NüRBURG, Germany — The Scherer PHX Audi team prevailed in what was probably the most unusual and definitely the shortest Eifel Marathon in the long history of the race.
With its seventh overall victory, the team closes in on its Meuspath neighbor and record winner Manthey. Ricardo Feller drove the No. 16 Scherer Audi over the finish line on Sunday afternoon at just after 2 p.m. local time — for the first time before 24 hours had elapsed — and also for the first time neutralized due to fog and at a slow speed.
Joining Feller in celebrating was Dennis Marschall, who, like the Swiss, celebrated his first 24-hour victory, as well as the two Audi veterans Frank Stippler and Christopher Mies, who celebrated their third triumph in the Eifel in front of 240,000 spectators (over the entire weekend).
“I have known the mechanics since 2009, when I started at Audi. It is nice to end this with a win together,” said Mies after what was probably his last race in an Audi. The other places on the podium went to the No. 911 Manthey Porsche with Laurens Vanthoor, Thomas Preining, Kevin Estre and Ayhancan Güven and the No. 72 RMG BMW with Daniel Harper, Max Hesse and Charles Weerts.
Like 10 other vehicles that were still on the lead lap after the race was interrupted, these two teams had no chance of attacking the leaders in the final phase, despite the elimination of the previous time gaps. The last five laps were completed neutralized behind a leading vehicle.
After a good 14-hour fog break, the ninth and second longest interruption of the traditional race ever, the race was restarted at 1:30 pm. However, as visibility conditions did not improve sufficiently, race director Walter Hornung had to wave off the race early. It is the first victory for an Audi after 2022. Stippler had previously won in the “Green Hell” in 2012 and 2019, Mies in 2015 and 2017.
Spectacular Start After “Punctual” Rain
Shortly before the start of the formation lap, it began to rain at various points on the track. While Harper, who was on pole, stayed on dry tires with no tread, his immediate pursuers quickly switched to rain tires before race director Walter Hornung sent the first starting group on their journey to the “Green Hell” with the green flag.
It was the wrong decision for Harper’s team, because before the race was given the green light, the Briton headed to the pits and also had rain tires put on, which initially dropped him back to 21st place. At the front, Estre in the No. 911 Manthey Porsche maintained the lead he had taken without a fight against Maro Engel in the No. 130 Getspeed Mercedes-AMG and Farfus in the #99 Rowe BMW, who had moved up from seventh on the grid. Engel took the lead on the Grand Prix track and led the field out onto the Nordschleife for the first time.
However, his tire gamble didn’t work out there either, because with hand-cut slicks, Engel was pushed down to 24th place in the further course of the first lap and then also got rain tires.
After that, Estre and Farfus fought a private duel at the front, often within less than a second of each other, swapping the lead four times and after four laps already had a 37-second lead over the third-placed No. 16 Scherer Audi, which Harper had fought his way back to the top with a fantastic comeback.
After the first pit stops, the No. 99 Rowe BMW led the field for a long time until Sheldon van der Linde was hit by a slower vehicle while lapping and was involved in a violent crash with three cars. The dream of victory was over for the Rowe BMW. As darkness fell, Mies in the No. 16 and again Harper provided great entertainment and fought hard but fair duels for the lead. When the race was interrupted with the red flag at 11:23 p.m. due to the increasing fog, the Audi driver was ahead.
Restart After A Long Break
It was the ninth race interruption in the history of the race. The first was in 1992, the last in 2021 — this was also the longest so far, with 14.5 hours of downtime, also due to fog.
In 2020, heavy rain during the night caused a forced break of 7.5 hours. In 2018, the race was interrupted three hours before the end due to fog, and the decision was made after the restart in a 90-minute final sprint.
Because the fog persisted on Sunday morning, the restart had to be postponed again and again. It was not until 1:30 p.m. that race director Walter Hornung gave the green flag to restart the race, which finally ended behind a leading car.
“I would like to thank all the fans who made this week a huge motorsport festival and celebrated the 24h Nürburgring with us despite all the vagaries of the weather,” said Hornung. “I would like to thank the participants and teams for their understanding that we were able to finish this special race in this way.”
The next ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring will take place from June 19-25, 2025.
Unofficial Results:
Podium:
FIRST OVERALL: #16 Stippler / Mies / Feller / Marschall (Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II) Ricardo Feller takes victory for Scherer Sport PHX at the 52nd ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring. This gives the Audi team its seventh overall victory at the 24h Nürburgring and draws level with Manthey Racing.
SECOND: #911 Vanthoor / Preining / Estre / Güven (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992))
THIRD: #72 Harper / Hesse / Weerts (BMW M4 GT3) Daniel Harper secures the last place on the podium for BMW M Team RMG.
