Nurb 24: BMW leads

After last year's disaster, where its Schnitzer-run cars both broke down on the opening lap, the M3 GTRs have run like clockwork despite incredibly changeable weather conditions which have included heavy rain and fog on the infamous Nordschleife circuit in the Eifel mountains.

The Porsche 911 GT3 MR driven by Lucas Luhr, Arno Klasen, Marc Duez and Olaf Manthey was the early pacesetter, but BMW hit the front a couple of hours into the event and have stayed there. With 20 hours of the classic event now complete, the M3 of Dirk Müller/Jörg Müller/Hans-Joachim Stuck leads by a lap from the second works BMW.

The rain continues to fall, however, making it one of the most difficult 24-hour races on record. Just before 3am a violent rain storm meant that the pits contained more cars than the 24-kilometre race track.

"The conditions are incredible," said 53-year-old veteran Stuck. "Even with wet tyres it's difficult to keep the car on the track in this rain. It's a bit like water-skiing."

The second BMW had a scary moment when Duncan Huisman spun to a halt immediately in front of Stuck, who was following him. Stuck just managed to hit the brakes in time.

"This is the craziest race I've ever been involved in," said Huisman, "I went into a spin on slicks as the track was getting wetter again."

The Luhr, Klasen, Duez and Manthey Porsche is third, three laps down on the leader, with the first of the Abt-Audi TT-Rs of Patrick Huisman, Christian Abt, Frank Stippler and Karl Wendlinger in fourth. The Nissan Skyline of Roland Asch, Dirk Schoysman, Takayuki Kinoshita and Tetsuya Tanaka is fifth, ahead of the pole winning Porsche of Uwe and Jurgen Alzen, Michael Bartels and Klaus Ludwig.

Last year's winner Opel has suffered poor fortune this time around, both its cars suffering numerous off-track excursions. Its number five entry was crashed terminally by DTM star Peter Dumbreck before midnight.