Porsche at Nurburgring 24 Hours 2019 - Highlights

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Porsche narrowly missed out on claiming its 13th overall victory after an almost flawless performance. The latest generation of the Porsche 911 GT3 R with the starting number 911 fielded by Manthey-Racing had held the lead for 105 of the 157 laps and ultimately had to settle for second place. Three hours before the end of the race, the nine-eleven lost the top spot after receiving a time penalty and was unable to make up lost ground despite setting the fastest pace in the field.

Right from the start, there was no doubt that the crew of the two newly crowned sports car world champions Kévin Estre (France) and Michael Christensen (Denmark) as well as Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Earl Bamber (New Zealand) were determined to win the prestigious endurance race in the Eifel. After a sensational overtaking manoeuvre, Kévin Estre swept into the lead after a good five hours of racing, which he and his teammates then defended for two-thirds of the distance with faultless stints and a perfectly set up Porsche 911 GT3 R. Clocking a time of 8:17.745 minutes, Estre also turned the fastest race lap in his last stint. The brutal time penalty of 5:32 minutes due to an overlooked yellow flag dashed all hopes of winning.

There was great excitement with Manthey-Racing’s second Porsche 911 GT3 R. The No. 12 vehicle secured fifth place overall, at the same time winning its class in the Pro-Am category. The two Porsche Young Professionals Matteo Cairoli (Italy) and Dennis Olsen (Norway) put in a spirited fight with the seasoned specialists Otto Klohs and Lars Kern (both Germany). A week earlier at the Le Mans 24 Hours, a Porsche team had claimed victory in the amateur category. The Iron Force by Ring Police squad with the two Germans Jan-Erik Slooten and Lucas Luhr as well as Steve Jans (Luxembourg) and Adrien de Leener (Belgium) brought the No. 8 Porsche 911 GT3 R home on twelfth place, which handed them fourth in the Pro-Am class.

However, not only the seven 911 GT3 R made an impression at the event. In the near-standard category, too, most of the vehicles that set the pace came from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Eight of the 24 classes were won by Porsche teams.