Porsche GT3R overcomes rain and fog at the Nurburgring

[VIA PORSCHE] Stuttgart. Right place, right time – for Porsche works driver Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), the timing at the first qualifying session of the 24 hour race was perfect. At the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, he opted for slicks at the right moment before heavier rain set in again. With a lap time of 9:26.421 minutes on the 25.378 kilometre combination of the Grand Prix circuit and the Nordschleife, Bergmeister planted Porsche Team Manthey’s orange and white liveried 911, with its 480 hp combustion engine supplemented by two 60 kilowatt electric motors, on second place. The German teams up with works driver Richard Lietz (Austria), Porsche junior Marco Holzer (Germany), and the former Porsche junior driver Martin Ragginger (Austria).

Because of thick fog, the first qualifying session was halted at 22.20 hours after three of the scheduled four hours. Tomorrow, the second and final two-hour qualifying session takes place at 12.45 hours, before the 38th edition of the Eifel classic takes off on Saturday at 15.00 hours. The Porsche teams were well prepared. Under cold and changeable weather conditions, they completed the first qualifying without any problems and safely covered the minimum amount of laps as required by the regulations.

Third position went to Team Mamerow Racing. Former Porsche junior Chris Mamerow (Germany) achieved the third quickest time of the field in the 911 GT3 R. Mamerow competes alongside Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler and his German compatriot Joerg Hardt.

For the title defenders from Manthey Racing, Porsche works driver Marc Lieb (Germany) claimed the quickest time with sixth. After winning three times in succession, the driver quartet returns this year to compete under team boss Olaf Manthey. Sharing driving duties are works drivers Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) as well as experienced Manthey pilot Marcel Tiemann (Monaco).

The 911 GT3 R run by Haribo Team Manthey secured 16th position in qualifying. At the wheel of the 911 sporting the Haribo gold bear design is a racing pro line-up consisting of Lance David Arnold (Germany), Christian Menzel (Germany), Richard Westbrook (Great Britain) and Alexander Margaritis (Germany).