Winward Mercedes-AMG Dominates Dramatic N24

Mercedes-AMG scored a dominant first Nürburgring 24 win in a decade thanks to the No. 80 Winward Racing machine of Maro Engel, Fabian Schiller, Maxime Martin and Luca Stolz that triumphed after the Verstappen Racing sister car retired from the lead with three hours to go.

The success means Engel and Martin are undefeated in the Intercontinental GT Challenge so far this year after also taking victory in the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour in February, while it was Engel’s second N24 win as he was also part of the last successful Mercedes-AMG lineup in 2016.

The two Winward Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos had continually swapped places for the lead between the sixth and 11th hours as they built a commanding advantage at the front of the field.

Max Verstappen guided the No. 3 machine into the lead towards the end of the 11th hour with a move on the Dottinger Hohe in the latest in a sequence of lead changes.

But Engel, who had started 25th on the grid after a Top Qualifying crash, soon closed back in on the four-time Formula 1 world champion and the pair touched through Tiergarten with Engel forced to take to the grass.

Schiller then said there had been a call from the team for the positions to be “essentially frozen” after the clash, with the No. 3 maintaining the lead during the remainder of the night.

It therefore looked like Verstappen, Jules Gounon, Lucas Auer and Dani Juncadella would take a memorable victory with the No. 3 entry holding a 30-second advantage over the sister car until drama struck with three hours to go when Juncadella suddenly slowed with what turned out to be a broken driveshaft that also caused further damage to the rear of the car.

This left the way clear for the No. 80 crew to take a dominant win with Engel successfully negotiating a rain shower in the final hour, while on cut-slick Michelin tires, and easing off to finish two minutes ahead of the opposition.

While there was no disputing who was the winner, the battle for second went right down to the final corner as the No. 84 ABT Lamborghini Huracan EVO2 that held the place on the road was given a late 86-second penalty for Luca Engstler speeding during a Code 60 section.

Mattia Drudi in the No. 34 Walkenhorst Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo attempted to get the gap to the Lamborghini down to inside the 86 seconds over the final laps.

Drudi was on cut slicks during the wet closing stages while the Lamborghini was on full slicks, hampering Bortolotti’s efforts to hold on and the Lamborghini began the last tour 73 seconds ahead.

However a Code 60 on the Dottinger Hohe on the final lap delayed Drudi as Bortolotti was able to get through before the caution was instigated for a stopped back-marker.

Ultimately, Bortolotti crossed the line 102 seconds ahead meaning Drudi had to settle for third in the car he shared with Nicki Thiim, and Christian Krognes, but the results still represented a best N24 finish for both manufacturers.

The Aston was a front-runner throughout and opted for an off-kilter strategy that helped it rise up the order early on, but it dropped well adrift of the lead Winward cars in the sixth hour when Drudi completed a nervy extra lap on slicks when a heavy rain shower arrived.

Drudi’s slides on the wet track were one of many notable moments as the first third of the race was particularly chaotic with a host of leading contenders hitting trouble.

It was a tough first hour for the ABT Lamborghini squad after its pair of Huracan GT3 EVO2s had locked out the front row of the grid.

First, the No. 84 car of Bortolotti suffered a puncture on the opening lap after contact from Juncadella at the first corner, while the No. 130 machine that moved into the lead was then handed a 32-second stop-and-hold penalty for Marco Mapelli jumping the start.

While the No. 84 gradually worked its way back into contention, the No. 130 car picked up a puncture in the sixth hour before stopping on track with less than four hours to go.

Multiple Early Race Contenders Crash Out

Next to lead after the Lambo was the No. 45 Realize Kondo Racing with Rinaldi Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo that pitted earlier than the rest of the field to vault up the order in the sole Ferrari in the race but Thierry Vermeulen then crashed at Hatzenbach in the third hour when caught out by a back-marker.

This marked the start of a crazy couple of hours when a whole host of lead contenders dropped out of contention, including the Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II that started third but was eliminated from the race when Alexander Sims clattered into the No. 47 KCMG Mercedes-AMG of Jesse Krohn while caught out by back-markers slowing in a Code 60 zone at Flatzgarten.

Then the No. 911 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo that was effectively the net leader earlier in the race was next to hit trouble as Kevin Estre spun on oil at Brunnchen and looped backwards into the barriers to conclude a miserable 30th anniversary outing for the team.

Moments later the No. 64 HRT Ford Mustang GT3 EVO of Arjun Maini crashed at the same corner with a heavier impact when having been on a charge up the top-ten.

Other notable cars in strife were the No. 1 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO that triumphed last year, which retired in the eighth hour with a refueling issue, while both of the Schnabl-entered Porsches crashed when caught out by back-markers during the night.

Problems for these crews helped the unique BMW M3 Touring 24H rise up the order, and it even passed both the Winward Mercedes-AMGs in the sixth hour when a storming Connor De Phillippi was on a differing strategy.

But a 45-second penalty for both it and the No. 99 ROWE conventional BMW for yellow-flag infringements dropped them both back from the front group.

The No. 99 car got the jump on the wagon in the closing stages to take fourth for Dries Vanthoor, Max Hesse, Dan Harper and Sheldon van der Linde, while the No. 81 M3 Touring De Phillippi shared with Neil Verhagen, Jens Klingmann, and Ugo de Wilde settled for fifth overall.

Best of the Porsches was the No. 24 Lionspeed GP machine of Laurens Vanthoor, Ricardo Feller and Laurin Heinrich that was classified sixth having lacked the outright pace of the competition.

The No. 67 HRT Mustang of Dennis Olsen, Chris Mies, Fred Vervisch and Frank Stippler was seventh after dropping back with a puncture and penalty for not respecting yellow flags, while eighth was the No. 54 Dinamic GT Porsche of Bastian Buus, Michael Christensen, Joel Sturm and Loek Hartog.

The No. 77 Schubert BMW and the No. 48 Pro-Am winning Black Falcon Porsche completed the overall top-ten.

Only 18 of the 41 GT3 cars were still running by the end of the attritional race, although Juncadella did head back out in the final ten minutes in a repaired car.

RESULTS: Nürburgring 24