June 23rd, 2009

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At the 37th edition of the Nürburgring 24 hour race on 23/24 May, Porsche is again one of the most popular manufacturers for the competitors. A total of 29 Porsche vehicles are expected to compete at Germany’s largest motorsport event. 

Taking up the race as title defenders with starting number 1 are Porsche works drivers Timo Bernhard (Germany), Marc Lieb (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) as well as Manthey pilot Marcel Tiemann (Monaco). The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR is driven by them and run by Manthey Racing. In 2008, the squad under team boss Olaf Manthey secured a hat-trick by winning the Nürburgring 24 Hours for the third straight time. Timo Bernhard is not planning to leave it at that: “It would be a dream to win four times in succession. But, changes to the technical regulations have braked in our 911 GT3 RSR considerably. Particularly on the uphill sections, the straights and when lapping cars, you notice a substantial power loss compared to last year. To match the pace of some of the much more powerful opponents will not be easy.” 

 

Another three Porsche factory drivers man the second Manthey Racing vehicle, a 445 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S. The cockpit of the #2 car with professional racer Dirk Werner (Germany) is shared with Emmanuel Collard (France), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Wolf Henzler (Germany). “While Richard and I are newcomers to this fantastic circuit, Emmanuel and Dirk have already gained a lot of experience on the Nordschleife. We’ve only contested one race in the Long Distance Championship,” explains Wolf Henzler. “Still, apart from the length of the track, some of the Nordschleife corners resemble several circuits in the American Le Mans Series. i think getting used to the special features of the ‘Ring would be rather easy.”

 

The 37th edition of the Nürburgring 24 hour race takes off on 23 May at 16.00 hrs. The flag drops on 24th May at 16.00 hours.

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