Event>> 2011 NÜrburgring – 12 Hours Down

It's currently 03:52AM here at the Nürburgring as I sit down to try and recap on the last few hours. It has been a couple of very long and hard days with all the team putting in twenty plus hour shifts to try and keep on top of this behemoth.

It's innocent looking enough but trying to get around as much of the track as possible in an attempt to bring as much variety as we can into the stories is starting to take its toll.

All around me, people are vanishing away to try and find a quite corner somewhere to catch some shut eye. Those who remain awake are becoming quieter and quieter as they try and focus what's left of their energy reserves on the task at hand.

So what exactly has been happening since Andy updated you earlier ? To be honest, I'm not 100% sure. Once you venture trackside you become all but cut off from the information feeds that we are so used to at modern race circuits. No where is close by here and trekking out to a section of the course can consume a lot more time than planned for.

However, in passing, I've tried to follow some of the battles throughout the day. Every time I've returned to the press centre, the leading car has been different.

The road legal Aston Martin Zagatos are still running incredibly strong, running second and third in class.

The shot opening this story was the result of a tyre delaminating on this TT RS with some spectacular consequences …

… but leaving a trail of debris behind.

The Farnbacher 458 is all but walking away with the SP8 class ahead of the Zagatos.

Heading out to Flugplatz, it's not hard to see why the name translates to 'Place of Flight' as the #22 SLS AMG demonstrates. 

The Team Need for Speed Dunlop car is currently running 14th overall at the moment.

Hans Stuck, who is racing his final N24 race with his two sons is currently 19th.

Ever since witnessing the dominance of the Manthey car in previous years, I've always been a fan of the team and how they go about their business. The #18 car is currently out in front with under twelve hours to go.

Do I neec a reason to post another shot of the incredibly beautiful Hankook 458?

The F430 based P4/5 is still running within the top forty.

The Golf GTI is still leading its class and looking strong and consistent at the moment.

Darkness began to take over the Eifel region around six hours ago.

With the sun dropping behind the horizon, the drivers faced a new danger in the darkness.

Unfortunately for Team Need for Speed, the #76 car of Sandstrom / Milner / Larsson / Hurtgen has had a race ending accident somewhere out there in the darkness. It was running an absolutely incredible second overall when the car came together with one of the SLS AMG's it was attempting to lap. We're still waiting for the car to be recovered but as you can imagine, the team's morale has taken a huge hit.

It's now time for us all to rally together and get behind the #4 Team Need for Speed Dunlop car, but there is still a long way to go.

-

Paddy McGrath

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1

Need info on #76, please. Absolutely gutted.

2

WALL PAPER POR THE LAST ONE!!

3

I hope your driver in the 76 car is OK. GREAT PHOTOS! Thanks!

4

Such heartbreak. Like it's been said many times before, cars can be replaced, lives can't. I hope the driver is ok.

5

the p4/5 is based on an enzo chassis not to an f430.. just sayin' don't be hatin'



 



The road car is indeed based on the Enzo, but the P4/5 Competizione is based on the F430. Just to make things awkward and all that - PMcG

6

how epic is that last picture?! looks unreal.

DESKTOPS!!!

7

Hi Paddy ,



nice pictures from Nürburgring !...



have a nice day ...

8

The P4/5 is Enzo based....actually :)

9

The P4/5 is based on the Enzo :)



Awesome Photos and great coverage

10

flugplatz means airfield and not place of flight ...

11

That's a pretty clumsy translation, flugplatz means airfield in english :)

12

Have to have a Desktop of the Hybrid coming out of the Krassel..

13

1st picture, what is missing in need for speed

14

Just because you put a " ;) " at the end of your comment; it does not make you seem less pedantic.



I guess that some of y'all only frequest this site for the pretty pictures and to check the daily grammatical errors, misspellings, incorrectly idetified make/models, mistranslations, etc.



I image that your web logs are insanely awesome. :)

15

The P4/5 road car is enzo based, the one racing the 24h is the competizion version and its based on an F430. Nice way of confusing everybody but its a fact.

16

For my next Essen Motor Show feature, I'm going to concentrate on showcasing race and drift cars

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