Preining Leads Hour 1 After Jump-Start Penalty for Mapelli

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/SRO

The No. 911 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of Thomas Preining took the effective lead at the end of a frantic opening hour of the Nürburgring 24 that saw a jump-start penalty for the No. 130 ABT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 and a puncture for the sister pole-sitting machine.

Preining emerged out front following the first round of stops at the top of the hour, which saw the Manthey squad leap ahead of the No. 7 Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini, which led the SP9 class field into pit lane.

Kevin Estre battled with Maximilian Paul for much of the opening stanza, which saw Paul take the lead after Marco Mapelli pitted on Lap 6 for his first stop and a 32-second stop-and-hold penalty for making a jumped start.

While Mapelli dashed away into the lead at the start, the pole-sitting No. 84 ABT Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti was forced into the pits on the opening lap at the end of the GP circuit lap after sustaining a left-rear puncture due to contact with the No. 3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Dani Juncadella.

The pit stop sequence saw Max Verstappen climb aboard the Winward Racing-run Mercedes-AMG at the one-hour mark, and run third.

The No. 1 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Raffaele Marciello was fourth, with Nick Yelloly, now at the wheel of the No. 130 ABT Lamborghini, having completed the effective top-five after serving the penalty.

The opening laps of the Eifel endurance classic saw several other incidents, including a spin by Dan Harper in the No. 99 ROWE BMW on the opening lap, and prior to that, a spin by Christopher Haase on the formation lap, although the German driver was able to regain his third place starting position.

The No. 67 HRT Ford Mustang GT3 EVO was demoted several positions on the grid after it was deemed that not all of its drivers completed their minimum two laps in the qualifying sessions.

A number of cars, including the No. 35 Walkenhorst Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, was forced into the pits at the opening lap to serve various penalties, a stop-and-hold plus 45-second penalty for a Code 60 infraction from warmup for the German squad.

The car later stopped on track with a fuel supply-related issue before making its way back to the pit lane.

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