Nürburgring 24 Hours: Post Race Notebook

Race Marshall Passes Away

News broke post-race that a track marshall, who was on duty in the Schwalbenschwanz area during the 24h Nürburgring collapsed on Sunday. He received medical attention immediately after the incident and was initially taken by ambulance to the Medical Center in the paddock.

The 57-year-old was taken by ambulance to the intensive care unit of the Mayen hospital but resuscitation attempts proved to be unsuccessful and the marshall, understood to have been a regular at Nordschliefe events for many years, passed away in hospital.

Race director Walter Hornung: “The thoughts of all organizers of the 24h Nürburgring are with the family of the deceased. Together with the relatives, we mourn the loss of a dedicated and endearing member of the Nordschleife family.”

DSC passes on our condolences to family and friends of our late racing brother.

Klaus Abbelen – Lucky Cap Proves Its Mettle!

Ferrari’s Reaction To Historic Win

Ferrari’s Antonello Coletta responded to the breakthrough in for Frikadelli Racing, the first major endurance victory for the 296 GT3.

“The 296 GT3’s win today at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring is a historic, long-sought victory that makes us extremely happy and proud.

“To have interrupted the German manufacturers’ many years of hegemony over this race in this top-level competitive scenario is a truly incredible achievement.

“To win on what is recognised as the world’s most challenging track, certainly, one of the most complete and demanding, with two victories and finishing with all three cars shows that the 296 GT3 project is solid and that, with a non-penalising Balance of Performance, its performance meets expectations.

“We have invested ideas, innovations, solutions and an unparalleled engineering effort into this car, not least to enable the teams to intervene quickly in critical situations, as today’s race highlighted when the leading car suffered a puncture.

“I want to congratulate Frikadelli Racing, which has pursued this victory for years and can now deservedly celebrate a historic achievement, as well as Rinaldi Racing, a team with a long association with Ferrari, for winning in the Pro Am class and giving us a truly memorable weekend.”

By The Numbers, the 2023 Nürburgring 24 Hours saw:

• The First overall win for a Ferrari
• The first major international win for the 296 GT3
• The race distance record smashed – 2014 and 2022 saw 159 laps – 2023 saw the winner complete 162 laps
• In fact 4 cars on the lead lap share that record and the top 12 in the race all beat the previous distance record

Amongst other notable firsts:

• It was the first win for an Italian designed car and the first win for a car built outside of Germany since the Zakspeed Viper in 2002.
• Astonishingly, both the Viper and Ferrari were built by ORECA!
• The Ferrari 296 GT3 is the first V6 engined car to win since the Ford Capri in 1982
• It’s also the first overall win for long-time ‘Ring racers Frikadelli Racing
• Amongst the drivers, it is the second win in 4 years for Nicky Catsburg.

• Catsburg becomes the 23rd two time winner, the first two-time Dutch winner and the eighth non-German to win more than once.
• It is David Pittard’s first win.

• He becomes the 8th British winner
• It’s a first win too for Earl Bamber who becomes the first New Zealand driver to win.

• Bamber adds a Nurburgring 24-hour overall win to his victories at both the Spa and Le Mans 24 Hours.
• And it’s a first win too for Felipe Laser, he becomes the first German driver to win since 2019.

Race Highlights