Six wins in 10 years

Considered one of the most exciting and challenging races in the world, the 24 Hours of Nürburgring lived up to its reputation once again, giving the 230,000 spectators more than their money’s worth.

In its 50th anniversary year, the race around the track they call The Green Hell saw the finest GT3 teams in the world line up for another historic battle, with seven GT3 entries from Audi, as well as Audi Sport customer racing competitors in the TCR class racing the RS 3 LMS. After the terrible weather which shortened the race to just over nine hours last year, 2022 turned on a largely dry race, with stunning sunshine highlighting the spectacular alpine tack, but with some wet weather towards the end of the race to keep things very interesting.

For the fans who returned this year after the last two years of restrictions, it was an outstanding spectacle, with wheel-to-wheel racing from the outset and a final race distance that equalled the race record of 159 laps of the 20.3 kilometre circuit, set by Audi back in 2014.

At the end of the gruelling 24 hour period though, it was the Audi Sport Team Phoenix car of Robin Frijns, Kelvin van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor and Frédéric Vervisch who hoisted the trophy high – the brand’s sixth win the last 10 years.

“Congratulations to Audi Sport Team Phoenix,” said Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing at the end of an exciting race. “This victory has a special meaning, because strong nerves were required in the changing conditions, especially during the final hours – from the drivers on the track, as well as from the mechanics, engineers and strategists in the pits. The fact that fans were finally allowed at the track again and turned this race weekend into one big party makes the success particularly valuable.”

The team started from well back on the grid in 22nd position, but fought their way through the pack, avoiding incidents throughout the day and night of racing before ultimately stamping their name on the title. Other Audi teams were also performed strongly to be in the mix at the end, with R8s also finishing fourth, fifth and sixth. Indeed, the #5 car from Scherer Sport Team Phoenix, shared by Ricardo Feller, Kelvin van der Linde, Vincent Kolb and Frank Stippler, was the only one of a total of seven Audi R8 LMS cars that had to retire early after van der Linde collided with a lapped car during the night. 

Another dominant performance from the brand in a race it has called its own for the past 10 years.