Nürburgring Wednesday Notebook

Photo: John Dagya

***Nürburgring 24 competitors were greeted to typical Eifel weather on Wednesday, with intermittent rain showers, high winds and temperatures raging from 4-8 degrees Celsius (40-46 degrees Fahrenheit). More of the same, except for a decreased chance of rain, is in the forecast for the start of on-track action on Thursday.

***More than 160 cars are expected to take part, including 41 GT3-spec machines in the SP9 class. Twenty-six of those cars will be eligible to score Intercontinental GT Challenge points, spread between the five of the six registered manufacturers in SRO’s globe-trotting GT3 series. Click Here for the IGTC entry list.

***Only Chevrolet is not represented out of the registered IGTC manufacturers, with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R not yet homologated for Nordschleife competition.

***There is only one IGTC Independent Cup driver here this weekend, Kerong Li, who took maximum points in February’s season-opening Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour with a surprise second place overall finish in his Bronze Cup entered High Class Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. Li is sharing the High Class Porsche with Anders Fjordbach, Hongli Ye and Porsche-contracted driver Harry King in the Pro-Am class this weekend.

***King is one of a number of drivers making their N24 debuts this weekend, but qualified for the race in the unconventional way of taking part in last month’s NLS3 while in the middle of the European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Barcelona weekend.

***A drop score is still in place for the IGTC Independent Cup entrants, although Li could have a significant advantage should he contest all five rounds, as planned, this year, and be able to drop his worst result, rather than the other entered FIA Bronze-rated drivers, who won’t have that luxury due to missing the N24.

***With 13 SP9 class entries, Porsche makes up half of the IGTC list. Mercedes-AMG is the second-most represented brand with six cars, along with three cars each from Ford and defending race winners, and IGTC champions, BMW. A single Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, entered by Kondo Racing with Rinaldi, will fly the flag for the Italian manufacturer.

***While SRO Motorsports Group controls the Balance of Performance for all other IGTC rounds, event organizer ADAC in charge at the N24, with a revision having been released last Friday, confirming several changes since the N24 Qualifiers.

***Both the BMW M4 GT3 EVO and Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 have received 10 kg weight breaks and reductions in power. The turbocharged BMW loses power at the mid to top-end while the Lamborghini gets a 0.5 mm smaller air restrictor and a one-liter increase in fuel capacity.

***The BMW Z4 GT3, which makes its N24 return with two entries in the SP9 Am class, has received a 25 kg weight break while both the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and Evo versions receive a slightly increased boost pressures across all levels, while the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo has a power adjustment at the mid to top-end revs.

***Finally, the Ferrari will have a slight power increase through the mid range as well as a 1.5-degree reduction in rear wing angle.

***In addition to having the most GT3-spec cars on the grid, Porsche is also the most-represented manufacturer in the field overall, with 60 cars entered.

***Porsche Motorsport head of sales Michael Dreiser said: “The record number of 13 Porsche 911 GT3 R cars in the SP9 class confirms our consistent focus on the needs of our customer teams… Both the NLS opening rounds and the qualifying race have shown that the competition is particularly strong this year. With our cars in the top SP9 category and six different tire brands, our chances are wide-ranging. Hopefully this time we’ll have that little bit of luck that has eluded us in previous years at the Nürburgring.”

***Among the key storylines from the Porsche camp is the special ‘Grello’ livery on the No. 911 entry for Kevin Estre, Ayhancan Guvan and Thomas Preining, celebrating both the 10th anniversary of the now iconic green/yellow design and the 30th anniversary of Manthey Racing.

***Manthey has organized a special exhibit at ring°boulevard, featuring all seven cars that the legendary German squad took to overall victory in the race. Admission is free and open during normal hours. Additionally, there will be an autograph session with all three drivers on Thursday from 5:15-6 p.m.

***Additionally, Gruppe C has produced a “30 Years Manthey” coffee table book, featuring 152 pages with bilingual (English/German) text and large-format photography from the team’s history making three decades of competition. Click Here for details on how to purchase the book, which was released on Tuesday.

***While BMW took the wraps off it special livery for its one-off M3 Touring 24H earlier this week, fellow SP-X competitor HWA has revealed the designs of its three Mercedes-Benz 190E DTM-inspired EVO.Rs. The No. 61 car features a unique WEMPE Art Car livery designed by industrial designer and artist Hanna Schonwald, while the No. 62 entry  features a livery inspired by the iconic DTM designs of Kärcher and Sonax, with the No. 63 car in dark green for sponsor Parkside.

***Of note, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Renger van der Zande and Adam Adelson are amongst the drivers in the lineup, which also includes Markus Winkelhock, Lance David Arnold, Jamie Green, Sebastian Asch, Luca Ludwig and Bruno Spengler. Adelson, who is set for his N24 debut, is entered in both the Nos. 61 and 62 entries.

***In addition to the creative cars, Reiter Engineering has entered a KTM X-Bow GTX in the five-car class, which was made famous with previous efforts from Glickenhaus, including its pole-winning car from 2017.

***Sheldon van der Linde, who one-upped his brother Kelvin last weekend in becoming the first South African driver to win a FIA World Endurance Championship race, said he’s hoping the luck will continue this weekend, in his first time back at the N24 since 2024, sharing the No. 99 ROWE Racing entry with Dries Vanthoor, Max Hesse and Dan Harper.

***Van der Linde told Sportscar365: “My brother has won it three times already. It’s been on my list to win in the last five years, I’ve finished third and second many times before. But that little last edge of luck has always been missing. We were leading the race two years ago just before the red flag when I crashed with a slower car. That was looking good that year.”

***In addition to Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor, several other Nordschleife regulars, including three-time N24 winner Chris Mies and two-time victor Fred Vervisch, along with Nicky Catsburg, Alexander Sims, Klaus Bachler, Hesse and Harper were also forced to miss last year’s race due to their IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship commitments.

***Vervisch told Sportscar365: “Last year was the first year I didn’t drive the Nürburgring 24 for eight years.” Mies added: “It hurt a little bit last year to not to be there and watch it on YouTube from Watkins Glen, but I’m glad we are back there racing there together with Fred and Dennis [Olsen].”

***Verstappen Racing driver Dani Juncadella said his first laps back in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo earlier this year was a “bit of a surprise” given the car was in GT World Challenge America powered by AWS spec, including the spec Pirelli tires. “That car is definitely harder to drive, and you just need to hustle it a bit more,” he told Sportscar365. “Nürburgring is maybe a bit easier with the Michelin tire.”

***The Spaniard, who was part of ABT’s Lamborghini effort last year, said one of his conditions while signing with Genesis Magma Racing in the WEC was that he would be allowed to contest the N24. “At that time, I was unsure whether it was going to be again and with ABT that I had the experience in the Lamborghini in the previous year or somewhere else. With the Verstappen deal it was even more clear that I really wanted to do that race.”

***The expected opening round of the 2027 IGTC season was confirmed on Wednesday, with the Bathurst 12 Hour expanding to a four-day event from Feb. 11-14, while maintaining the same event weekend as this year. The N24, now in its third year on the IGTC calendar, is expected to also remain on the schedule next year in a largely unchanged calendar.

***Track action gets underway on Thursday afternoon with a two-hour opening qualifying session at 1:15 p.m. CEST (7:15 a.m. EST), followed by Qualifying 2, which will run from 8-11:30 p.m. CEST (2-5:30 p.m. EST).

Finlay Ringer 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