- Overall positions four and eleven for Mercedes-AMG Team BILSTEIN
- Schnitzelalm Racing on the podium in the SP9 PRO-AM and SP10 classes
- Poor visibility allows only nine hours of racing action on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife
Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing completed the shortest ADAC RAVENOL 24h Race at the Nürburgring of all time with a Top 5 finish. The #4 Mercedes-AMG Team BILSTEIN finished fourth overall after a race lasting eight hours and 57 minutes, while the #3 sister car crossed the finish line in eleventh position. 240,000 fans around the Nürburgring-Nordschleife witnessed the 52nd edition of the endurance classic, which was characterised by unstable weather conditions and had to be interrupted for a total of 15 hours due to heavy fog.
The race was classified after just 50 laps had been completed. At 23:22 CEST on Saturday evening, race control initially called out a red flag for safety reasons because the track was no longer safe. After the restart was initially postponed indefinitely until the morning hours, the hoped-for improvement in visibility did not arise for most of the Sunday. At 13:30, CEST the remaining cars initially completed five scheduled formation laps behind the safety car. As the conditions did not improve significantly, the race was flagged off at 15:05 CEST.
Premature finish prevents better positions for Mercedes-AMG Team BILSTEIN
At this point, the #4 Mercedes-AMG Team BILSTEIN in particular was in a promising position for the battle for the lead. The quartet of drivers led by Maximilian Götz (GER), Daniel Juncadella (ESP), Arjun Maini (IND) and Luca Stolz (GER) made up places in the first half of the race with quick lap times. In addition, clever strategy decisions in this year’s tyre gamble helped to secure a top position. Ultimately, the heavy fog prevented a possible move to the top. In fourth place, car #4 achieved the best result for Mercedes-AMG.
The #3 sister car had also worked its way into a promising position by the time the race was stopped on Saturday night. With the rain setting in just after the four-hour mark, the team also switched to wet tyres as it did for the #4 car early on and established itself in the leading group from then on. Mercedes-AMG Performance Driver and double starter Arjun Maini (IND) was even able to briefly take the lead with the #3 entry. Maini, Michele Beretta (ITA), Frank Bird (GBR) and Jusuf Owega (GER) took on the restart in seventh place. Due to finishing behind the safety car, they were unable to reward their impressive performance with a podium finish and ended up in eleventh place.
The Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the Team ADVAN x HRT remained in the Top 10 as well as in first place in the SP9 PRO-AM class for several hours after the start. Due to a tyre failure after around six hours, the car lost touch with the front runners and finished the race in 18th place, which was equivalent to fifth place in their class.
Schnitzelalm Racing celebrates class successes in SP9 PRO-AM and SP10
Schnitzelalm Racing made it onto the podium in two classifications. The #11 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Jay Mo Härtling, Kenneth Heyer and Marcel Marchewicz (all GER), which started the race from 22nd on the grid, finished 14th overall and secured second place in the SP9 PRO-AM category. The only Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the field also put in an impressive performance. Starting driver David Schumacher (GER) made his 24h Nürburgring debut in the #111 from twelfth place in the SP10 grid and set course for the top spots early on, running in a podium position after a short time. Moritz Wiskirchen (GER) drove the car to the finish on Sunday, which meant third place in class. With these successes, Schnitzelalm Racing now has a total of six class podiums at the endurance classic in the Eifel.
Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed left unrewarded for strong performance
The two Mercedes-AMG GT3s of Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed were unable to play a part in the decider of the race after unfortunate racing incidents in the evening hours. Starting from eighth on the grid, Maro Engel had initially fitted what looked like the right tyres on his Mercedes-AMG GT3 with cut slicks. Already on the GP circuit the #130 took the lead in the overall standings. During the course of the opening lap, the dry tyre with the cut profile proved to be the wrong choice for the increasingly wet conditions, which made a pit stop and change to rain tyres inevitable. Following this, Engel put in a remarkable comeback drive to catch up with the Top 10 again. In the third hour of the race, Fabian Schiller (GER) was involved in a racing incident. This resulted in a one-hour pit stop. The repair and further safety checks set the car back seven laps.
The #8 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed was caught on the wrong foot by the weather conditions in the darkness shortly before 23:00 CEST. Adam Christodoulou (GBR) went off the track in the Metzgesfeld section while running in ninth position. He returned the damaged car back to the pits under its own power. The team decided to withdraw car # 8, which had been setting impressive lap times up to that point, from the race due to the required repairs. The team had previously been on an offset strategy, which put the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the lead at times.
Intercontinental GT Challenge: Second place overall for Luca Stolz
In 2024, the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring was held for the first time as part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC). Of all the cars nominated for the IGTC, the Mercedes-AMG Team BILSTEIN #4 finished third. Luca Stolz had already finished on the podium in second place at the season opener on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst. The Mercedes-AMG Performance driver is now second in the drivers’ standings with 33 championship points after two of four races this season.
