Phoenix Audi Wins N24 Qualifying Race

Photo: Phoenix Racing

Phoenix Racing has won the six-hour Nürburgring 24 Qualifying Race after a late-race accident for the leading Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus car.

The No. 5 Audi R8 LMS of Mike Rockenfeller, Nicolaj Moller Madsen and Dennis Busch came out of the pits after its final stop out front, ahead of the Audi Sport Team WRT and Audi Sport Team Land cars.

The three cars pitted with 26 minutes remaining, just as the No. 702 Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG003C crashed out of the lead with a suspected brake failure.

The car, running in the SP-X category owing to it not being homolgated, had led 21 of 41 laps at various stages throughout the race.

The No. 9 WRT Audi of Frederic Vervisch and Nico Nueller came home second, making it a 1-2 for the German manufacturer.

A late-race charge from the Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R wasn’t enough to take second from the WRT car although it did prevent an Audi podium sweep.

Land Motorsport secured fourth with its Audi, while the No. 3 Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 was classified fifth.

The top five finishers automatically gain a place in the top-30 shootout to determine the front-end of the grid for next month’s Nürburgring 24. 

While the Audis stole the show in the latter stages of the race, several Mercedes, Porsches and BMWs also made their way into the top ten.

The top 16 finishers were all German manufacturers, as the pair of Bentley Continental GT3s fell down the order with problems as the race progressed.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.