[source: Scherer Sport]
In David’s fight against Goliath, SCHERER SPORT PHX achieved a sensational victory at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring: Their #16 Audi R8 LMS defeated the competition against the big manufacturer teams and other privateers. The victory was celebrated by Ricardo Feller, Dennis Marschall, Christopher Mies and Frank Stippler. The team’s Porsche 911 also caused a lot of joy with second place in the Cup 2 class after a catch-up.
Five brands landed in the first five places at the end of an unusual 52nd running of the 24-hour race. After a weather-related interruption before midnight, race management could no longer release the race on Sunday due to continuous dense fog. Five final formation rounds ended the competition prematurely on Sunday. With only 50 laps driven, this competition was completed nine laps shorter than the shortest edition so far from 2021. Already three years ago, fog had been the cause of an interruption.
“Of course, these circumstances are a great pity for the loyal and great fans on the Nordschleife as well as for us participants,” says Christian Scherer, CEO of the Scherer Group and founder of SCHERER SPORT PHX. “But that does not change our joy and the achievements that our drivers and the team have shown. Over more than seven hours, we have experienced an exciting race with high power density and a great variety of brands. A huge congratulations and a big thank you to our team for the overall victory with Audi and for second place with Porsche in the Cup 2 class.” Already in 2019 and 2022, an Audi R8 LMS used on behalf of Audi Sport customer racing in the unmistakable colors of Scherer Sport won the 24-hour classic. The team from Meuspath has even triumphed for the seventh time since 2000.
Since the start of the race on Saturday at 4 p.m., the team SCHERER SPORT PHX has been one of the protagonists. The Audi R8 LMS number 16 by Ricardo Feller/Dennis Marschall/Christopher Mies/Frank Stippler, which started from row two, always remained in the top group. In the fourth race hour, Dennis Marschall took the lead for the first time in the Audi with the yellow color markings. “It ran really smoothly and was fun,” he says. After Frank Stippler took over the cockpit, he also stayed in the top group in changeable weather. “I have rarely experienced tougher conditions up here. Rain, dry lines, slippery spots – it was all there,” he remembers. Christopher Mies then engaged in a remarkable duel with his pursuer from BMW up to the Red Flag. “Madness, that was a lot of fun,” he says. “Nevertheless, the Red Flag was right, because we could hardly see the braking and turning points in the fog.” Curious: Ricardo Feller was mentioned on both Audi of the team, but had not yet completed a round with the later winful number 16. It was only in the final formation rounds that he took over the cockpit for the first time to fulfill his mandatory distance. “With third place in the Top Qualifying 2, I still contributed to the success of number 16 before I started the race in our other car,” says the Swiss, who had turned 24 on Saturday.
“Various failures and dramatic accidents of several opponents have shown how hard this race was. A big thank you to the entire team for the flawless preparation. This was the only way to achieve success,” says Axel Randolph, team boss of SCHERER SPORT PHX. “Strategically, we were well positioned. In the first rain phase, we were on Michelin slicks, while our toughest competitors relied on the Drying Wets variant. This has given us an advantage. Shortly before the demolition, we pulled up slicks again early, while the Grello Porsche lost about half a minute on Drying Wets.” With a 0.6 second lead, Dennis Marschall and Ricardo Feller celebrated their first victory in this race. For Christopher Mies and Frank Stippler, it was the third in the Audi R8 LMS.
The team’s Porsche 911 also scored a cup after a strong catch-up. Dylan Pereira had started on slicks, but shortly afterwards it started to rain. Due to the due tire change, the Luxembourger fell back to sixth place. Christer Jöns later significantly reduced the backlog on slicks in difficult conditions, in the evening Larry ten Voorde took over the cockpit. The Dutchman managed a double mission: He had won a race for the Porsche Carrera Cup in Italy on Saturday. He then flew back to the Nürburgring, where he managed to connect with the Cup 2 top group with SCHERER SPORT PHX. Jöns, Pereira, ten Voorde and Thomas Kiefer were happy in the end about second place in the Class Cup 2, which is well occupied with 14 participants.
The Audi R8 LMS with the number 15 had no chance of a top result after two tire damage in the first three racing hours. Ricardo Feller/Christopher Haase/Frédéric Vervisch/Markus Winkelhock only took eleventh place with the Audi started from fifth place because of the loss of time.