“Of course I’m a little disappointed, as I’m sure everyone is. So much energy and preparation went into this weekend and we would have loved to have had an exciting and, above all, full 24-hour race. We definitely had the chance to finish on the podium or even win in our anniversary year – despite or perhaps because of the capricious weather. Of course, we would have needed a few more laps under green to get back into the race for the top positions. But the race direction’s decision was undoubtedly the right one in terms of safety. Congratulations to the Team Scherer Sport PHX on winning this memorable race and a big thank you to our teams, drivers and all our fans.”
Christoph Sagemüller, Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport
“We went through all the variables again at the restart of the race in order to make the right strategic decisions for an intense closing stage. Unfortunately, it didn’t come to that, which is absolutely understandable given the foggy conditions. Although we no longer had the Mercedes-AMG GT3, which was best placed in qualifying, within striking distance of the leaders before the halfway point of the race, our other cars were also competitive in every respect. We could have had a say in the overall victory, but the 24-hour race in the Eifel always writes its own stories. Team Schnitzelalm also made a very successful contribution to this with two podium finishes in the classes.”
Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing
“I actually really like driving at night and it was a shame that the fog came in. But safety always comes first. In the first place, I feel sorry for the fans. They have been setting up here for a week and were looking forward to a cool race, and we could only offer them such in the early hours. For us, fourth place is disappointing. Finishing in the Top 10 here is always a solid result, but you don’t take home a trophy for this. We’re here to win and we didn’t achieve that. Nevertheless, I’m already looking forward to next year. The race always is an absolute highlight. It’s a huge challenge and the incentive is always there.”
Luca Stolz, Mercedes-AMG Team BILSTEIN #4
“Of course, it’s not very satisfying that we had such a short race and weren’t able to get further up the field. Otherwise, we had a great weekend, qualifying and the race went well. So apart from the weather situation, we are very content. The team puts so much time and money into a 24-hour race. If it had gone on longer, we would have made it even further up the field. But we got through without a scratch, and we can be proud of that.”
Kenneth Heyer, Schnitzelalm Racing #11
“I was under a lot of pressure at the start. That’s why I was a bit nervous beforehand, because the conditions were very mixed. Fortunately, we made the right choice with the rain tyres. After that, we were in the top three or four the whole time. The car came to us and so did the track conditions. That’s why it was a bit of a shame that the red flag was shown. I think we could have been right at the front in the end, but it wasn’t meant to be. At least we showed great pace.”
Frank Bird, Mercedes-AMG Team BILSTEIN #3
“A crazy race, but not even the craziest I’ve experienced here so far. I would have liked to have seen the race restarted for the last three hours. The majority of the track was good to race on and the worse sections could possibly have been declared Code 120. It’s a shame, especially for the spectators. We didn’t have much to lose, so we came in again behind the safety car to avoid having to stop at a possible restart. It would have been a good show, but in the end we had no influence on the conditions.”
Hubert Haupt, Team ADVAN x HRT #6
“The race was very unfortunate for us. I think we were better prepared as a team, as a manufacturer and as drivers than ever before. We put a lot of energy into this weekend and it was a great pity that we lost all chances of victory after just two and a half hours. I can’t see that I misjudged the situation on the Döttinger Höhe. What I do blame myself for, however, is that I shouldn’t have taken such a big risk so early on. It was a shame for the team because everyone had worked so hard and a double retirement was obviously the last thing we wanted to see here. But we’re not burying our heads in the sand and we’ll be back next year to get that long-awaited win.”
Fabian Schiller, Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed #130
“It looked so promising at the beginning and we were in a good position. The car seemed pretty strong, we had a really strong line-up, but for various reasons it wasn’t our year. The #130 got squeezed in the collision, which was just unfortunate. And then of course I felt pretty terrible because I was in the #8 car when I hit the wet patch on slicks. Unfortunately, at that moment I was just a passenger and the damage was too bad to continue. It’s the name of the game around here, you’ve got to take maximum risk on this track to be in contention for the win. It paid off for us in the past, but not this time.”
Adam Christodoulou, Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed #8
“We had a very good, but also complicated weekend. After the damage in qualifying, the team did a great job and repaired the car in Niederzissen. Almost everything was replaced in a short space of time. That was actually a two-week job. I had a great start stint in which I moved up from P12 in the class to P1. In the night until the red flag, we dropped back to third place, but that’s still a very good result. We’re satisfied, even though we would obviously have liked to be right at the front again. I had great fun on my debut here and am already looking forward to next year.”
David Schumacher, Schnitzelalm Racing #111
