Three former winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans were at the start of this year’s 24 Hours of Nürburgring, but Briton Guy Smith was the only one to finish, in the Bentley Continental GT3. The Bentley boy took the chequered flag at Le Mans in 2003 in a Speed 8 alongside Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello. There was no podium for him in the Eifel forest however. Smith was ranked 72nd, while three-time Le Mans winner Marcel Fässler, who shared an Audi R8 LMS with 2010 Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller, withdrew from the race.

Audi, already winners in 2012 and 2014, claimed another victory in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring this weekend. Interestingly, none of the winning drivers has ever experienced the magic of Le Mans. Laurens Vanthoor will soon have the chance to sample the atmosphere at the Circuit de la Sarthe however, as he is scheduled in the cockpit of a Ligier in LM P2 next month.
The runners-up in the BMW Z4 are familiar with the French 24-hour race. Maxime Martin and Markus Palttala both have three Le Mans races to their name while Richard Westbrook has five, including a class win. Finally, out of eight participations in the Le Mans 24 Hours, Lucas Luhr has won twice, in 2002 and 2003.

Several other drivers in the forthcoming Le Mans line-up also experienced the “Green Hell” circuit at Nürburgring last weekend, among them Nicki Thiim, who won the LM GTE Am class last year and now drives in LM GTE Pro with Aston Martin. Also out on track were Alex Buncombe, Michael Krumm and Lucas Ordoñez, who will shortly take the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO on its maiden voyage in Le Mans.

Results of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring

Cécile Bonardel / ACO            Translated from French by Emma Paulay

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, LE MANS 24 HOURS, SUNDAY 15 JUNE 2014, RACE. Marcel Fässler, three-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours was forced to withdraw at Nürburgring last weekend.