A groggy paddock was finally called for the restart at 8am CET, neither drivers nor crews feeling fully refreshed despite the unexpected hiatus. On a still damp track the #7 Aston Martin at first held onto its advantage, but soon found the going tough and had to give best to its nearest opponents. Newly signed BMW ALMS driver Maxime Martin – fresh from a race at Monterey – had put on an astonishing run of form, despatching the #1 Audi (now back on the lead lap) and its sister #26 BMW Z4 of Henri Moser, Markus Paltalla and Bas Leinders to take a surprise lead.
The Black Falcons #9 Merc meanwhile was on a charge of its own, Edwards, Schneider and Thiim – minus Bleekemolen who left the Nurburgring early when his wife went into labour – slotting into fifth by as the 16th hour rolled by. Intermittent heavy rain once again started beating the Nurburgring, and though not quite serious enough to stop the race for a second time, pit stop strategies were thrown out the window as first wet then dry weather tyres were dished out to competitors struggling to read the conditions accurately. A hunch played by the Black Falcons paid off big time, and by lunchtime the #9 was top of the pecking order. Within another hour, the advantage up front was well over a minute, and though a late race charge left many in the garage crossing their fingers, ultimately consistent running left rivals with too much work to do. At 5pm CET, the #9 Team Black Falcon Mercedes SLS duly romped home to secure Mercedes victory on home soil. The celebrations began early.
The #23 ROWE Racing team of Lance Arnold, Alexander Roloff, Jan Seyffarth and Thomas Jäger – a consistent top five runner throughout the event – had looked good for second place in the closing stages, albeit under pressure from the sister #22 SLS of Klaus Graf and Nico Bastian, who shared driving duties with Jäger and Seyffarth. Neither had counted on a burst of speed from Martin in the #25 BMW, however. Incredibly, one full day after the start of the race, the Belgian would overtake both ROWE entries to spoil Mercedes’ hopes of a 1-2-3 finish and cement second place almost within sight of the flag. The ROWE Racing Mercs dutifully came home third and fourth just ahead of the #1 G-Drive Racing by Phoenix Audi R8 LMS. After a strong – some even said astonishing – early showing, an off for Lamy and an ill-handling Vantage meant the #7 Aston Martin Racing crew could do no better than tenth. A solid result nonetheless.
Up front, the champagne was liberal as the winners celebrated a historic win set in the shortest distance ever seen at the Nurburgring 24 Hours: just 88 laps. Many – and justifiably so – cursed the weather and ill-luck after superb efforts were ultimately to no avail. But for Mercedes-Benz and Sean Edwards, Nicki Thiim, Bernd Schneider and the absent Jeroen Bleekemolen in the Team Black Falcon SLS AMG GT3, come rain or shine the team had got the job done.
– FULL GALLERY OF SHOTS AVAILABLE HERE – CLICK – Shots courtesy of Nick Dungan
