Nürburgring Friday Notebook

Photo: ADAC

***Lamborghini became the first non-German manufacturer to score overall pole for the Nürburgring 24 since 2022 when Luca Ludwig took his Octane126 Serliana Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 to top qualifying honors. The last non-German car to win the race outright, meanwhile, was in 2023 with Frikadelli Racing’s triumph in a Ferrari 296 GT3, a driver lineup that featured Nicky Catsburg, whose Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 qualified second in the hands of Marco Mapelli.

***It marked the first front-row lockout for a manufacturer since 2023 when Mercedes-AMG swept the front row when Raffaele Marciello took pole in a HRT-run entry ahead of Maro Engel.

***Engel’s No. 80 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG didn’t make it into the Top Qualifying 3 shootout after the German driver suffered a crash at Hatzenbach. “Obviously very disappointing,” he said. “I’m sorry to the team. It’s not the outcome any of us was hoping for. The tire wasn’t fully in the temperature window yet and I was pushing to get the temperature in and I just got caught out with a sudden snap.”

***Christopher Haase, who qualified his Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II third on the grid, downplayed any advantage by starting near the front of the field.

***He said: “Obviously it’s always great when you are a front runner in the beginning of the 24-hour race. This is always a good thing but to be honest it doesn’t mean anything. It is a good feeling and it gives you a mental boost but, on the other hand, I have done this so many times, I’ve started far in the back and still ended up very, very good. It’s good but it doesn’t mean about how the race will develop.”

***Haase’s Audi will line up alongside the No. 3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG, after Dani Juncadella put the Winward-run entry fourth on the grid. Co-driver Max Verstappen did his job by ensuring the car made the pole shootout by setting the sixth quickest time in Top Qualifying 2.

***Verstappen said, in a quote supplied by Mercedes-AMG: “We were targeting to get to Top Qualifying 3. It’s not easy out there, the competition is super tough with a lot of fast cars around. We just managed to sneak in. The final lap was just good enough.”

***The four-time Formula 1 world champion got a baptism by fire of sorts in Thursday evening’s Qualifying 2, which marked his first night laps of the Nordschleife. “Yesterday there were a lot of changing conditions and for me, the first time in the night, in probably the worst possible conditions with the rain and fog coming in,” said Verstappen. “But at least I got a good first idea of what to potentially expect in the race, which was good as well.”

***Kevin Estre, whose No. 911 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo qualified eighth in the hands of co-driver Thomas Preining, believes they’re missing a bit of single-lap “pure pace” in the dry, although feels confident of their chances in wet and damp conditions. The Grello-liveried entry was the only Porsche to make the top-12 shootout.

***Estre told Sportscar365: “The team, so far, has been doing a good job of giving us the right tire, the right tire pressure and everything in each condition. But the pure pace on the slicks, I think we’re missing a bit to Mercedes and Lamborghini. Audi was also very strong. We’re in the mix, but we’re definitely not the favorite on that. Let’s see if there is a change or not. We’ll see.”

***ADAC released an updated Balance of Performance table on Friday morning, prior to Top Qualifying, which saw a 1 mm larger restrictor for both the Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo and Ford Mustang GT3 EVO’s second air restrictor. Previously, the Porsche’s second restrictor was at 35 mm, 1 mm less than its first one, with the change now putting both on 36 mm. The Mustang, meanwhile, will now be equipped with a 35 mm and 36 mm pair of restrictors.

***The only other change to SP9 class manufacturers was a slight turbo boost reduction from the 6000-6500 RPM range for the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. Dorr Motorsport is fielding the only GT3-spec McLaren in this year’s race.

***The all-female-driven No. 146 Giti Tires Motorsport by WS-Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car has been withdrawn from the event following Janina Schall’s accident with the No. 900 Black Falcon Team Zimmermann Porsche, which Schall struck in Thursday’s opening qualifying session. “The chassis is cracked. Unfortunately, that’s it for us,” said team principal Matthias Moller, who noted that the stewards cleared Schall of any fault.

***It’s understood the Black Falcon Porsche will race with a spare chassis, with its car, which initially caught fire before getting hit, having also been a write-off.

