Mercedes claims first Nurburgring 24 Hours victory

Mercedes claimed its first Nurburgring 24 Hours victory in one of the most dramatic races in the history of the event.

Five-time DTM champion Bernd Schneider and his team-mates Sean Edwards, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Nicki Thiim steered their Black Falcon-entered SLS to victory, just 2m39s in front of the hard-charging Maxime Martin in the Marc VDS-entered BMW Z4.

Belgian Martin was one of the stars of the race, the BMW works driver lapping more than 20 seconds a lap faster than his opponents at times during the race, which was hit by rain several times.

He could not stop the Black Falcon entry however, even after Schneider lost over two minutes on Monday morning when he was pushing too hard while gaining huge amounts of time in fifth position. It was Schneider's first finish in the 24-hour classic.
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mclaren428 - 5/20/2013 8:46:06 PM

+2 Boost

Exciting race with tough conditions, but Mercedes finish strong 1st,3rd and 4th. Maxime Martin also had an incredible last stint in the Z4 overtaking the two rowe Mercedes for 2nd in a dramatic finish. Definitely my favorite enduro race every year.

Satriani1 - 5/21/2013 3:40:06 AM

-4 Boost

At the DTM race in Britain's Brands Hatch circuit:
- First place: Mike Rockenfeller drove an Audi RS5 DTM in a dominant lights-to-flag victory.
- Second place: Bruno Spengler with his BMW M3 DTM.
- Third place: Robert Wickens with his Mercedes AMG C-Coupe DTM.
http://tinyurl.com/kxm7fq6

As for the 24-hour Nurburgring race in Germany, it was messed up by several periods of rain. The race was interrupted by heavy rain for more than 9 hours.

- Four Audi R8 LMS Ultra cars had qualified for the top ten grid positions: 1, 3, 5 and 10. This year's pole position was achieved by last year's race winner Frank Stippler (Audi R8 LMS ultra #4 of Phoenix Racing) as he ran the fastest timed single lap (8 min 17 sec) of the top 40 teams driven by the best GT3 drivers.
http://tinyurl.com/noq6og9
http://tinyurl.com/nybrsoe

It's a pity that no team with an Audi R8 was able to capitalize on their grid positions. Stippler's team finished fifth in the actual race. Two other R8 cars finished eight and ninth in the top ten.
http://tinyurl.com/prt5d2r

M5twinturbo - 5/21/2013 4:48:14 AM

+3 Boost

BMW had pole last year in the 24, but lost to misfortune, and they had the fastest race lap this year... That's how racing goes,and why they run the races. Congratulations to Mercedes with 3 cars in the top 4.

Satriani1 - 5/22/2013 12:30:19 AM

-2 Boost

M5twinturbo: “That's how racing goes, and why they run the races.”

That’s as meaningless as saying: that’s how the Superbowl goes, and why they play the Superbowl.

Any sports event can be analyzed, particularly in this case with the unusually tough weather and track conditions.

Extreme weather (heavy rain, fog) and several accidents caused a dangerous mix of oil, mud and standing water on the road. There was a lot of aquaplaning going on once the rain started. The regular all-wheel drive, @560 HP Audi R8 GT or R8 V10 Plus would have had an advantage in these conditions over the Merc SLS and BMW Z4. But the Audi R8 LMS Ultra racecar is rear-wheel drive (not all-wheel drive) and limited to 500 HP to meet GT3 racing rules. The dangerous conditions turned the race into Russian roulette for all cars -- three of the eight R8 cars dropped out of the race due to bad damage (e.g., two R8 cars slipped on oil slicks – one crashed into the barriers while the other destroyed its suspension). Given the extreme conditions, no trophy was for the GT sports car was given this year (the R8 LMS had won the GT3 class the previous four consecutive years as well as the overall victory last year).

According to analysts, the extreme weather conditions meant the pre-race decisions taken by the teams on how their cars were set up influenced the performance results: the Audi R8s were set up for drier conditions and so dominated the race in the early hours while it was drier. The BMW Z4 was the better car in the wet conditions. The top Mercedes teams put on a setup on their SLS that worked in all conditions -- in the rain it was almost on par with the BMW. That all-weather set up plus Bernd Schneider’s great driving in the late morning probably clinched it for the winning Mercedes team. When the race was interrupted after six hours, the winning Mercedes team wasn't even among the top ten cars. Had the weather remained drier, it's unlikely the winning Mercedes would have won.

M5twinturbo - 5/22/2013 8:22:40 AM

+2 Boost

The fact is all the teams had to prepare for the same race and had to race in the same conditions. Mercedes clearly adapted to the changing conditions better , and made the right decisions at thd right time better than other teams to get 3 Mercedes in the top 4. Audi had 8 r8's entered into the race, and if they were set up the same that is a gross error in planning in audis part especially when rain was in the forecast days before the race. Also the z4 clocked a 8:22 in dry during the race with traffic on the track...easily the fastest lap of the race. Either way rain or shine there is no far guaranteed winner. For the history of the race BMW has 19 overall wins, Porsche 10, Mercedes 1, Audi 1.