Nürburgring Thursday Notebook

***Porsche hosted its traditional pre-event group photo at the Hyundai Kurve on the Grand Prix circuit on Wednesday evening (pictured above). The German brand is the best represented on this year’s N24 grid, with 45 out of 130 cars coming from the Stuttgart manufacturer.

***Mercedes-AMG customer racing boss Stefan Wendl downplayed the impact of the decision to return the Bathurst 12 Hour to its traditional, early-February date for next year. “Honestly, I can’t see such a big difference for us,” Wendl told Sportscar365. “Other than some drivers, which are participating in Daytona, will have no rest in between and have to go straight from Daytona to Bathurst to get it done. It’s not a big issue in the end.”

***Colin Caresani explained he has gone through a hectic 24 hours after he only received word on Wednesday night of the opportunity to join the lineup for the No. 7 Konrad Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo alongside Danny Soufi, Torsten Kratz and Maximilian Paul.

***Caresani told Sportscar365: “At 10 p.m. I was at home in Zandvoort and I got a call from my agent asking if I wanted to drive the N24 in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Obviously I said yes, I packed my bags as quick as I could and headed off to the Nürburgring. It was a four-hour drive, so I arrived at the hotel at 2 a.m. and then went to the track already at 9 a.m. to get to know Franz [Konrad] and the crew.”

***The 20-year-old, who competes with Winward Racing in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup, is set for his second consecutive N24 appearance. He made his debut last year in a Schnitzelalm Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

***BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos explained to Sportscar365 that the M4 GT4 received an Evo update after only two seasons in order to bring it in line with the Munich marque’s road car offerings, which have also been facelifted. By contrast, the M4 GT3 was given an Evo update after three years of competition.

***Both updated BMWs are on display in the ring°boulevard behind the circuit’s main grandstand, opposite the pit lane. Other cars found there are a Porsche 911 GT3 R rennsport as well as the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II that won the 2022 edition of the race in the hands of Robin Frijns, Kelvin van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor and Fred Vervisch.

***Nico Varrone told Sportscar365 that his outlook of returning to the cockpit of a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in a racing capacity this year is “a bit tough” after his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship program with AWA came to an abrupt end in March. “For sure, I’m still a factory driver,” Varrone said. “So if they call me to do something, I will do it, but it is getting a bit tough because there is not a lot of cars in the world right now. ”

***Lucas Auer will go “lap by lap” for his debut N24 outing, contesting the race as part of the No. 8 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed crew alongside Adam Christodoulou, Philip Ellis and Mikael Grenier. The Austrian noted that he came close to making his event debut for each of the last three years, but varying circumstances prevented him from doing so.

***David Pittard admitted he feels “more internal pressure” after last year’s breakthrough N24 victory, which was his first win in any 24-hour race after 12 unsuccessful attempts. “Because I feel like I’ve done it once, so I should know how to do it again,” Pittard told Sportscar365. “But obviously there’s so many variables that can be thrown into a weekend like this. So, it’s not a case of just copy-paste and you get the same result.”

***Pittard’s No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, which hit the barriers with Kuba Giermaziak at the wheel during the late-session downpour in qualifying 1, only sustained bodywork damage in the impact. It returned to the track for night qualifying later on Thursday.

***Larry ten Voorde, who will join JMW Motorsport at the 24 Hours of Le Mans later this month, is set for a remarkable bit of double duty across two countries. In addition to competing in the Cup2 class with Scherer Sport PHX, he will also defend his Porsche Carrera Cup Italia points lead in Imola. Sportscar365 understands that the Dutchman will take six flights across the weekend to travel to and from each track, with his N24 driving time set to be completed during the evening and nighttime hours.

***Ford factory driver Christopher Mies described his involvement with the Scherer Sport PHX Audi effort as a “private deal” with the team that came about after he and Frank Stippler won last year’s NLS season finale. “[After that] they basically asked me if I’m available for next year’s N24,” Mies told Sportscar365. “If it would have been an official Audi request, I probably would not be allowed to do that but as it was a private deal between me and the team, I’m very glad and happy that Ford gave me the permission to do the race.”

***A new rule for this year’s event has prohibited SP9 entries from refueling before five race laps have been completed, with any cars that do so to be reported to the stewards. The fifth race lap can be completed in the pit lane, while cars that come into the pits before completing four race laps will not be required to respect the minimum pitstop time.

***The fan-favorite No. 318 Dacia Logan has been jokingly declared as an “honorary IGTC entry” by the championship through a post on social media. After the previous car was destroyed in an overnight crash last year, Ollis Garage Racing built a new car that is now entered into the SP3T class.

***During the race on Saturday, fans in attendance at the Nürburgring will be able to watch the UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and German club Borussia Dortmund through a live broadcast at ring°boulevard, which kicks off at 9 p.m. local time. A similar showing was held in 2017, when Borussia faced and beat Eintracht Frankfurt in the German DFB Cup final at the same time as the race.

***Live coverage of all N24 session is available on the race’s official YouTube channel. The English-language commentary team for the 52nd running of the event consists of John Hindhaugh, Jonny Palmer, Bruce Jones, Peter MacKay, Peter Snowdon and Joe Bradley.

***Friday’s track running consists of a third and final qualifying practice session at 1:30 p.m CEST (7:30 a.m. EDT), followed by Top Qualifying at 5:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. EDT).