Oh yes, that was still there this weekend…
You have sometimes of those weekends that if you’re a car enthusiast totally have no idea where to look. In addition to a street race on the Cote d’azur and a prestigious auction something away, there was also the finish line of the Nürburgring 24 hours. Just like the 24 hours of Le Mans last year was the sting in the tail.
For a long time it seemed as if the Audi R8 LMS #29 of Dutchman Robin Frijns profit to tackle. An electronic problem threw a spanner in the works, because the R8 LMS lost a lot of speed. The problem could be fixed in the pits, but the car lost a lot of time. Finally came the R8 as the third back on the job.
Just before the finish line decided the weather gods that it had had rain. This resulted in the top 3, still a bit unsettled. Finally pulled the team of Winckelhock, Philippi, Mies and van der Linde (despite the English sounding name is not Dutch but South-African) at the longest end. Special mention for the Amersfoort-born Nick Catsburg. He stood two times this weekend on the stage. Not only after the end of the Nürburgring 24 Hours, but also at the WTCC (in a Volvo S60 TC1). That was there this weekend also.
The top 10 (with 5 Dutch!) looks like the following:
1. Audi R8 LMS #29
Winkelhock, Philippi, Mies van der Linde
158 laps / 21 pit stops
2. BMW M6 GT3 #98
Westbrook, Palttala, CATSBURG, Sims
158 laps / 21 pit stops
3. Audi R8 LMS #9
FRIJNS, Fassler, Rast, Müller
158 laps / 21 pit stops
4. BMW M6 GT3 #42
Farfus, Wittmann, Blomqvist, Tomczyk
158 laps / 22 pit stops
5. Mercedes-AMG GT3 #1
Angel, Christodoulou, BUURMAN, Metzger
158 laps / 21 pit stops
6. Porsche 911 GT3 R #31
Christensen, Siedler
157 laps / 20 pit stops
7. Ferrari 488 GT3 #22
Krumbach, Keilwitz, Weiss, Kainz
157 laps / 20 pit stops
8. BMW M6 GT3 #33
Seefried, Imperatori, DÜSSELDORF, Dumbreck
157 laps / 21 pit stops
9. Mercedes-AMG GT3 #8
VAN DER ZANDE, Götz, Lance-David Alzen
157 laps / 21 pit stops
10. BMW M6 GT3 #99
Martin, Basseng, Scary, Sims
157 laps / 20 pit stops
The other Nederlandsers ended:
P15 (Dontje, Mercedes-AMG GT3)
P51 (Schothorst, Hyundai i30 N)
P63 (Jensen, BMW 235i)
P73 (van Dam, Subaru WRX STI)
P141 (van Ramshorst, BMW 325i (E90))