third place before the pitstop cycle began.

Walkenhorst Motorsport’s leading entry, meanwhile suffered an early setback when David Pittard encountered a left-rear puncture on the opening lap aboard the No. 34 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

The British driver had climbed to as high as third place before reported contact with a spinning Mercedes-AMG caused him to drop back.