Audi R8 LMS wins Nurburgring 24Hours

The lead changed 35 times – between Audi, BMW and Porsche – depending on which car dove into the pits first. It is said that the last time the urburgring 24 Hours was this thrilling was back in 1970. But at the chequered flag, it was clear who had won. 40 seconds separate the winner from runner-up, a huge advantage that Audi Sport Team WRT had over BMW Team Marc VDS.

Christopher Mies, one of the drivers of Audi Sport Team WRT, said, “It was a tough race and a close battle with BMW and Porsche. The new Audi R8 LMS was running well. There wasn’t even the slightest problem. But during the night we lost three to four minutes due to a yellow period and, as a result, our advantage was gone. Afterwards, we really had to battle hard. BMW put us under a lot of pressure. The car was running superbly and the pit stops were brilliant. That was enough for us to win in the end with a 40-second advantage.

The other Audi cars weren’t so lucky. Car 1 of Audi Sport Team Phoenix was forced to retire after an accident while the team’s Car 4 spun on track due to an oil spill, causing another accident. Audi Sport Team WRT’s second car came in seventh, who lost three laps early in the race due to an accident.

Malaysia also had representation in the Nurburgring 24 Hours. Our Alex Yoong, together with Franky Congfu Cheng, Marchy Lee and Shaun Tong drove the Audi R8 LMS Ultra – winner of the 2012 and 2014 Nurburgring 24 Hours – can only manage 12^th place. A respectable result considering that the SP 9 GT class started with 31 cars on the grid.