[Robmaster]

BMW Motorsport win the legendary 24h-Race of the Nürburgring Nordschleife (Green Hell) with the new BMW M3 GT2!!!

it's the first time they start with the new M3 GT2 (first start since the last win of the two E46 M3 GTR) at the 24h-Race!


Congratulation to BMW!

[marcel b]

Originally Posted by M3_WC

Wow, Walter Röhrl finished 13th overall in a brand new "stock" 997 GT3 RS.

That is just cool.

Walter Röhrl didnot drive unfortunatly. He had backproblems and had to cancel one day before the race

[Kiemyster]

true champions, cannot come around. You really cant f with this car on its home track.... BMW FTMFW!!! This is always inspiring news!

[RIbimmer]

This is my favorite race of the year. Top GT drivers in 911s, M3s, and R8s on the track with local teams in Minis, Opels, VWs and old BMWs. It's just fantastic.

I managed to follow about six or seven hours live via streaming video, live timing, and commentary from radioleman.com. When I wasn't at my computer, I had the leaderboards on my Android phone!

Mark - thanks for the press release and photos.

Marcel - thanks for the video

David -

Congratulations BMW!!

[UNCbigM]

Good stuff.

[avilab]

Great pic of the winning BMW (and ironically the 'broken Audi' sign in the background). Fantastic and exciting race for almost the entire 24 hours!

[Bimmian #2]

Terrific race for BMW!

Here are some pics i made yesterday, Mario Theissen and the crew were out of control! I found myself here on one of Mark´s pics which are official press photos, on the one where the guys are waving the flags, which is kinda lol.

Enjoy!

[nusevad]

to BMW

Love that broken Audi sign pic!!!

[GewoW]

Anyone have high-res version of this pic? PLZ!!! lol

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by ebeem

+1

the GT3 R Hybrid was running perfectly...
no other competitor could have beaten it

Can you help me on race rules a bit? The Hybrid system in the Porsche can supply 120 kW (160 hp) for 6-8 seconds on most(?) corner exits. Seems like a massive advantage for the P-car compared to the M3 and all other similar power to weight cars (counting the ICE power only). How do such cars belong in the same class, is it by race rules? Thanks.

[KINGLEH]

damn that M3!

[RussRamz]

I was sitting on the fence at Schwalbenschwanz when the no. 26 car came around with a totally f'd left front suspension. It was just riding on the spring with the wheel bouncing up and down and all over the place and the front end all bashed up. I thought to myself--it's over for that car... But no!

Such a great weekend to be there for that race. We all had such a great time and then when the Manthey car broke, I couldn't believe it. I turned to my buddy and said "BMW will take the win!" AWESOME!

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by swamp2

Can you help me on race rules a bit? The Hybrid system in the Porsche can supply 120 kW (160 hp) for 6-8 seconds on most(?) corner exits. Seems like a massive advantage for the P-car compared to the M3 and all other similar power to weight cars (counting the ICE power only). How do such cars belong in the same class, is it by race rules? Thanks.

[KINGLEH]

Originally Posted by swamp2

The Hybrid car is in a different class... the pace of the car wasnt as good as the front cars.. but it pitted every 10 laps and had an advantage there.. most the lead cars were pitting in 9 laps...

But.. the pace of the Hybrid was good enough to win.. which it almost did till it broke.. the 2 or 3 'rabbits' crashed in the night.. #1 Manthey car was one of them.. which was the fastest car by far in the field...

Being fast helps in this race because there is no safety car... But also consistency and pit stop strategy and staying out of the pit is also just as important for the same reasons....

The 1st and 2nd place cars going into the night #1 manthey and an Audi PUSHED like hell all day and thats the reason they were up front.. They took risks and it was paying off... And then both of those cars crashed at different times in the night on the SAME lap... You cannot push as hard in the night.. the traffic is so bad and the traffic is naturally going slower... Also when you run up behind the cars you blind them in their mirrors and the slower car cant even see where he is going....

The #1 Porsche should not have been pushing that hard at night and he paid for it...



There were about 20 fast cars... in 5 different classes... There are MANY different classes and class wins aren't that special.. The M3 was in its own specific class also... because some cars are GT2 cars with more aero.. Some cars are specific built Nurburgring cars.. and some are GT3 cars with more aero.... The 2 M3s that ran in the race will ONLY race at the nurburgring.. they were built specifically for that track... Although the spec might not be to different then the LMS and ALMS car...

The GT3 cars actually have better straight speed... so the GT3 R and the AUDI R8.... Also the Hybrid has massive tq and grip out of the slow speed corners... The M3 was a little slower down the straight then these cars... But noone knows the others fuel strategy/consumption rate.. which directly related to HP... Some teams gave HP so they could run 1 more lap per stint.. Which turns out better in the end...

