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rankings after 10 hours:

1 18 Lieb/Luhr/Bern/Duma / round 63 / Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
2 32 Arno/Marg/Brü/Fran / 63 / Heico Mercedes SLS AMG GT3
3 16 Ekst/Sche/Wern/Abt / 63 / Abt Audi R8 LMS
4 15 Stip/Henn/Haas/Wink / 63 / Phoenix Audi R8 LMS
5 14 Bass/Fäs/Picc/Stip / 63 / Phoenix Audi R8 LMS
6 1 Mül/Farf/Alze/Lamy / 62 / BMW Motorsport M3
7 12 Weis/Kain/Jaco/Krum / 62 / Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 MR
8 17 Ludw/Mies/Jön/Abt / 62 / Abt Audi R8 LMS

live streaming:

http://adac.24h-rennen.de/Live-Strea...11.4101.0.html

http://tv.audi.de/#/01

http://www.sportauto-online.de/news/...g-1051488.html




____________

 

and wins







a very happy Olaf Manthey (his 5th! overall win) and his wife:





Final result:

1 No.18, drivers:Lieb/Luhr/Bern/Duma, 156Laps, last lap time: 9:50.166 / 911 GT3 RSR
2 1 Mül/Farf/Alze/Lamy 155 8:54.448 / BMW M3
3 14 Bass/Fäs/Picc/Stip 155 9:37.582 / Audi R8
4 15 Stip/Henn/Haas/Wink 154 9:40.398 / Audi R8
5 16 Ekst/Sche/Wern/Abt 154 10:37.689 / Audi R8
6 22 Heye/Jäg/Blee/Seyf 153 9:03.563 / Mercedes SLS
7 32 Arno/Marg/Brü/Fran 152 10:34.391 / Mercedes SLS
8 2 Farn/Simo/Seef/Melo 151 9:43.280 / Ferrari 458
9 26 Abbe/Schm/Kent/Berg 151 9:15.645 / 911 GT3 R
10 12 Weis/Kain/Jaco/Krum 151 10:44.891 /911 GT3 MR
etc.

 

Congratulations to Manthey Racing for their victor and setting a new distance record of 156 laps in the process.

Updated pics from autoblog.







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It appears there was a standard GT3 with an RS wing that ran the race this year.

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And the picture perfect finish, containing three Manthey Racing Porsche 911s.

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Press release:

Marc Lieb, Lucas Luhr, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas managed to maintain their lead in the thirteenth hour but behind the #18 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR the battle for second place heated up with the Heico Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 #32, the Audi Sport Team Phoenix Audi R8 LMS #15 and the #1 BMW M3 GT. The #36 Mamerow Mercedes crashed out of the race at the Niki Lauda-Kurve.

Due to the crash of the BMW Z4 GT3 #76 and the #24 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 the crash site was a construction area for several hours and it would take until 6 am before it the yellow flags were gone again at the scene of the incident.

In the meantime the BMW M3 GT #1 of Jörg Müller, Augusto Farfus, Uwe Alzen and Pedro Lamy was pushing and managed to get back into second position overall in the fifteenth hour. The gap to the leading Manthey Racing Porsche had grown though with the Heico Motorsport Mercedes now third at almost a minute from the leaders – having been hit by a car earlier in the race casing some damage.

Need for Speed Team Schubert lost another car when the #77 BMW Z4 GT3 tangled with the #141 Seat Leon. The maneuver launched the BMW onto the barrier and into the catch fence. The car landed upside down and was an immediate retirement. With the barriers and catchfence damaged the scene of the accident was turned into a construction zone again and the race continued with both drivers uninjured. An unharmful spin for the #32 Mercedes meant a short delay, but gave the BMW the chance to pull further away from it.

At 9 o’clock, after completing 109 laps, the gap between the Porsche and the Mercedes-Benz was 4 minutes and 10 seconds, the BMW a further minute behind.

The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid was the next car to hit trouble after an apparent accident with a Renault Clio RS at Schwedenkreuz, the car returned to the pit and lost more valuable time in the pit box while being fixed. Unfortunately for Schubert Motorsport their day was over just before 10:30, when Marko Hartung parked the #4 BMW Z4 GT3 with a driveshaft failure.

After 19 hours of racing the top three was unchanged, with Manthey Racing leading the BMW Motorsport BMW M3 GT by just under 5,5 minutes and the Heico Motorsport Mercedes following some three minutes behind.

The top three remained the same over the following laps – with just the cars further down the field going off or spinning. With some three and a half hours left the #32 cars spun again, allowing the Audi’s behind to closin rapidly. The #8 Haribo Manthey Porsche – expected to race in the Spa 24 Hours as well – suffered a small fire after damaging the exhaust and damage to the rear. It returned to the track later on.

With just over two hours left the gap between the two leaders was still some 4,5 minutes, but behind them the Mercedes-Benz #32 and the #14 Audi Sport Team Phoenix Audi R8 LMS had found each other and fought for third overall. At the end of the lap(the 142nd) the Audi seemed to make it, but then came into the pit.

