Estre claims Nurburgring 24 Hours pole for Porsche

Manthey’s famous No. 911 "Grello" Porsche 911 GT3 R 992 will start from pole position for the 2025 running of the Nurburgring 24 Hours tomorrow afternoon.

Porsche factory ace Kevin Estre set the time and put the team, which is searching for a record eighth overall N24 victory this weekend, at the top of the screens with a 8m12.741s in the Top Qualifying shootout.

The 36-year-old Frenchman’s head-turning performance came in a delayed, condensed single-lap shootout, setting four purple sectors en route to claiming the best starting spot for the endurance classic by 1.1 seconds.

“There is nothing better than driving a round alone on the Nordschleife in the ‘Grello’, with new tires and without traffic,” Estre said after claiming the Glickenhaus Trophy for the pole winner. “That’s unbelievable. I’m really looking forward to the weekend.

“We have great conditions – maybe a bit too much for the tires, but good for the fans. We’ll let Thomas Preining drive tomorrow. I’ve done my job for the weekend.”

The format for the session was tweaked on short notice and reduced to a single-lap run rather than two, after lengthy barrier repairs following a huge shunt for Laurens Vanthoor earlier in the afternoon that postponed the first attempt at holding Top Qualifying.

Behind Estre, Thomas Neubauer put the No. 45 Kondo Racing Ferrari second on the grid with an impressive 8m13.909s in the Yokohama-shod 296 GT3.

The No. 14 GetSpeed Mercedes will start on the second row in third, following a 8m14.233s from Maro Engel, alongside the No. 33 Falken Motorsports Porsche, which Nico Menzel steered.

"Starting third is certainly good for us," said Engel. "At the same time, the gap to pole was 1.5 seconds. But I have to say a big thank you to the team because we didn't have the easiest day yesterday. They worked a lot, and the car today was very good to drive. In this respect, we can be satisfied with the work and the day.”

Mirko Bortolotti, who ran fastest of anyone in Sector 1, completed the top five in the No. 27 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini. He is, however, under investigation for a red flag infringement.

The remaining spots in the top 10 went to the No. 1 Scherer Sport PHX Audi of Marcus Winkelhock, No. 28 ABT Lamborghini, No. 35 Walkenhorst Aston Martin, No. 48 Black Falken Porsche and No. 17 GetSpeed AMG respectively.

Only 15 of the 17 cars entered for Top Qualifying completed laps in the final shootout. The No. 16 Scherer Sport PHX Porsche was unable to take part after Vanthoor’s aforementioned crash. The Belgian’s heavy shunt came at Aremberg in the first attempt at Top Qualifying, which brought out a red flag, delaying the fight for pole.

He was a passenger in the incident after clipping the inside curb at Schwedenkreuz, which unsettled the car and sent him down the hill and into the guardrails at high speed, damaging the car beyond repair.

A team spokesperson told RACER that the car has been withdrawn from the race meeting. The team will not utilize a spare chassis for its N24 title defence and instead focus its efforts on the No. 1 Audi.

As for Vanthoor, the team confirmed that he is OK after he was released from the circuit medical center having been seen by both the circuit doctor and Porsche’s dedicated doctor.

The No. 11 Schnitzelalm Mercedes AMG GT3 also didn’t set a time, after Jay Mo Hartling stopped at Pflanzgarten on his flying lap.

TOP QUALIFYING RESULTS

Following the delayed Top Qualifying session, the third and final qualifying session for the other classes in the race got underway this evening, setting the rest of the grid for the race. The No. 830 Hyundai Elantra N TCR will start from pole in the TCR category with a 8m52.924s late in Q3 from Manuel Lauck.

"We decided to put new tires on and go for it. It was a good lap, it was 98 percent there," Lauck said to RACER. "An 8:52 is TCR pole, it is also the fastest lap from a front-wheel-driven car. We are well prepared for tomorrow. It looks like it will be a hot race, so we will have to be careful, particularly in the first half of the race, as the cockpit temperatures will be high."

Wickens hopes to help keep Hyundai's TCR win streak at the 24 going.

The sister car, the No. 831 Elantra N TCR, which features Robert Wickens in its driver line-up, ended up second in the category, which Hyundai is looking to win for the fifth time in a row this year.

"If there were another four-hour practice session, I'd happily take it, but I think we are in a decent spot with the car. We could be three to four seconds off per lap and it's not a big deal if we stay reliable," Wickens told RACER after Q3.

SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm’s No. 111 Mercedes AMG GT4 proved to be the fastest car in SP 10 with a 9m00.245s.

SP 3T, which features a wide variety of cars, including the brand new BMW M2 Racing, the Dacia Logan and Hyundai’s Elantra N1 Cup car, was paced by the No. 321 VW Golf 7 GTI TCR DSG.

None of the SP 9 GT3 cars that took part bettered Christopher Haase's Q2 hot lap from last night in the No. 1 Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8. Dennis Olsen set the best time in the 65-minute run, a 8m15.043s in the No. 64 HRT Ford Mustang GT3.

UP NEXT: The Nurburgring 24 Hours is set to get underway at 4:00pm local time tomorrow.

• You can catch the first two hours of the 2025 Nürburgring 24h LIVE on RACER Network, starting Saturday at 9:30am ET, and follow the whole race LIVE on the RACER+ App. Find out more about RACER+ at racerplus.com, and subscribe to RACER magazine and RACER+ at offers.racer.com/bundle.