The Hybrid car was about 250 pounds heavier then some of the other front runners.. which made it ok to have that extra power... Basically they built a class for the car so it could run.. it WASNT the fastest.. but it ran a hell of a race.. which is why it almost won...

But this is such a hardcore endurance race.. So many things need to go right to win... The M3 almost didn't win BTW... they only had 3 gears left for the last hour.... So they were limping a little bit too... as most the cars at that point were taking it easy..

The Hankook Ferrari had 0 problems and was catching the M3... and almost won considering the M3's transmission... : )

[RIbimmer]

Can you help me on race rules a bit? The Hybrid system in the Porsche can supply 120 kW (160 hp) for 6-8 seconds on most(?) corner exits. Seems like a massive advantage for the P-car compared to the M3 and all other similar power to weight cars (counting the ICE power only). How do such cars belong in the same class, is it by race rules? Thanks.

There are many, many classes in the N24 and VLN races. The Audi R8's, BMW Z4 GT3, and the leading Porsches were in class SP9. The 2nd place Ferrari was in class SP7. Both the M3 GT2's and the Porsche hybrid ran in their own "experimental" classes, but were still eligible for the overall win.

There rules and regulations can be found on this page: http://www.vln.de/teilnehmerinfos.gb.php

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by KINGLEH

The Hybrid car is in a different class... the pace of the car wasnt as good as the front cars.. but it pitted every 10 laps and had an advantage there.. most the lead cars were pitting in 9 laps...

But.. the pace of the Hybrid was good enough to win.. which it almost did till it broke.. the 2 or 3 'rabbits' crashed in the night.. #1 Manthey car was one of them.. which was the fastest car by far in the field...

Being fast helps in this race because there is no safety car... But also consistency and pit stop strategy and staying out of the pit is also just as important for the same reasons....

Cool, thanks much. Great info. Are you saying the Porsche Hybrid's overall pace was not as good as other top cars? I thought there was agreement that if the Porsche hybrid stayed in the race at anything like its pace in the beginning it would have been the clear winner. You also said," the pace of the car wasn't as good as the front cars.." but then right after ,"#1 Manthey car was ... the fastest car by far in the field..."?

Did the P-H walk the M3 GT2 in corner exits?

[marcel b]

Originally Posted by swamp2

Cool, thanks much. Great info. Are you saying the Porsche Hybrid's overall pace was not as good as other top cars? I thought there was agreement that if the Porsche hybrid stayed in the race at anything like its pace in the beginning it would have been the clear winner. You also said," the pace of the car wasn't as good as the front cars.." but then right after ,"#1 Manthey car was ... the fastest car by far in the field..."?

Did the P-H walk the M3 GT2 in corner exits?

the hybrid would have won, because some faster cars crashed / got reliability issues.
Although is was lapping slower then some other cars remaining on the track, it had the advantage that is had to come in the box less.

Fastest lap of the 997 GT3 Hybrid was a 08:35, BMW M3: 08:32, Manthey 997 GT3 R 08:28, fastest R8: 08:32

nice inboard of the hybrid:

[KINGLEH]

Originally Posted by swamp2

Cool, thanks much. Great info. Are you saying the Porsche Hybrid's overall pace was not as good as other top cars? I thought there was agreement that if the Porsche hybrid stayed in the race at anything like its pace in the beginning it would have been the clear winner. You also said," the pace of the car wasn't as good as the front cars.." but then right after ,"#1 Manthey car was ... the fastest car by far in the field..."?

Did the P-H walk the M3 GT2 in corner exits?

Right.. the Hybrid was a bit slower then the 'rabbits' (the #1 Manthey car and 1 or 2 Audi's)... But was fast enough to be able to win overall... If the faster cars had no problems then they would have won.. obviously.... But this is an endurance race and that's almost impossible!..


And yes.. the Hybrid was clearly slower then the #1 Manthey car... And even let the #1 car pass on the north loop.. Team orders i suppose.. If cars are similar pace.. its almost impossible to pass on the north loop as its to risky... So it was clear there were 2 different strategy's... tortes and the hair...

[Mark]

Here is a new celebratory video put out by BMW to mark their place as the 'Lord of the Ring'

[TSM330i]

I was at the 'Ring the week before the race (yes, I drove the ring). The fans were already setting up their camps 7 days prior to the race. I'll post some pics and vids up.
Great for BMW!!!

[positiveions]

Originally Posted by MarkE90M3

Here is a new celebratory video put out by BMW to mark their place as the 'Lord of the Ring'

wow, great video Mark. thanks for sharing. Looks like the good 'ol days are back boys.
On a side note, i have great respect for Walter Röhrl. The man is a terror on any circuit.

[T89]

T