Class leaders after the end of the race (subject to technical follow-up checks):
AT2: #320 Halder / Smudo / Bollerslev / von Löwis of Menar (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992)
AT3: #50 Leuchter / Kristoffersson / Hammel / Otto (VW Golf GTI Clubsport 24h)(Best Alternative Fuel Participant)
M240i: #650 Markert / Mijatovic / Stahlschmidt / Deißler (BMW M240i Racing Cup)
Cup2: #103 Kaya / Piana / Scheerbarth / Stursberg (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992))(Best Cup Vehicle)
Cup3: #959 Eichenberg / Grosse / Grütter (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (Type 982))
SP10: #188 Oosten / Wüstenhagen / Hancke / Stegmann (BMW M4 GT4 (G82))
SP11: #55 Hofer / Gebhardt / Vettel / Dörr (KTM X-Bow GT2)
SP3: #275 Müller / Groth / Becker (BMW 318ti (E36))
SP3T: #317 Cooper / Fischer / Kragenings / Sauerbrei (MINI John Cooper Works Pro )
SP4: #152 Oepen / Launhardt / Köppert (BMW 325CI)
SP4T: #88 van Dam / Schrick / Sasaki / Kubo (Subaru WRX )
SP6: #207 Kroll / Prinz / Prinz / Mühlenz (BMW M3 CSL (E46))
SP7: #80 Neuffer / Sacchi / Ruhrmann / Knötschke (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (Type 982))
SP8T: #145 Glock / Scheider / Bleekemolen / Cate (BMW M4 GT4 (G82))
SP9: #16 Stippler / Mies / Feller / Marschall (Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II)
SP-X: #706 Mutsch / Mailleux / Arnold / Ledogar (SCG 004c)
TCR: #831 Gottsacker / Filippi / Wilkins / Morris (Hyundai Elantra TCR)(Best front-wheel drive)
V4: #711 Müller / Müller / Hausmeier / Fischer (BMW 325i)
V5: #444 Korn / Korn / Korn / Faßbender (Porsche Cayman CM12)
V6: #416 Rings / Schaflitzl / Schambony / Munhowen (Porsche 911 Carrera)(Best production car)
VT2-Front: #495 Füting / Jung / Robertz / Unland (Cupra Leon KL )
VT2-Rear: #504 Ooms / Theiß / Baar / Seki (BMW 330i)
VT3: #599 Van Vooren / Schönfelder / ter Haar / Wirtz (BMW 335i)AT3: #50 Leuchter / Kristoffersson / Hammel / Otto (VW Golf GTI Clubsport 24h)(Best Alternative Fuel Participant)
M240i: #650 Markert / Mijatovic / Stahlschmidt / Deißler (BMW M240i Racing Cup)
Cup2: #103 Kaya / Piana / Scheerbarth / Stursberg (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992))(Best Cup Vehicle)
Cup3: #959 Eichenberg / Grosse / Grütter (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (Type 982))
SP10: #188 Oosten / Wüstenhagen / Hancke / Stegmann (BMW M4 GT4 (G82))
SP11: #55 Hofer / Gebhardt / Vettel / Dörr (KTM X-Bow GT2)
SP3: #275 Müller / Groth / Becker (BMW 318ti (E36))
SP3T: #317 Cooper / Fischer / Kragenings / Sauerbrei (MINI John Cooper Works Pro )
SP4: #152 Oepen / Launhardt / Köppert (BMW 325CI)
SP4T: #88 van Dam / Schrick / Sasaki / Kubo (Subaru WRX )
SP6: #207 Kroll / Prinz / Prinz / Mühlenz (BMW M3 CSL (E46))
SP7: #80 Neuffer / Sacchi / Ruhrmann / Knötschke (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (Type 982))
SP8T: #145 Glock / Scheider / Bleekemolen / Cate (BMW M4 GT4 (G82))
SP9: #16 Stippler / Mies / Feller / Marschall (Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II)
SP-X: #706 Mutsch / Mailleux / Arnold / Ledogar (SCG 004c)
TCR: #831 Gottsacker / Filippi / Wilkins / Morris (Hyundai Elantra TCR)(Best front-wheel drive)
V4: #711 Müller / Müller / Hausmeier / Fischer (BMW 325i)
V5: #444 Korn / Korn / Korn / Faßbender (Porsche Cayman CM12)
V6: #416 Rings / Schaflitzl / Schambony / Munhowen (Porsche 911 Carrera)(Best production car)
VT2-Front: #495 Füting / Jung / Robertz / Unland (Cupra Leon KL )
VT2-Rear: #504 Ooms / Theiß / Baar / Seki (BMW 330i)
VT3: #599 Van Vooren / Schönfelder / ter Haar / Wirtz (BMW 335i)