24 hours of Nürburgring 17-19.05.2024

Race

The start of the race went really well. We made up a lot of places at the start and after just a few hours we were already in first place.

As a team, we had a very fast and consistent pace, so we were able to constantly extend our lead and leave the competition behind us. When I came in for my first stint in the race, we were already 34 seconds behind second place. I felt very comfortable in the car and was able to drive at the limit without pushing too hard and pull out a gap of 2 minutes and 5 seconds on second place.

When I handed the car back to my team-mate, I unfortunately had to watch the tragic accident. When we were overtaken by a car from another class, there was contact and we followed head-on into the wall. – What a disaster!

Once we arrived in the pits, we had a repair time of around 25 minutes, which not only cost us the win, but also the top 5 position. After the repairs, we came back into the race in 8th place. We stayed there for quite a while. I tried to get everything I could out of the car during my stints. The last 6 hours of the race in particular were very driving intensive and also very exhausting for me. I first drove a double stint (2 hours), then I had a stint (one hour) break before I went on a triple stint (3 hours) and finally the race ended.

In the end, we were still able to finish the race in 5th place, which none of us would have thought after the accident. 24-hour races are unpredictable and anything can happen at any time. Nevertheless, it was a nice race and it’s good to know that we were fast. Because the fastest race lap and the fastest average lap time were ours, which makes us all very proud.

I would like to thank my team-mates and the whole team for this wonderful and nerve-wracking race in the Eifel.