Heinrich Hoping ‘Last Minute’ Lionspeed Deal Will Yield Results

Photo: Lionspeed GP

Laurin Heinrich is hoping a rather last-minute effort for the Nürburgring 24 with Lionspeed GP will yield results despite both his and co-driver Laurens Vanthoor’s lack of preparation for the Eifel endurance classic.

The pair of Porsche factory drivers will team up with Porsche-contracted driver Ricardo Feller in the German squad’s SP9-Pro class Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo, which heads into the race as one of the ‘underdog’ entries according to Heinrich.

It’s because all three drivers only got a handful of laps in a practice session for NLS1, a race that was canceled due to weather.

Neither Heinrich nor Vanthoor were able to return to the Nordschleife for other NLS events due to their IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP commitments.

“We decided to do the race basically on the week of NLS1,” Heinrich told Sportscar365. “Everything is quite late and we were only meant to take part in NLS1 for the preparation of the race, and it did not take place.

“We only have the morning laps of the Friday ahead of NLS1 because the afternoon was so wet and cold.

“We’re quite limited on laps and experience. The team had a car in the N24 Qualifiers race, in Pro-Am, so they could gain some more mileage.

“But especially for me, not being at this race for three years, and now coming back, having six laps on a Friday is obviously not so much.

“So it’s going to be a tough challenge. But the team is very well prepared with the running that we had, and I have two strong teammates.

“Laurens, he knows his way around there and knows how to win this race. Ricardo is pretty quick around here too.

“We have a good lineup. We have a good team. We have a good car. But it’s not going to be easy.”

Heinrich’s only previous N24 start came in 2023 in a Dinamic GT Porsche that he shared with Vanthoor, Christian Engelhart and Ayhancan Güven.

“There’s 40-plus GT3s in this race, so I think most of it will also be about survival,” he said. “It’s going to be a very tough race.

“There’s a lot of attention on this race now with all the prominent drivers who are coming.

“There’s also a lot for me to learn; I’m not going to lie.

“The engineer we have, he was was working on the Scherer Sport PHX car last year, which was obviously quick and Laurens drove, so they know each other already.”

“Everyone wants to win this race and people are pushing very hard. I think our approach will be to use our role as underdogs and fly under the radar and then hopefully be there in the end when it matters.”

Vanthoor, who won the race in 2015 in a WRT Audi R8 LMS, returns after suffering a dramatic weekend-ending accident in Top Qualifying last year that ruled his Scherer Sport PHX Porsche out of the race.

“It’’s a bit of a strange one in a way because it’s a big race, which normally asks for a lot of preparation. Unfortunately, that’s very low this year,” said Vanthoor.

“In the calendar, it was, first of all it was decided very late. It was approaching in the winter time, which was not happening.

“So, in my mind, the Nürburgring was not going to be on the plan. But then [at] the last moment it came together.

“And calendar-wise, for me, there was only one race to do, which I went but then got canceled due to the weather.

“So, I’ve done five or six laps now. It’s not ideal, especially if you have guys going there or doing all the NLS and preparation races.

“Still I think where I have very good teammates and a solid team as well. We’ll see.

“It’s a bit a strange approach because you know you’re not fully prepared for such a big race. [Anything] can happen and obviously what happened last year is unfortunate.

“It’s not the best of memories I have in a race car. Yeah, it took two laps to go through that corner and then it’s kind of forgotten.”

This weekend marks the first fully in-house Pro class effort for the Patrick Kolb and Jose Garcia co-founded team, which won the Pro-Am class in 2024 and previously ran in 2023 under the Lionspeed by Car Collection featuring Mathieu Jaiminet and Matt Campbell, which dropped out early on due to a puncture.

Prior to that in 2022, Lionspeed was part of an Audi Sport factory-supported effort, also run by Car Collection, finishing sixth overall.

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