***Tracy Krohn and Nic Jonsson are set for their 39th 24-hour race as co-drivers this weekend, with the longtime co-drivers at the wheel of a RPM Racing-run Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car in the Cup 2 Am class alongside Patrick Huisman and Philip Hamprecht. Krohn, now 71, and Jonsson held a 14-year streak of participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2006-19) as well as 12 consecutive starts in the Rolex 24 at Daytona (2005-16).

***Matt Campbell was added as a fourth driver in the No. 911 Manthey Porsche on Thursday afternoon’s updated entry list, although he remains a reserve driver for all Porsche SP9 class entries this weekend according to a spokesperson for the German manufacturer. The Australian, who is tipped to join Ford’s FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar program next year, took part in NLS2 in Manthey’s Porsche alongside Ayhancan Guven, finishing second in that race.

***The reason for Campbell having been officially added to a car was for him to complete a minimum of two laps in qualifying in order to be eligible to race in any car, if necessary. The No. 911 Porsche is expected to run as a three-driver squad as originally planned, without Campbell listed on the final entry list as he would then have been required to complete a minimum of 15 laps in the race. However, should the race be interrupted for more than two hours, that figure reduces to a minimum of just one race lap.

***The maximum continuous drive time is three hours in a five-hour period. Any driver who exceeds this by less than ten minutes is handed a 32-second penalty at their next pit stop, while drivers who spend more than ten minutes longer at the wheel will face a 92-second penalty. The two-hour rest period between stints also applies to drivers competing in more than one car during the race.

***Loek Hartog, who finished on the podium last year, is one of eight drivers in the SP9 class due to be competing in multiple cars, having been entered in both Dinamic GT’s Pirelli-shod Porsches. The Dutchman said some of the updates on the 911 GT3 R Evo, particularly adjustable engine braking, came from the “learnings” of previous races on the Nordschleife.

***Hartog told Sportscar365: “I must say, at a track like this, where you have so many variable corners, it’s a bit more difficult to dial in rather than a GP track because you have a lot of different surfaces. It changes the behavior of the car, the understeer, oversteer of the car manually. Especially in an endurance race like this, you’re more in control, especially if the balance changes.”

***With SUPER GT set to go to spec tires beginning next year, the N24 and NLS will become the last major sports car racing arena with an open tire formula. Despite this, Michelin is set to equip more than 50 percent of the field this weekend, including a majority (18 cars) in the SP9 class. The French manufacturer has a total of 25 overall wins in the event, including the last eight editions.

***Michelin Motorsport endurance program manager Pierre Alves said: “The Nürburgring 24 is probably the most complex challenge for a GT endurance tyre manufacturer. With more than 25 kilometers, very high-speed sections, technical sectors, major elevation changes and constantly evolving weather conditions, the Nürburgring imposes unique constraints. Within a single lap, some sections can be dry while others remain damp, which requires tires that are particularly versatile and consistent.”

***Ford Racing’s Christopher Mies is hoping to contest more Intercontinental GT Challenge races later this year, although faces a clash with next month’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, which is on the same weekend as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

***Mies told Sportscar365: “It’s a great championship, obviously, with great races. They go to cool places. I did it for a couple of years and I was always a big fan of it. Spa we can’t do because we have a clash with Watkins Glen, but if we can add some, I would be keen to do it. If we go there one day, I would like to be part of it.”

***While the identity of Ford’s Pro class entrant for the Suzuka 1000km has yet to be revealed, GT World Challenge America powered by AWS squad Dollahite Racing will represent the ‘Blue Oval’ at the season-ending Indianapolis 8 Hour powered by AWS.

***When asked if he has ambitions to return to the Meguair’s Bathurst 12 Hour, after his early-race run-in with a kangaroo this year, Mies said: “I just said I won’t take the start again if we go back. I think that’s definitely on the agenda to come back in the future, hopefully also with more [Mustang GT3s]. You obviously learn more with more cars. You can try more things.”

***Coverage of the Nürburgring 24 will begin on Saturday afternoon, with the race getting underway at 3 p.m. CEST (9 a.m. EST) with RACER Network holding the exclusive U.S. streaming rights. Coverage for viewers in other regions is available on the official event YouTube channel, with official English language commentary from RSL’s John Hindhaugh, Jonny Palmer, Bruce Jones, Joe Bradley, Peter Snowdon, Arjuna Kankipati and Peter Mackay, which is also available in audio-form for free and with no geo-blocks at radiolemans.co.

Stephen Lickorish contributed to this report

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