Nurburgring 24 Hours

2014 Nurburgring 24 Hours: Update After 1 Hour

2 Mins read
2014 Nurburgring 24 Hours (Credit: Tom Loomes)

An eventful first hour of the 2014 ADAC Zurich Nurburgring 24 Hours passed with several potential winners finding problems early on.

Having claimed pole position Kevin Estre led the early laps in the #69 Dorr Motorsport McLaren MP4-12C, with Maxime Martin slotting into second position from second on the grid in the #25 BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS Z4 GT3. Markus Palttala, Martin’s teammate in the team’s #26 car was the first to find trouble in the race, tapping the Schubert BMW of Claudia Hurtgen in to a spin through the tight chicane at the very start of lap two.

Martin himself would be another to suffer early incident. Spinning on oil potentially left by the #50 Hyundai Genesis Coupe the Belgian spun through the NGK chicane, pitting from the back of the Grand Prix track and thus falling down the order.

Only a minute later the Car Collection Motorsport Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 went for a similar spin at the same corner. However, while Martin ended relatively harmlessly into the gravel the Mercedes crashed into the Manthey Racing #12 Porsche, severely damaging both machines.

At about the same time Estre made minor contact with the #301 BMW 235i at the top of the Flugplatz jump, the BMW being a lazy spin towards the tyre barriers on the outside of the following right hander. As those following tried to avoid the spinning car Thomas Jager’s #23 Rowe Racing Mercedes was hit from behind by another of the lower class BMWs, pushed into a spin against the barriers on the inside of the corner.

In the aftermath the second of the BMWs involved stopped further round the track, requiring the intervention vehicles to be scrambled and a yellow flag area to be thrown around it. While others slowed down as instructed the AT Class Dodge Viper arrived on the accident scene at unabated speed, slamming into the Besaplast Racing Team Mini and narrowly avoiding one of the Audi intervention vehicles.

Estre gave up the lead to pit after just four laps, passing the position to Lucas Luhr in the #19 BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert entry with the #4 Phoenic Racing Audi (Rene Rast) and #14 Black Falcon Mercedes of Yelmer Buurman to battle over second place, with Buurman coming out ahead at the end of lap six – the last completed within the opening hour.

The issues for some team began before the race did with both the Frikadelli Racing Team Porsche and the #80 Nissan GT Academy Team RJN pitting at the end of the formation lap, the Porsche of Patrick Pilet due to a loose water hose while Alex Buncombe brought the GT-R to the pits with left-front damage after contact on the formation lap.

2014 ADAC Zurich Nurburgring 24 Hours overall standings after 1 hour:

1 – #19 BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert – Werner/Muller/Luhr/Sims

2 – #14 Black Falcon Mercedes – Al Faisal/Haupt/Christodoulou/Buurman

3 – #4 Phoenix Racing Audi – Haase/Mamerow/Rast/Winkelhock

4 – #1 Black Falcon Mercedes – Bleekemolen/Simonsen/Menzel/Arnold

5 – #26 BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS – Leinders/Palttala/Catsburg/Adorf

Selected Class leaders:

SP7 – #41 Manthey Racing Porsche

SP8 – #48 Gazoo Racing Lexus

SP10 – #94 Team Mathol Racing Aston Martin

SP3T – #118 Subaru Tecnica International

SP4T – #110 Besaplast Racing Team 1 Audi

2902 posts

About author
James is our Diet-Coke fuelled writer and has been with TCF pretty much since day 1, he can be found frequenting twitter at @_JBroomhead
Articles
Related posts
Endurance RacingFIA WECNurburgring 24 HoursNürburgring Endurance SeriesPorsche Series

Porsche Manthey-Racing mark 25th anniversary with new partnership

3 Mins read
Porsche Manthey-Racing are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, with a new partnership having enjoyed significant success in GT racing since 1996.
GT World ChallengeIntercontinental GT ChallengeNurburgring 24 Hours

BMW M4 GT3 hits 12,000km in Spain tests

2 Mins read
BMW have announced that the new M4 GT3 has already clocked up 12,000 kilometres while testing in Spain. It’s set for a competitive debut in 2022.
Nurburgring 24 HoursNürburgring Endurance SeriesSportscars

Sabine Schmitz: 1969 - 2021

1 Mins read
The racing world is mourning the loss of a legend today after the news that Sabine Schmitz has lost her long battle with cancer.