Öhlins equipped teams stood out in the Nürburgring 24-hour race with some stunning performance in a heavy rain endurance race.
The grueling and famous 24-hour classic race at Nürburgring Nordschleife was held in challenging conditions this weekend and teams running Öhlins stood out in the competition.
This year’s race became one of the hardest in the long history of this 24-hour classic as the organizers were forced to red flag the race before midnight when conditions became too severe. Hard rain in combination with dense fog and standing water on the track made it impossible to continue for safety reasons, where the race was stopped and the action resumed again in the morning.
Up until that point several teams running Öhlins had stood out in the treacherous conditions and were advancing through the field. Chasing the overall lead was the BMW-team Marc VDS who at points during the rain outclassed the competition with their Öhlins equipped BMW Z4 GT3. In the SP2T class Peugeot Automobile with the new for this race Peugeot 208 GTi’s had a firm grip on a 1-2-3 lead in the SP2T class and the best Peugeot even held its ground against the faster GT-cars running in the top 30 overall.
The action resumed in the morning in a nine-hour sprint towards the finish and there were some notable results from the Öhlins equipped teams.
Second overall after an epic fight in the final hours
Marc VDS with their # 25 and # 26 car were once again chasing the top positions after they had to start a few positions further back compared to where they were running before the red flag fell. Both cars were second and third overall when the # 26 had to retire after having been hit by another car in Bergwerk. The #25 car continued however and after their final pit stop for driver change they were fourth overall with a good chance to claim second overall. Almost two minutes away from second position Maxime Martin was lapping at a stunning pace, outpacing the whole field by towards 10 seconds per lap. In an efficient manouvre he caught and overtook the Mercedes occupying second and third on the same lap. Marc VDS finally finished second overall with the best lap time of the race, some eight seconds faster than the second best lap time. Their BMW Z4 GT3 equipped with the latest TTX46/44 shock absorbers from Öhlins
Impressive class performances
Peugeot Automobile continued their good form throughout the race and locked out the podium in the SP2T class with the new Peugeot 208 GTi. The best of the Peugeots also finished an impressive 30th overall. Their cars were equipped with specially adapted Öhlins TPX and S46.
In the V3 class the new Toyota GT86 dominated completely with all Toyotas running on Öhlins finishing 1-7 in the class on dampers prepared by Öhlins Distribution & Technical Centre at Nürburgring.
The Teichmann Porsche team finished 3rd in the SP7 class and an impressive 14th overall with the Carrera Cup Porsche running Öhlins TTX-dampers prepared by Öhlins Distribution & Technical Centre at Nürburgring.
Öhlins congratulates the teams on some outstanding performance in a very tough edition of this 24-hour classic.