Olaf Manthey, since 1979 DSK member, has won the Nürburgring 24h Race as team director for the fifth time. At the 39th running of the classical endurance race in the Eifel region, his drivers Marc Lieb, Lucas Luhr, Romain Dumas and DSK member Timo Bernhard dominated their tremendously strong competitors driving Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz race cars. The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR with start number 18 crossed the finish line after 156 laps as winner. Last year’s winning BMW team took the chequered flag in second place. The top three were completed by the Audi R8 LMS entered by Phoenix Racing and driven by Marc Basseng, Marcel Fässler and Frank Stippler, a member of DKS just as the winning driver Bernhard. “On behalf of the DSK Deutscher Sportfahrer Kreis, I wish to sincerely congratulate Olaf Manthey and his whole team to the fantastic success”, says DSK President Dr. Karl-Friedrich Ziegahn. “I am particularly happy to have right two DSK representatives on the podium with Timo Bernhard and Frank Stippler.\”
The many fans at the camping sites around the legendary Nordschleife and on the grandstands at the Grand Prix Circuit got an excellent reward for their endurance demonstrated under partly adverse weather conditions: There were close but always fair battles about each and every metre and position right from the start of the race. There was the remarkable number of 13 changes in the lead until the night before the later winning Manthey Porsche was able to move away a little. The spectators, however, were not only enthusiastic about the top cars: In particular the smaller classes with their exciting fights and their firm determination to take the chequered flag after 24 hours are very popular with the visitors. Dr. Ziegahn: “I have greatest respect for the performance of all those who have contributed to this worldwide unique race: The many club and private racing teams, the volunteers around the track, marshals and officials, all of which have contributed to the success of this event with an incredible enthusiasm, and each one in his respective field.”
