Vanthoor Joins Rutronik Racing’s Porsche Lineup for N24

Porsche factory driver Laurens Vanthoor has been brought into Rutronik Racing’s SP9 driver lineup for next weekend’s Nürburgring 24.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner, 2019 IMSA GT Le Mans champion and 2015 Nürburgring 24 winner will join the previously-confirmed Romain Dumas, Julien Andlauer and Tobias Mueller in Rutronik Racing’s silver and blue Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Rutronik announced its late lineup change in a social media post on Wednesday.

Tristan Viidas, who recently contested a pair of NLS rounds and the N24 qualifying race with Rutronik, is no longer a member of the German team’s four-man driving squad.

The reason for Viidas’ absence from Rutronik Racing’s lineup that appeared on the provisional entry list is currently unclear and has not been disclosed by the team.

Vanthoor is set for his first N24 drive since the 2019 edition when he and his Manthey Racing teammates dominated the race until a five-and-a-half-minute penalty for speeding under yellow flags derailed their run, followed by a post-race disqualification.

The Belgian driver previously won the event in 2015 sharing a WRT-prepared Audi R8 LMS GT3 with Nico Mueller, Christopher Mies and Edward Sandstrom.

Vanthoor, who currently drives for Pfaff Motorsports in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCarChampionship, has not raced at the Nordschleife in almost two years.

Rutronik is making its N24 debut this year as part of a Porsche GT3 contingent that also includes entries from Manthey Racing, Frikadelli Racing Team, Falken Motorsports, KCMG and Huber Motorsports.

The team won the 2019 ADAC GT Masters title with Audi drivers Patric Niederhauser and Kelvin van der Linde and still runs R8s alongside its Porsche Nürburgring program.