Nurburgring 24 Hours: Opel wins as Audi falls short

The Abt Sportsline TT-R of Nissen/Abt/Wendlinger/Werner was stranded in the garage for 46 minutes, allowing the Opel of Reuter/Scheider/Tiemann/Strycek to race clear. The Opel had done well to make up lost ground after a 15 minute stop to replace its alternator at 4am, following a gravelly off earlier this morning had caused a stone to break its belt. Marcel Tiemann lapped in an incredible 9m04s after that to catch up with the Audi, a time just four seconds off the pole position, and the car ran like clockwork for the remainder of the race.

The Zakspeed Dodge Viper of Zakowski/Lamy/Lechner should have taken at least second place, but ended the race down in fifth. It first received a five-lap penalty for running a larger fuel tank than the regulations demanded, and was then slapped with an extra 45-minute punishment. The team says it will appeal the penalty, with Peter Zakowski saying: "I have never experienced such a thing in my life. To put a penalty like this on us is just not fair at all."

A brace of Porsche 996s finished third and fourth, with the Manthey-run version of Luhr/Collard/Bernhard beating the Grohs/Schamarch/Fischer/Reisert car.

The BMW fightback was a feature of the race after both its cars broke down on the opening lap yesterday. Although the Stuck/Said/Nielsen/Duez car crashed out in the wee small hours, but the J Muller/D Muller/Hurtgen/Duez machine was on course for sixth, but Dirk crashed out with just over an hour remaining after a collision with a backmarker.


Reuter/Scheider/Tiemann/Strycek Opel Astra V8 Coupe, 143 laps
Nissen/Abt/Wendlinger/Werner Abt Audi TT-R, +4 laps
Grohs/Schamarch/Fischer/Reisert Porsche 996, +5 laps
Luhr/Collard/Bernhard Porsche 996 Turbo, +7 laps
Zakowski/Lamy/Lechner Dodge Viper, +8 laps
Scheid/Kainz/Merten BMW M3, +9 laps