The 50th edition of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring has been a true motorsport festival. If in 2020 the race was held in September and without an audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2021 it was held in June and with a reduced volume of spectators concentrated in the ‘Grand Prix’ circuit area, this year the German appointment has been celebrated in style. Camping has returned to the Eiffel woods that shape the section of the Nordschleife.
The presence of thousands of fans with their tents, caravans, eccentricities and barbecues have given color to a race that in sports has had the Audi #15 as the main protagonist. The Team Phoenix GT3 driven by Kelvin Van der Liden, Dries Vanthoor, Frédéric Vervisch and Robin Frijns has achieved a brilliant victory, a success that was at times in doubt due to a last irregular stop that led to a 32-second penalty that ultimately did not change the outcome of the race.
Behind the #15 Audi were the two Mercedes-AMG GT3s from Team GetSpeed. The #3 of Adam Christodoulou, Maximilian Götz and Fabian Schiller took the second final position after a great race, while the #4 of Maro Engel, Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella was in charge of completing the podium. A new success for the Spanish rider after starting from twelfth position that allows him to add his second consecutive podium in the event after the brilliantly achieved last year.
Far from the successes of the three mentioned GT3, the 24 Hours of Nürburgring also gave away a bunch of winners in the rest of the category that make up the race. In the SP-X class the victory went to the Glickenhaus #706 piloted by Felipe Fernández Laser, Thomas Mutsch, Franck Mailleux and Richard Westbrook, while among the GT4 the #BMW 74 prevailed from FKPerformance Motorsport. In addition, in the ‘Green Hell’ there was a Spanish victory, since the Hyundai Elantra N TCR #830 prevailed over its rivals, which allowed Mikel Azcona to achieve this enormous success.
Beyond results, the 50th edition of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring has recovered its essence. And not only because of the presence of the public, but because of the development of the race itself. If in the 2021 edition the fog caused the shortest race in the history of the event, this year it has been possible to dispute with total normality, with its pertinent doses of ‘drama’ in the form of rain that caused a certain strategic chaos in fundamental moments of the race. Something natural at the Nürburgring, as you can see in the video with the highlights of the race.
Photos: Audi Sport