Pirelli tyres put to the test in a shortened 24 Hours of Nürburgring

Nürburgring, 02 June 2024 | 19:24 Europe/Amsterdam Pirelli tyres put to the test in a shortened 24 Hours of Nürburgring Braga: “Reliability and consistent performance despite the continuously changing track conditions.”  The Pirelli-shod Mini wins the SP3T class 24hNbr24_060111334118654LS_LS-EDT 52. ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring 2024 - Foto: Gruppe C Photography The entire available range of Pirelli tyres was put to the test over the course of the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring, which ended ahead of schedule this afternoon and behind the Safety Car, because of terrible weather. In fact, there was only a little over seven hours of actual racing, all of it on Saturday, before the race was red flagged on lap 45. Fog meant the medical helicopter could not fly and visibility was too poor to let the drivers tackle the 25.378 kilometre track, made up of the Nordschleife and GP-Strecke circuits. After several postponements, the race director decided to send the cars off for five formation laps behind the Safety Car early on Sunday afternoon, before then declaring the 24 Hours over after 50 laps.This year, Pirelli was the official tyre supplier for several cars in six different classes. The changing track conditions, which even varied from sector to sector because of the endless changes to the weather typical of the Eifel region, meant that all types of the Italian company’s tyres were called into use.The tyres used in the Nürburgring 24 Hours were developed specifically for the various types of car taking part and could deal with an extremely wide range of track conditions, sometimes on the same lap, as is often the case at this track, ensuring safety and speed in line with the other cars in the race.The Dinamic GT team’s Porsche 911 GT3 R, running in the SP9 (FIA-GT3) category provided proof of the consistent performance of the Pirelli P Zero Hard, Medium and Soft compounds and the Hard and Soft versions of the Cinturato, for heavy rain and drying conditions respectively. Having started from the 12th row of the grid with a BoP increased by 10kg on Saturday morning, the Italian team’s #54 (PRO) car made up ground on the first day, after an assessment of the strength and locality of the rain, inclined the team and the Pirelli engineers to keep the slicks on until the red flag. The final two stints from youngster Bastian Buus, taking part in his first 24 Hours, closed down the gap to their competitors and, thanks to a sensible approach to the slipperiest sections delivered below average lap times (8’25”175, fastest race lap) and meant the restart was taken from the seventh row. Buus shared driving duties with Marco Holzer, Marvin Diens and the veteran Marco Seefried who has competed in this event 15 times and they maintained 13th place from which the car restarted the following day.“It was my first time at the Nürburgring and the experience with Pirelli tyres was definitely a positive one as track conditions changed continuously,” commented Bastian Buus, driver of Porsche 911 GT3 R #54 (Dinamic GT). “I’m happy to have got through my stints without any problems. Like everyone else, I didn’t expect the race to end like this, but over the weekend we learned a lot and found areas where we can improve for the future.”Despite the length of the track, one of the most difficult aspects of the race for the drivers was dealing with traffic, with over 130 starters in 23 different categories, with several speed differentials. One of the biggest groups was the GT4 class in which Dörr Motorsport had entered two Aston Martin Vantage AMRs fitted with Pirelli P Zero DHF and DMF, the latter being softer for use in lower temperatures and the Cinturato WHB. Thanks to a new tread, the rain tyres saw plenty of use from drivers who appreciated their wide operating range in various degrees of wet conditions. Both the #269 (SP8T class) and the #169 (SP10 class) required repairs but went on to finish fifth and tenth in class (65th and 81st overall). The German team also entered a KTM X-BOW GT2 (PRO-AM, #55) in the new SP11 (SRO-GT2) class which finished 31st overall.Pirelli also provided the tyres for the winner of the SP3T category, the new John Cooper Works PRO BMW Mini on its world debut. It finished 71st overall. The #317 car, run by Bulldog Racing used the P Zero and Cinturato tyres in the versions designed for Touring cars. Its sister car, #474 in the VT2 class with front wheel drive also made it to third in class and 78th overall.Matteo Braga, Pirelli Motorsport Circuit Activity Manager:“We witnessed a shortened version of the 24 Hours, with over two thirds of the race lost because of fog, which was very disappointing for the 240 thousand spectators who had flocked to Nürburg for this classic endurance race. What racing there was saw the entire range of tyres be used on a circuit that has no equal anywhere in the world. The tyres proved reliable in all the various scenarios that unfolded on Saturday afternoon, gettin