In front of 220,000 spectators lining in the legendary Nordschleife, four Porsche works drivers including Marc Lieb, the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours winners Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas as well as Lucas Luhr won the 39th running of the long distance classic in the Eifel with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

For Porsche and the Porsche Team Manthey, this marked the fifth victory at the traditional race in the last six years – likewise for Timo Bernhard. The Porsche quartet snatched the lead on Saturday at 23.25 hours and held on to it to the flag, setting a new distance record with a total of 156 laps and 3,958 kilometres.

The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, which competed in the ILMC races of Petit Le Mans and Zhuhai in 2010, also gave an impressive performance, even though its second start at the 24 hour classic did not yield the anticipated top result. Fielded by Porsche Team Manthey with Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister, Richard Lietz, Marco Holzer and Patrick Long, the car finished 28th after a breathtaking chase through the field, 17 laps behind the winner. The 911 GT3 R Hybrid moved into the lead on Saturday about four hours after the start. But a problem in the differential sent it into the pits for repairs, which cost six laps to the leader. But the trouble wasn’t to stop there: after a good seven hours, the same problem struck again necessitating a second unplanned pit stop. This time repairs took 40 minutes. With a ten-lap gap to the front-runners, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid rejoined the race in position 105. Clocking lap times which were sometimes faster than those at the front, it ploughed through the field to rank 23rd. However, on Sunday morning the vehicle’s charge was interrupted yet again. While lapping a slower competitor, Patrick Long was nudged and spun at high speed in the Flugplatz passage. In the pits, however, no damages to the vehicle were found.

The 2011 Nürburgring 24 Hours: the race podium
1. Lieb/Bernhard/Dumas/Luhr (Porsche 911 GT3 RSR)
2. Müller/Farfus/Alzen/Lamy (BMW M3 GT)
3. Basseng/Fässler/Piccini/Stippler (Audi R8 LMS)

(Based upon Porsche press information)

Photo : NURBURGRING 24 HOURS (GERMANY), 25TH-26TH JUNE 2011. The four 2011 winners (left to right, Timo Bernhard, Lucas Luhr, Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas) also competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours on 11th-12th June.