After 143 laps the #18 Porsche was 4:20.483 ahead of the #1 BMW M3 GT and another 3:02.007 over the #32 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. Behind it were three Audi R8 LMS, although the #16 had yet to come in for a one-minute stop & go.

Unfortunately for the Heico Motorsport team their hopes for a podium finish vanished when the #32 Mercedes-Benz came in and was pushed into the box. Work immediately started on the rear of the car, but as the car was stuck in the pit lane Audi’s #14 and #15 passed it. With just over 22 minutes left it returned to the track, but it had already dropped to seventh overall. Two cars remained on the lead lap – the gap between the Porsche and BMW still over four minutes.

In the remaining minutes the Manthey Racing Porsches got into formation and after completing 156 laps – a new distance record – the #18 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR crossed the line to secure another victory for Manthey Racing and Porsche Motorsport. Due to the slow formation lap the #1 BMW Motorsport BMW M3 managed to close the gap from 4 minutes and 50 seconds to 4 minutes and 23 seconds. Audi Sport Team Phoenix secured the final podium place in the last hour.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_pEi...layer_embedded

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiFmI...layer_embedded

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nd_F...layer_embedded

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQLWD...layer_embedded

 

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Stuttgart. It was one of the most exciting and dramatic 24 hour races at the Nürburgring. And it finished with a triumph for Porsche: In front of 220,000 spectators lining the legendary Nordschleife, Porsche works drivers Marc Lieb (Germany), Timo Bernhard (Germany), Romain Dumas (France) as well as Lucas Luhr (Switzerland) won the 39th running of the long distance classic in the Eifel with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and relegated their strong opponents from BMW, Mercedes and Audi to finish down the field.
For Porsche and the Porsche Team Manthey, this marked the fifth victory at the traditional race in the last six years – likewise for Timo Bernhard.
With the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR – the world’s most successful GT race car of the last years – the Porsche quartet snatched the lead on Saturday at 23.25 hours and held on to it to the flag. What followed were 16 hours and 35 minutes at the head of the field, 108 consistently fast and faultless laps under immense pressure on one of the toughest race tracks on earth – this speaks volumes about the reliability of the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and for the skill of the pilots. The new distance record set with a total of 156 laps and 3,958.968 kilometres underlines the superb effort of the winners and their team.
“We already knew before the start that we could only win if we worked together as a team, from the drivers through to the mechanics. And this worked very well for the entire time,” Timo Bernhard said. Indeed, aside from the usual tensions on the track, there was just one truly critical situation – strangely enough in the pits. Lucas Luhr: “During a pit stop the petrol pump didn’t work. Fuel simply didn’t come out. So we had to push our car back to another pump and in doing so lost almost a minute.”
The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid also gave an impressive performance, even though its second start at the 24 hour classic did not yield the anticipated top result. Fielded by Porsche Team Manthey with Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria), Marco Holzer (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA), the innovative race car with its ground-breaking drive concept finished an impressive 28th after a breathtaking chase through the field, 17 laps behind the winner.
Showing its true potential, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid moved into the lead on Saturday about four hours after the start. But a broken flange in the differential sent it into the pits for repairs, which cost six laps to the leader. But the trouble wasn’t to stop there: After a good seven hours, the same problem struck again necessitating a second unplanned pit stop. This time repairs took 40 minutes. With a ten-lap gap to the front-runners, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid rejoined the race in position 105. Clocking lap times which were sometimes faster than those at the front, it ploughed through the field to rank 23rd. However, on Sunday morning the vehicle’s charge was interrupted yet again: While lapping a slower competitor, Patrick Long was nudged and spun at high speed in the Flugplatz passage. In the pits, however, no damages to the vehicle were found.
Manned by Porsche factory pilot Wolf Henzler (Germany) as well as Peter Dumbreck (Great Britain), Martin Ragginger (Austria) and Sebastian Asch (Germany), the Porsche 911 GT3 R fielded by Falken Motorsports took up the race on intermediate tyres. This proved to be a good decision. Wolf Henzler made up several places before pitting after two laps once the rain had stopped to change to slicks. An engine change in the first quarter of the race robbed the team of all chances for a better result. At the flag, the Falken quartet occupied 49th. The swift lap times that the 911 GT3 R yielded after the long repair phase were, in this case, a poor consolation. “It was somewhat frustrating to drive such great times and yet be so far down the field,” said Wolf Henzler. “Still, considering these times, the mood in the team is good. It gives us a lot of motivation. Despite everything, we’re taking home a wealth of experience from the Nürburgring.”
After a trouble-free early phase under difficult conditions, the Porsche 911 GT3 R, which Manthey Racing ran parallel to the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, was taken out of the race after a good two hours. The team wanted to concentrate on just one car. A perfect strategy that was rewarded with victory. And as Timo Bernhard crossed the finish line with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, the Eifel at last showed its true sunny colours.

 

Second greatest race in the world, right up there w 24 Heures