Victory at the Green Hell

Twenty four long hours, 158 laps and conditions that oscillated between extreme heat and rain, have seen Audi dominant at one of the world’s toughest race tracks. The aptly named ‘Green Hell’ – otherwise known as the Nürburgring – lived up to its reputation, throwing everything at the drivers and teams, but none of it was enough to shake the Audi assault.

At the end of the 24 hours, Audi Sport Team Land celebrated its first victory in the race, with Kelvin van der Linde, Christopher Mies, Connor De Phillippi and Markus Winkelhock sharing the driving duties of the R8 LMS and the ultimate glory.

It was a dominant performance throughout, the team leading the great race for most of the 24 hours, in fact leading for an incredible 143 of the 158 laps – or 90 percent of the race.

Although their race was not without minor problems, even an errant sensor that required two pit stops, couldn’t slow the advance of the Audi Sport Team Land car, marking an historic fourth outright win for Audi at the Green Hell in the past five calendar years. It also marked the second win for Christopher Mies and the third for Markus Winkelhock in the famous race.

Other Audi teams too recorded tremendous results, with the Audi Sport Team WRT of Marcel Fässler, Robin Frijns, Nico Müller and René Rast rounding out the podium in third position. They were followed by a brace of other Audi teams all finishing strongly, including a second and third in class for two Audi RS 3 LMS cars from the Bonk Motorsport team – the first time RS 3 LMS cars have taken part in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The Audi R8 LMS GT4 also completed its first race. Audi Sport Team Phoenix crossed the finish line in third and fifth in the SP-X class with the production-based sports car.