Race report
Endurance 24 Hours of Nürburgring
Audi experiences disappointment in the Eifel
Tough racing conditions due to weather and accidents
Edited: May 29, 2016, 8:58 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Following three class and three overall victories since 2009, Audi had been planning for another good showing in the Nürburgring 24 Hours this year. However, with two races cars supported by Audi Sport customer racing in the top ten, the 44th running of the event proved disappointing. As the best Audi teams, Belgian Audi Club Team WRT achieved eighth place and Twin Busch Motorsport position ten.
“The large crowd of fans has gotten used to Audi being in contention for the top spot with many other sports car brands in this legendary race year after year,” said Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “We’d have liked being in this position again, but that wasn’t possible this year, not least due to the balance of performance rating, among other things.” Even our top drivers had to take high risks in order to keep pace with the front runners.
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT best Audi squad
Of the six teams relying on the Audi R8 LMS Belgian Audi Club Team WRT was the best to cross the finish line. Robin Frijns/Stuart Leonard/Edward Sandström/Frédéric Vervisch (NL/GB/S/B) achieved eighth place in an accident-prone race. They finished the 24 hours nearly unharmed. Only when Sandström touched the guard rail once in rain, the squad had to change a suspension component. Twin Busch Motorsport was the second-best Audi team in the Eifel. Twin brothers Dennis and Marc Busch (D), together with Christian Mamerow (D) and René Rast (D), took tenth place following an impeccable drive.
The setbacks suffered by the other Audi squads showed how treacherous the conditions were. Following the interruption of the race in the early stage due to heavy rain and hail, Alex Yoong (MAL), with the Audi race experience, had an accident at night in slightly foggy conditions. In the early morning hours, misfortune struck last year’s winner Nico Müller (CH) from Audi Sport Team WRT. He had to evade a rival standing in the opposite direction of traffic and touched the guard rail. The subsequent repair took three hours.
Only three laps later, there was a misunderstanding when two-time winner Markus Winkelhock (D) from Audi Sport Team Phoenix hit the Audi of Connor De Phillippi (USA) from Team Montaplast by Land-Motorsport. Both cars could not be repaired anymore. An incident of contact between a rival and experienced campaigner Frank Stippler (D) in the number “5” Audi deprived Phoenix Racing of a top-6 result shortly before the end of the race.
Two privateer driver teams in top 20
Two all-privateer driver teams were happy about their positions in the top 20. Christian Bollrath/Maximilian Hackländer/Ralf Oeverhaus/Micke Ohlsson (D/D/D/S) achieved 14th place with the Audi race experience. Team Car Collection Motorsport was on the Nürburgring grid with Audi for the first time and, with Ronnie Saurenmann/Peter Schmidt/Andreas Ziegler (D/D/D), advanced to position 18.
Race results
1 Christodoulou/Engel/Metzger/Schneider (Mercedes), 134 laps
2 Hohenadel/Seefried/Vietoris/van der Zande (Mercedes) +5.697s
3 Alzen/Arnold/Götz/Seyffarth (Mercedes) –1 lap
4 Buurman/Engel/Haupt/Müller (Mercedes) –1 lap
5 Eng/Martin/Sims/Werner (BMW) –1 lap
6 Asch/Heyer/Keilwitz/Ludwig (Mercedes) –3 laps
7 Brück/Hamprecht/Menzel/Smith (Bentley) –3 laps
8 Frijns/Leonard/Sandström/Vervisch (Audi R8 LMS) –4 laps
9 Dumbreck/Henzler/Imperatori/Ragginger (Porsche) –4 laps
10 Busch/Busch/Mamerow/Rast (Audi R8 LMS) –4 laps
14 Bollrath/Hackländer/Oeverhaus/Ohlsson (Audi R8 LMS) –9 laps
18 Saurenmann/Schmidt/Ziegler (Audi R8 LMS) –11 laps
46 Kaffer/Mies/Müller/Vanthoor (Audi R8 LMS) –25 laps
Audi
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Nurburgring 24h: Mercedes claims historic 1-2-3-4
Next article A historic quadruple victory for Mercedes-AMG in the 2016 24-hour race
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Robin Frijns
Title battles and bittersweet farewells headline packed 54-car Petit Le Mans grid
IMSA
IMSA
Petit Le Mans
Title battles and bittersweet farewells headline packed 54-car Petit Le Mans grid
Robin Frijns relieved after BMW's Hypercar win in WEC: “This was a race we had to win”
WEC
WEC
Spa
Robin Frijns relieved after BMW's Hypercar win in WEC: “This was a race we had to win”
Robin Frijns admits BMW’s struggles in WEC: “We don’t fully understand the car yet”
WEC
WEC
Imola
Robin Frijns admits BMW’s struggles in WEC: “We don’t fully understand the car yet”
More from
Team WRT
Nicki Thiim's cheeky F1 jab: "Max Verstappen just wants to drive a proper race car!"
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
Nicki Thiim's cheeky F1 jab: "Max Verstappen just wants to drive a proper race car!"
Sheldon van der Linde ‘played elbows out when Cadillac couldn’t’ for breakthrough Indy win
IMSA
IMSA
Indianapolis
Sheldon van der Linde ‘played elbows out when Cadillac couldn’t’ for breakthrough Indy win
Latest news
Mirko Bortolotti risked another disqualification: How Grasser saved second place
DTM
DTM DTM 13 min
Mirko Bortolotti risked another disqualification: How Grasser saved second place
FIA enforces new rule to close F1 cost cap loophole
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
FIA enforces new rule to close F1 cost cap loophole
Marc Marquez praises MotoGP title rival Jorge Martín: “He is an incredible talent”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP 1 h
Marc Marquez praises MotoGP title rival Jorge Martín: “He is an incredible talent”
McLaren held fresh talks after Singapore GP clash as Lando Norris promises to "make better decisions"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
McLaren held fresh talks after Singapore GP clash as Lando Norris promises to "make better decisions"
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe