It’d been less than a week since the 24-hours of Le Mans when cars hit the track at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring. All that said, the two races couldn’t be further apart. While Le Mans features grandiose factory hospitality fortresses and F1 drivers as flag wavers, the Nurburgring is more for the masses. Barbecue scents and makeshift dance club dub step waft over the forest and graffiti coated track, while an eclectic mix of classes mean everything from FIA GT3 cars to home-built cars not much further developed than a top-tier LeMons program.

As you might expect, the type of cars ranges. At the top of the heap are the GT3 spec Audi R8 LMS ultras with quasi factory backing and familiar factory contracted drivers. In the middle you have factory-developed cars like the SP 4T Audi TT RS, a former factory Scirocco GT-24 or SEAT Leon Supercopas. At the more attainable level, you have cars like a Golf GTI Mk3 or an Audi A4 quattro.

Below is our usual class-by-class run-down of Volkswagen Group entries. At the bottom is a link to our photo gallery archive with hundreds of shots and at least two photos of each car detailed in this race summary.

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


Class Details: SP9 GT3To be eligible for the SP9 (FIA GT3) class, cars must have gone through FIA Balance of Performance of the current year and be homologated in group GT3

Vehicles Competing in ClassAudi R8 LMS ultra, Audi R8 LMS, BMW Z4 GT3, McLaren MP4 12C GT3, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, Porsche 997 GT3 R, Porsche 911 GT3 R, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Ferrari F458 Italia GT3

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#3 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS ultraEngine: V10
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Marc Basseng, Marcel Fässler, Frank Stippler, Laurens Vanthoor

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#4 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS ultraEngine: V10
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Christopher Haase, Christian Mamerow, René Rast, Markus Winkelhock

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#9 Prosperia-C. Abt Racing GmbH Audi R8 LMS ultraEngine: V10
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Alexander Müller, Marco Seefried, Nicki Thiim, Richard Westbrook

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#10 Prosperia-C. Abt Racing GmbHAudi R8 LMS ultraEngine: V10
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Christer Jöns, Niclas Kentenich, Christopher Mies, Dominik Schwanger

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#16 Twin Busch Motorsport Audi R8 LMS ultraEngine: V10
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Dennis Busch, Marc Busch, Stefan Landmann, Manuel Lauck

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#17 G-Drive Racing Audi R8 LMS ultraEngine: V10
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Nico Müller, Stéphane Ortelli, Roman Rusinov, Edward Sandström

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#18 Audi Race Experience Audi R8 LMS ultraEngine: V10
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Dominique Bastien, Christian Bollrath, Christiaan Frankenhout, Rahel Frey

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#502 Audi Race Experience Audi R8 LMS ultraEngine: V10
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Felix Baumgartner, Frank Biela, Pierre ******, Marco Werner

Class Summary:SP 9 is the fastest class at the Nurburgring 24, so it was always likely that one of these FIA GT3-spec cars would grab the outright win. That the top five winners were from four different manufacturers speaks to the breadth and competitiveness of the GT3 category of racing, and that an Audi R8 LMS ultra won overall speaks to the prominence of the R8 within this class.

The winning car was the #4 R8 LMS ultra fielded by Phoenix Racing of Audi Sport DTM fame. That car, fielded by the foursome of Haase, Mamerow, Rast and Winkelhock marked the second outright win for Audi in this fabled race.

Elsewhere in the field, the Audi race experience team including Red Bull skydiver Felix Baumgartner finished a respectable 9 th overall and only 6 laps off of the winning car.

Also notable, a new distance/lap count record was set this year with 159 laps completed by both the #4 Audi and the second place #1 Mercedes-Benz.

 

Class Podium Results (Rank, Number, Team, Car, Laps Completed)1) #4 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra, 159
2) #1 Black Falcon Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, 159
3) #22 Rowe Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, 157
4) #44 Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R 997, 157
5) #7 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, 157

9) #502 Audi race experience Audi R8 LMS ultra, 153
10) #16 Twin Busch Motorsport Audi R8 LMS ultra, 152
12) #18 Audi race experience Audi R8 LMS ultra, 144
14) #10 Prosperia C. Abt Racing GmbH Audi R8 LMS ultra, 138
NC) #9 Prosperia C. Abt Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra, 114
NC) #17 G-Drive Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra, 113
NC) #3 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra, 8

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


Class Details: SP 4TTo be eligible for the SP4T 2000-2500 Class, cars must have a turbocharged engine with displacement between 2,000 and 2,500 cc

Vehicles Competing in ClassAudi TT RS, Audi TTS, Ford Focus

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#108 Rotek Racing GmbH Audi TT RSEngine: I-5
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Kevin Gleason, Robb Holland, Rob Huff, Richard Meins

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


110 Besaplast Racing Team 1 Audi TT RSEngine: I-5
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Franjo Kovac, Fredrik Lestrup, Kurt Thiim, Martin Tschornia

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#112 pro handicap e.V. Audi TTSEngine: k.A.
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Jutta Kleinschmidt, Wolfgang Muller, Walter Nowotka Carlos Arimon

 

Class Podium Results (Rank, Number, Team, Car, Laps Completed)1) #110 Besaplast Racing Team Audi TT RS, 144
2) #109 ? Ford Focus, 102

NC) #108 Rotek Racing Audi TT RS, 72
NC) #112 pro handicap e.V. Audi TTS, 59

Class Summary:As classes go, SP 4T is another one to watch if you are curious about factory-developed Audis. This is the class where the Audi Sport customer racing TT RS models do battle and it was the Besaplest Racing #110 that took the class win here.

