24 Hours of Nürburgring: Pirelli tyres put to the test at the “Green Hell” track
Pirelli will once again this year be taking part in the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring, the endurance race held over the first two days of June on the longest circuit in the world. It is one of the most important events in the panoply of motorsport and the Italian company is the official tyre supplier to several cars in six different classes, including the blue riband SP9 category (FIA-GT3) from which will emerge the overall winner of the 24 Hour race.
The event is an opportunity for Pirelli to put to the test its entire range of GT and Turismo tyres, designed to suit the characteristics of all the different types of car taking part, ensuring the best possible performance in the variable weather conditions that can be expected at this track, which for this race combines the Nordschleife and the GP-Strecke, with a total distance of 25.378 kilometres.
In the SP9 (FIA-GT3) class, Pirelli is supplying the Porsche 911 GT3 R entered by the Italian Dinamic GT team and crewed by Marco Holzer and Marvin Dienst, Marco Seefried and Bastian Buus. The #54 (PRO) will run the latest generation Hard, Medium and Soft compound Pirelli P Zero and if it rains, it can rely on the Cinturato Hard and Soft, for heavy rain or a drying track respectively.
The Dörr Motorsport team is running Pirelli tyres on three cars. In the SP10 (SRO-GT4) class, they have their number one Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (#169), driven by Oskar Sandberg, Aaron Wenisch, Michael Funke and Phil Dörr. In the SP8T category another Vantage GT4, the #269, will be crewed by Philippe Charlaix, Frank Weishar, Sven Schädler and Peter Posavc. The team is also competing in the SP11 (SRO-GT2) class, the first time it has featured at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, with a KTM X-BOW GT2 (PRO-AM, #55), driven by Christian Gebhardt, Fabian Vettel, Ben Dörr and Max Hofer.
Dörr Motorsport is no stranger to using Pirelli tyres in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Back in 2014, its McLaren MP4-12C, fitted with the Italian brand's product and with Kevin Estre at the wheel, set a new lap record for the 24 Hours with an impressive 8'10”921, which was unbeaten until some sections of the original track were updated.
Dörr Motorsport will have a wide range of tyres available, starting with the Pirelli P Zero DHF, which was updated in 2022 and the softest compound P Zero DMF which comes into its own at night, when the track is cooler. If it rains, the new Cinturato WHB, also used in the DTM and ADAC GT Masters will be put to the test. The Cinturato WHB has a new design offering greater rigidity in the tread when compared to its predecessor, which extends its working range when conditions are changing from wet to dry.
The Pirelli P Zero and Cinturato, in a specially produced Touring Car version, will be used by the BMW Mini John Cooper Works (#317) entered by the Bulldog Racing team and driven by Charles Cooper, Markus Fischer, Christoph Kragenings and Sebastian Sauerbrei, as well as the #474 in the VT2 class for 1600 to 2000cc front wheel drive cars, with driving duties shared by Michael Bräutigam, Andreas Hilgers, Sascha Korte e Marco Zabel.
Matteo Braga, Pirelli Motorsport Circuit Activity Manager:
“The Nürburgring 24 Hours is a fantastic test bed for our GT products because it is one of the most difficult and most demanding races in all of motorsport. Its unique characteristics explain why Pirelli often tests it road tyres on the “Green Hell.” Tackling 180 or so medium and low speed corners that make up the track for this event, allows us to gather so much data about our slick and wet weather compounds' performance, which can be used not only to improve our racing products, but also our road going tyres for everyday use, with their main innovations deriving from the experimentation we carry out in motorsport events”.
The 52nd edition of the Nürburgring 24 Hours is expected to draw a crowd of 200 thousand. 130 cars are entered in 23 categories with over 450 drivers taking part. The overall winner usually comes from the SP9 and SP-X categories, with 30 cars entered representing eight marques. The race gets underway at 16.00 on Saturday 1 June, preceded by a 45 minute warm-up at 12.40. Qualifying takes place on Thursday 30 and Friday 31 May, divided into four sessions, with the final Top Qualifying at 17.30. (all times CEST).
As from this year, the endurance race is also a round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, along with those at Bathurst, Spa-Francorchamps and Indianapolis. The Nürburg race takes its place in what is already a very busy schedule of SRO-organised championships for which Pirelli is an official partner, as well as working with ADAC as the official supplier to DTM and GT Masters.
After the third round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe at Misano (16-19 May), the Italian company is also on duty for the Prologue to the Spa 24 Hours (21-22 May), two days of testing prior to the one hundredth edition of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa (25-30 June) in which all 67 GT3 cars entered will race on Pirelli tyres. Before Spa, Pirelli will also be at the Lausitzring (24-26 May) for the second round of the DTM and then at Zandvoort (7-9 June) for both DTM and ADAC GT Masters.
