By Tarek Ramchani
Audi Sport Team Phoenix has just won the 40th Nürbrugring 24 Hours. This victory marks the first ever overall win for Audi at the prestigious Nordschleife endurance classic. A great 1-2 win with Mamerow Racing finishing in a very strong second outright.Victory for the #3 Audi R8 LMS ultra in hands of Frank Stippler, Markus Winkelhock, Christopher Haase and Marc Basseng.
Seven Audi R8 LMS ultra cars entered the "Green Hell" endurance event. Two From Audi Sport Team Phoenix, two from Audi race experience and WRT, Mamerow Racing and Raeder Motorsport fielding a single R8 LMS ultra each. In the qualifying session three Audis made it into the top 10, with Mamerow Racing starting from the front row in second place.
The race started on Saturday at 16:00 local time in Germany and right from the start the BMW Z4 GT3 of BMW Team Schubert was able to build a very big gap. Mamerow's Audi dropped a little bit to fifth. Two laps into the race and the faster SP9 (GT3) cars were in already in the middle of the slower production and touring cars traffic. The traffic was hard to handle combined with the very fast pace from all the front runners meant that the race became one of survival. Some hours into the race Audi Sport Team Phoenix with the #2 R8 LMS ultra took the race lead from the #19 BMW Z4 GT3 which lead most part of the opening stages. From that moment the two cars battled hard and exchange the race lead many times with very fast lap times. Later the #19 BMW developed big problems and lost a lot of times in its garage. This meant the #2 Audi was leading quite comfortably until a big crash early on Sunday morning. The car had to be repaired and lost almost a full hour in its garage. The #4 WRT Audi faced some technical issues during the event, while the #9 R8 of Raeder Motorsport crashed in traffic and was a retirement in the early hours of Sunday. The #3 Audi of Phoenix Racing first started battling with the #22 Mercedes-Benz SLS and later the #20 BMW Z4 GT3 for race lead. The BMW was eventually forced to stop almost the same way as its sister #19 car earlier. The #3 Audi was again leading the race overall for the majority of the closing stages, with the #26 R8 from Mamerow Racing able to take and hold second overall. After a very fought and chaotic race, the #3 Audi R8 LMS ultra crossed the finish line victorious.
The Audi R8 LMS ultra has added another major win for Audi. The car is clearly one of the best GT3 race cars around in both sprint and endurance race formats. With the Nürbruring 24 Hours accomplished, Audi will fight for a historical "Triple Crown" aiming to win the Le Mans 24 Hours and Spa 24 Hours later this year.
Seven Audi R8 LMS ultra cars entered the "Green Hell" endurance event. Two From Audi Sport Team Phoenix, two from Audi race experience and WRT, Mamerow Racing and Raeder Motorsport fielding a single R8 LMS ultra each. In the qualifying session three Audis made it into the top 10, with Mamerow Racing starting from the front row in second place.
The race started on Saturday at 16:00 local time in Germany and right from the start the BMW Z4 GT3 of BMW Team Schubert was able to build a very big gap. Mamerow's Audi dropped a little bit to fifth. Two laps into the race and the faster SP9 (GT3) cars were in already in the middle of the slower production and touring cars traffic. The traffic was hard to handle combined with the very fast pace from all the front runners meant that the race became one of survival. Some hours into the race Audi Sport Team Phoenix with the #2 R8 LMS ultra took the race lead from the #19 BMW Z4 GT3 which lead most part of the opening stages. From that moment the two cars battled hard and exchange the race lead many times with very fast lap times. Later the #19 BMW developed big problems and lost a lot of times in its garage. This meant the #2 Audi was leading quite comfortably until a big crash early on Sunday morning. The car had to be repaired and lost almost a full hour in its garage. The #4 WRT Audi faced some technical issues during the event, while the #9 R8 of Raeder Motorsport crashed in traffic and was a retirement in the early hours of Sunday. The #3 Audi of Phoenix Racing first started battling with the #22 Mercedes-Benz SLS and later the #20 BMW Z4 GT3 for race lead. The BMW was eventually forced to stop almost the same way as its sister #19 car earlier. The #3 Audi was again leading the race overall for the majority of the closing stages, with the #26 R8 from Mamerow Racing able to take and hold second overall. After a very fought and chaotic race, the #3 Audi R8 LMS ultra crossed the finish line victorious.
The Audi R8 LMS ultra has added another major win for Audi. The car is clearly one of the best GT3 race cars around in both sprint and endurance race formats. With the Nürbruring 24 Hours accomplished, Audi will fight for a historical "Triple Crown" aiming to win the Le Mans 24 Hours and Spa 24 Hours later this year.
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| Audi R8 LMS ultra - Audi Sport Team Phoenix |
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| Audi R8 LMS ultra - Mamerow Racing |
