Manthey, ABT Suffer Puncture Setbacks in Second Hour

Manthey EMA and ABT Sportsline suffered punctures early in the Nürburgring 24 that dealt setbacks to a pair of strong-starting cars.

The No. 911 Porsche 911 GT3 R spun near the end of the second hour when it encountered a left-rear puncture towards the conclusion of a Kevin Estre double stint.

Estre, who started 20th, was engaged in battle with the No. 20 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Indy Dontje for sixth position that saw the two cars run side-by-side down the Dottinger Hohe.

The Frenchman had cleared the Ferrari when a sudden left-rear puncture triggered a spin at Hohenrain, causing the rear of the Porsche to hit the tire barriers.

The puncture is understood not to have been a result of the on-track battle with the Ferrari.

Estre brought the Porsche back into the pits with a damaged diffuser. The team pushed the car into the garage with Michael Christensen installed behind the wheel and the Danish driver re-emerged outside the top 60 overall.

The No. 27 ABT Sportsline Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 in which Marco Mapelli charged to the lead during the opening stint also suffered a left-rear puncture in the second hour.

The left-rear tire gave way at Brunnchen, but Kelvin van der Linde was able to bring the car back to the pits for a replacement at a loss of around five minutes.

Earl Bamber, freshly installed at the wheel of the No. 30 Frikadelli Racing Team Ferrari, held the race lead by a gap of eight seconds to the No. 4 Mercedes-AMG Team Bilstein Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo driven by Luca Stolz.

Daniel Juncadella was third aboard the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed car after a battle between the two front-row starting cars.

Stolz’s co-driver Raffaele Marciello battled his way past Maro Engel on the GP circuit after the German encountered traffic.

Marciello then served a 30-second penalty for impeding Engel on pit road coming out of their opening pits tops, but a shorter subsequent stop for the No. 4 car has allowed it to retain second place.

Tim Heinemann ran in fourth position aboard the No. 44 Falken Motorsports Porsche, with Arjun Maini completing the top five in the No. 6 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes.