The 911 GT3 R fielded by the Porsche customer team Manthey EMA set the fastest time in top qualifying for the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Works driver Kévin Estre remained unbeaten in 8m 12.741s. The "Grello", which the Frenchman shares with Austrian Thomas Preining and Ayhancan Güven from Turkey, takes up the Eifel classic from pole position.

The number 33 Falken Porsche will start the race from the second row of the grid in fourth place. Laurens Vanthoor caused a moment of shock. The Belgian got out of the 911 of the Scherer Sport PHX team unharmed after a violent accident.

The top qualifying on the 25.378-kilometre combination of the original Grand Prix circuit and the venerable Nordschleife had to be restarted after a 75-minute interruption. This was triggered by Laurens Vanthoor: The Belgian had gone off the track with the 911 GT3 R of the Scherer Sport PHX customer team on his first of two flying laps in the fast Schwedenkreuz left-hander and hit the crash barriers. The Porsche works driver, who finished second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans last weekend together with Kévin Estre, was uninjured in the accident. The number 16 race car, which Vanthoor shared with the Swiss Patric Niederhauser and Ricardo Feller, will not start on Saturday.

For the second attempt, the race management shortened the individual time trial to only one flying lap. Estre took to the track in the 911 GT3 R of the Manthey EMA team in third to last, which had heated up to a good 52 degrees Celsius in midsummer weather. The reigning FIA World Endurance Championship champion delivered and set the fastest time in four of the nine sectors. In the end, the winner of the 2021 Nürburgring 24 Hours relegated his fastest pursuer to second place on the grid by 1.168 seconds.

Local hero Nico Menzel secured the fourth-best time for the number 33 Porsche of the Falken Motorsports customer team. With the sister car, Dutchman Morris Schuring finished twelfth. His compatriot Daan Arrow set the ninth fastest time, but was moved to eleventh position due to a sporting offence. This puts the Porsche of Black Falcon in third place on the grid within the SP9 Pro-Am classification.

"After the superb preparatory races in the Nürburgring Endurance Series and the two qualifying races, our customer teams continued their strong performance on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife in top qualifying," said Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R. "Kévin Estre managed an extremely clean and flawless lap – we expected nothing less from him. After the accident for the Scherer Sport PHX car, the mood was of course a bit depressed. Unfortunately, the team had to withdraw the car. The most important thing, however, is that Laurens Vanthoor is doing well so far. Now we're keeping our fingers crossed for all the teams for the 24-hour race."

The 24-hour endurance classic in the Eifel region is part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, along with the equally long race in Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), the 12 Hours of Bathurst (Australia), the 1,000 kilometres of Suzuka (Japan) and the 8-hour race in Indianapolis (USA). Porsche won the manufacturers' title in this unofficial GT3 world championship in 2024.

Five of the seven Porsche 911 GT3 R in top qualifying

17 race cars from the top SP9 category, which is reserved for GT3 race cars, were allowed to take part in the top qualifying. Twelve starters of this individual time trial had already been determined in the run-up to the 24-hour race. They were determined in a complicated procedure at the so-called qualifiers races three weeks earlier and during the first three rounds of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) season. The weighting between vehicles from the SP9 Pro class – in which pure professional crews compete – and participants from the SP9 Pro-Am and Am classifications is unusual. Here, lower-rated drivers are also at the wheel. A maximum of 40 percent of vehicles from both groups are eligible for direct participation. In the SP9 Pro, as well as in the Pro-Am and AM subcategories, there were six race cars each this year, including the two 911 GT3 R from Falken Motorsports, the "Grello" from Manthey EMA and the Pro-Am Porsche from Black Falcon.

The remaining five starters resulted from the combined result of the first and second qualifying sessions on Thursday. Here, Laurens Vanthoor had managed to make it into the individual time trial with the Scherer Sport PHX nine-eleven at the last minute, when the course was once again free of yellow zones shortly before the end of the night session at around 11:30 p.m.

The 24-hour race live on TV and in the Strea

The German free TV channel Nitro will broadcast the Eifel classic live over the entire 24 hours. Pre- and post-coverage comprise almost four additional hours of airtime. The official website of the race offers a free livestream and live timing at www.24h-rennen.de/live/. The track announcers also provide the numerous fans at the track with up-to-date information at all times via Radio Nürburgring on the VHF frequency 87.7 MHz.

Drivers' comments after the top qualifying

Kévin Estre (Porsche 911 GT3 R #911): "Pole position for the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring – that's always a great feeling! To be able to drive on the Nordschleife alone with new tyres without overtaking traffic and in perfect conditions is incredible and great for the fans. Only for the tires it was perhaps a bit too warm. I'm very proud of my lap: the Porsche was perfect and I avoided any mistakes. After the moment of shock, however, I am very happy that Laurens is doing well. Now we have a long race ahead of us. We were able to prove that we are strong in all conditions. Now we have the best cards, but the competition never sleeps."

Nico Menzel (Porsche 911 GT3 R #33): "In view of a problem we had in the aborted top qualifying, I'm very happy with fourth place. I was at the limit and luckily mastered one or two tricky situations well. If the temperatures remain so high, tyre management also plays a major role in the race. Our goal is to drive through without any problems or mistakes – then you'll almost automatically be among the frontrunners."

Morris Schuring (Porsche 911 GT3 R #44): "I was fast in the first few kilometres. Unfortunately, I destroyed the lap in the Schwedenkreuz section with a small mistake. The important thing is that our nine-eleven works very well in these conditions, so I'm looking forward to the race with confidence. It will be important to keep each set of tyres alive for as long as possible."

Daan Arrow (Porsche 911 GT3 R #48): "First of all, a big compliment to our mechanics, who turned our nine-eleven into a perfect racing machine again after the slip on Thursday. Due to the incident yesterday, I was unable to complete my two mandatory laps – I had to do that today in top qualifying. Third place on the grid among the ProAm teams is a good basis for a strong race."

Starting grid Nürburgring 24 Hours:

1. Estre/Güven/Preining (FRA/TUR/AUT), Porsche 911 GT3 R, Manthey EMA #911, 8m 12.741s
2nd Perel/Fernandez/Jefferies/Neubauer (RSA/GER/ZAF/FRA), Ferrari 296 GT3 #45, 8m 13.909s
3rd Engel/Martin/Schiller/Stolz (GER/BEL/GER/GER), Mercedes-AMG GT3 #14, 8m 14.233s
4th Andlauer/Müller/Picariello/Nico Menzel (FRA/DEU/BEL/DEU), Porsche 911 GT3 R, Falken Motorsports #33, 8m 14.279s
11th Arrow/Bünnagel/Kaya/Piana (NLD/DEU/TUR/ITA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, Black Falcon #48, 8m 16.181s
12th Boccolacci/Heinemann/Marschall/Schuring (FRA/DEU/DEU/NLD), Porsche 911 GT3 R, Falken Motorsports #44, 8m 20.815s