The 24 Hours of Nürburgring Nordschleife is known for its unpredictability, where starting positions often hold little significance in determining the final race outcome. However, setting the fastest lap time is a clear indicator of a car’s performance potential. In the first part of Top Qualifying, a total of 14 cars took to the track, including the three BMW M4 GT3s. This year, the pole position was clinched by the BMW M4 GT3, car number 72, fielded by Team RMG and adorned with a striking livery this year. Drivers Dan Harper, Max Hesse, and Charles Weerts secured the top spot with a blistering lap time of 8:10.922 minutes, surpassing all other competitors.
Trailing closely behind, the Manthey-Porsche GT3 R, car number 911, and an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo from Scherer Sport PHX, secured second and third places respectively. The margin was incredibly tight, with only eight-thousandths of a second separating the two over the 25.378-kilometer course.
The second-fastest BMW M4 GT3, driven by Robin Frijns, Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, and Augusto Farfus, will start from the seventh position. Their lap time of 8:12.157 minutes was only 1.2 seconds slower than the pole time, showcasing the competitiveness of the BMW entries. Harper in the #72 BMW M4 GT3 from BMW M Team RMG followed directly behind with a time of 8:12.070 minutes in third place. Farfus took ninth place in the #98 BMW M4 GT3 (8:14.696 minutes).
Other top 10 contenders include the #1 Frikadelli Ferrari, the #130 GetSpeed Mercedes, the #4 Bilstein Team HRT Mercedes, and the #33 Falken Motorsports Porsche.
This year’s 24 Hours of Nurburgring will be quite exciting and as always, weather will likely play an important role. The 24-hour race will begin tomorrow, Saturday, at 4:00 p.m and we will bring you updates as the race goes on. In addition to BMW M Team RMG and ROWE Racing with their three BMW M4 GT3s, numerous BMW teams with a total of 33 different vehicles will once again compete in the various classes, including ten BMW M4 GT4s, six BMW M240i Racings, and other models.
