Audi pleased with Nürburgring 24 hours

Audi launched a big program for the legendary Nürburgring 24 hour race this year with four Audi R8’s and 14 drivers. Best placed R8 was the one with previous DTM driver and current DTM team boss Christian Abt in second overall position and GT3 class winner.
“I’m very proud because I’ve been involved in the GT3 vehicle development from the outset. Being one of the drivers standing on the podium at the 24-hour race is really special,” said Abt.

“I’m totally happy. We’ve said from the beginning that we’d opt for a strategy. That’s exactly what we did and always remained within a striking distance nevertheless. We’re totally happy with second place.”

Current DTM stars Mattias Ekström and Timo Scheider took part in the race as well, but finished further down. The Swede Ekström was pleased none the less.

“Driving the R8 on this track is fantastic. Of course there are always a few minor things that can be improved but, basically, the R8 already represents ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ in an impressive way.

Of course I had different expectations of the race than getting stranded right on the first lap. More importantly, though, I’m happy about the podium result of our “sister car” because I know exactly how much work and passion has been invested in this project.”

Reigning champion Scheider shared the car with Ekström, but unforutnately they hit problem early on. Their vehicle was hit in the rear right at the start, crushing the right-hand tailpipe in the process.

That dropped them to 166th position, but the drivers managed to climb back up to 23rd place despite having further problems with the car during the night.

“We saw that it’s possible to clinch a podium place with the Audi R8 LMS right away. At such a high racing speed, this is a sensational result for us,” said Scheider.

“I want to thank Audi for enabling us to fight for podium as early as at this debut race because that was not to be expected. I’m overjoyed that our “sister car” made it on the podium as the runner-up. We’re going to analyze the information and data so that next year we’ll come back even stronger.”