This is not a big class, with just two cars finishing the race. Nevertheless, these cars have a strong pace and finished not far off of the outright winners.

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


Class Details: SP3TTo be eligible for the SP3T Class, cars must have a turbocharged engine. Displacement breaks the class down into several sub-classes including SP3T, SP3T 1750-2000 and SP3T 1986ccm. To qualify for this class, cars must between 1,750 and 2,000 cc.

Vehicles Competing in ClassAudi TT RS 2.0, Audi TTS, Audi TT, SEAT Leon Supercopa, Seat Leon, Subaru GVB, Volkswagen Golf 5 R-line, Volkswagen Scirocco GT24

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#111 Raeder Motorsport Audi TT RS 2.0Engine: k.A.
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Christoph Breuer, Elmar Deegener, Dieter Schmidtmann, Jürgen Wohlfahrt

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#114 AC 1927 Mayen e.V.i. ADAC Volkswagen Golf 5 GTIEngine: k.A.
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Jorge Alberto Cersosimo, Alejandro Walter Chahwan, Ruben Salerno, Jose Visir

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#116 MSC Sinzig e.V.i. ADAC Audi TTEngine: k.A.
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Klaus Hormes, Rudi Speich, Roland Waschkau

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#120 LMS Engineering Audi TT RSEngine: k.A.
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Roland Botor, Constantin Kletzer , Daniela Schmid, “Tiger Christopher”

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#121 Philippe Salini Seat Leon SupercopaEngine: k.A.
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Tristan Gommendy , Stephane Salini

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#123 Scuderia Colonia e.V. Audi TT RSEngine: k.A.
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Marcus Lohnert, Roman Lohnert, Matthias Wasel, Thomas Wasel

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#124 Prof. Wellnitz, Jorg Audi TT KMEngine: k.A.
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Manfren jun. Krammer, Thomas Muhlenz , Johann Wanger

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#146 AC 1927 Mayen e.V. i. ADAC Volkswagen Golf 3 GTIEngine: k.A.
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Andre Benninghofen, Sebastian Durik, Jurgen Freiburg, Marc Jaussi

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#205 mathilda racing- Team pistenkids Volkswagen Scirocco GT-24Engine: k.A.
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Wolfgang Haugg, Klaus Neidzwiedz, Michael Paatz, Johannes Stuck

 

Class Podium Results (Rank, Number, Team, Car, Laps Completed)1) #111 Raeder Motorsport Audi TT RS 2.0, 145
2) #120 LMS Engineering Audi TT RS, 144
3) #123 Scuderia Colonia e.V. Audi TT RS, 138
4) #118 Subaru Tecnica International Subaru WRX STI, 138

NC) #116 MSC Sinzig e.V.i. ADAC Audi TT, 88
NC) #121 Philippe Salini Seat Leon Supercopa, 79
NC) #205 mathilda racing Volkswagen Scirocco GT-24, 70
NC) #114 AC 1927 Mayen e.V.i. ADAC Volkswagen Golf 5 GTI, 34
NC) #124 Prof. Jorg Wellnitz Audi TT KM, 31

Class Summary:A trio of Audi TTs locked out the SP 3T class podium. With 2.0-liters or less displacement turbocharged engines, this class is usually made up of privateer developed Audi racers. Interestingly, the #111 and the #120 appeared to be using the Audi Sport customer racing TT RS bodies with smaller engines fitted. The last TT on the podium appeared closer to the TT RS GT4-spec study once built by Audi, but also with the SP 3T spec motor. More interestingly, the winning SP 3T TT RS 2.0 managed to finish completing one more lap than the 5-cylinder SP 4T TT RS racers.

Several other Volkswagen Group-based privateer efforts also contested this class, though none of those managed to make it to the race’s end.

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


Class Details: ATTo be eligible for AT class, cars must have an alternative fuel engine

Vehicles Competing in ClassAudi A4 quattro, Dodge Viper, Ford Focus RS, Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 TDI

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#158 Red Camel – Jordans.nl SEAT LeonEngine: No Data
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Ivo Breukers, Sjaco Griffioen, Thijssen Henk

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#211 Team Thomas Hanisch Audi A4 quattroEngine: No Data
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Michael Eichhorn, Michael Kühne, Ralph-Peter Rink

2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring


#425 Team Smudo Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 TDIEngine: No Data
Weight: k.A.
Drivers: Daniel Schnellhaas, Thomas von Lowis of Menar

 

Class Podium Results (Rank, Number, Team, Car, Laps Completed)1) #158 Red Camel – Jordans.nl SEAT Leon, 122
2) #211 Team Thomas Hanisch Audi A4 quattro, 119

Class Summary:Just four cars made up the AT class. For slower and more obscure classes like this, finishing is more than half the battle. Should you do so, you’ll more than likely make the podium. Such was the case this year, where a SEAT Leon bested the sole Audi A4 quattro in the field by just three laps.