HOCKENHEIM (14 May, 2022) – Car Collection Motorsport currently leads a very tight battle for victory at the 2022 Hankook 12H HOCKENHEIMRING, with four teams still well in contention at half-distance. 

Having led the field away from pole position earlier this afternoon, the Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II (#34, Johannes Dr. Kirchhoff / Max Edelhoff / Elmar Grimm) enjoyed a scintillating battle for the lead with the CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#85, Charles Putman / Charles Espenlaub / Joe Foster) during the opening stages, a fight that was later joined by the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVOs of JUTA Racing (#71, Julius Adomavičius / Andrius Gelžinis / Jonas Gelžinis) and Phoenix Racing (#18, Michael Doppelmayr / Pierre Kaffer / Elia Erhart / Patryk Krupinski). Late pit stops from both JUTA Racing and Phoenix Racing though, plus a hard-charging final stint from Max Edelhoff, meant the Car Collection Motorsport eventually retook the overall lead with just 20 minutes of ‘part one’ left to run. 

The Car Collection Audi R8 LMS has so far completed 188 laps of the 4.574km Hockenheimring, and will take tomorrow’s restart at the head of the field. 

“A lot has happened, and it’s been a long race for us so far!” Max Edelhoff explained to radiolemans.com’s Chris Dawes. “During the day we went from P1, to P4, to P5, and then back to P1! At the end, we had very good pace, and with the refueling strategy we have, we made sure we stayed on the lead lap and also put some other cars off the lead lap. That was our target, so it’s been a good race for us so far.”

Asked how the tyres have handled the high temperatures so far this weekend in Baden-Württemberg, and how much fuel Car Collection has in reserve going into tomorrow’s restart, Max, smilingly, answered: “The tyres were very good for us today. For the fuel, we won’t tell!”

CP Racing will restart the Hankook 12H HOCKENHEIMRING from the front row of the grid, and, significantly, on the lead lap following a massive fuel-saving run from Charles Putman during the team owner’s final stint. JUTA Racing will lead Phoenix Racing away from the second row of the grid, meaning three of the top four positions on tomorrow’s grid will be filled by Audi R8 LMS’. 

In an impressive showing for the 992 class, the top four Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars are all currently running in the overall top 10 at the Hockenheimring. Red Camel-Jordans.nl (#909, Ivo Breukers / Luc Breukers / Rik Breukers) lies an impressive 5th outright, just one place ahead of Red Ant Racing (#904, Philippe Wils / Tom Boonen / Sam Dejonghe). 

The sister Red Ant Racing (#903, Ayrton Redant / Bert Redant / Yannick Redant) currently rounds out the 992-class podium and is 7th overall. The 992 Teams’ championship contender had been running 2nd in-class only for a left-rear puncture to strike inside the closing 45 minutes. 

One off-track moment aside in the stadium section, NKPP by HRT Performance Cup (#928, Gijs Bessem / Harry Hilders) is 9th overall after a solid run. Just one place further back, the JR Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 (#2, Ted van Vliet / Bas Schouten / Dirk Schouten) currently rounds out the GT3-AM podium behind Car Collection Motorsport and CP Racing.

Former class champion Porsche Lorient Racing (#912, Philippe Polette / Frederic Lelievre / Jean-François Demorge / Frédéric Ancel) had been in podium contention early on, and even led a lap outright – one of seven different teams to do so this afternoon – but lost time in the garage after a wheel-banging moment on-track with Vortex V8. 

RD Signs – Siauliai racing team (#720, Audrius Butkevicius / Nicola Michelon / Paulius Paskevicius) leads a Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo 1-2 in GTX ahead of Leipert Motorsport (#710, Kerong Li / Jean-Francois Brunot / Tim Müller). The Lithuanian team currently rounds out the overall top 10, albeit just one place and a few minutes ahead of the GTX Teams’ standings leader. Spain’s E2P Racing (#910, Javier Morcillo / Pablo Burguera) sits 3rd in-class on only its second 24H SERIES run with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Though Vortex V8 (#701, Lionel Amrouche / Philippe Bonnel / Sebastien Lajoux) had been running 3rd in-class during the early going, a collision with the Lestrup Racing Team Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR (#110, Mats Olsson / Peter Fahlström / Stefan Nilsson / Christian Axelsson) and the on-track brush with Porsche Lorient Racing have since dropped the GTX Teams’ championship contender back to 4th in-class. The Vortex 1.0 also ended ‘part one’ of the Hankook 12H HOCKENHEIMRING in the gravel trap, bringing out the event’s fourth Code 60 of the day with only three minutes left on the clock. 

Though the MANIACK-Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 (#412, Martin Wachter / Dario Pergolini / Constantin Kletzer) suffered an early collision with Wolf-Power Racing (#116, Jasmin Preisig / Ivars Vallers / Marcus Menden), Liechtenstein’s first team in the 24H SERIES continues its maiden run at the head of GT4. Wolf Power meanwhile has yet to re-emerge from the garage, the contact with the Mercedes significantly damaging the Audi RS 3 LMS’ gearbox. 

In-keeping with its race-winning form earlier this year in Dubai and Mugello, the BBR CUPRA Leon Competición TCR (#159, Chariya Nuya / Kantadhee Kusiri / Kantasak Kusiri / Munkong Sathienthirakul) currently heads TCE overall having pulled one lap clear of the Lestrup Racing Team Audi RS3 LMS TCR (#120, Emil Sällberg / Marcus Fluch / Oliver Söderström / Andreas Bäckman). The Swedish team though, which makes its first 24H SERIES start in more than two years this weekend with a brand-new Audi RS 3 LMS, remains in contention for victory having secured TCE pole position yesterday and led the opening stages of the race this afternoon. 

Holmgaard Motorsport (#102, Magnus Holmgaard / Jonas Holmgaard / Roy Edland / Martin Vedel Mortensen), which took its maiden TCR class win last time out at Spa-Francorchamps, sits 3rd overall in TCE on its maiden run with a new CUPRA Leon Competición TCR, despite niggling gearbox issues earlier in the weekend. 

The Xwift Racing Ligier JS2 R (#221, Pieter Denys / Tim de Borle / Steven Dewulf) lies 4th overall in TCE after a quiet run, and also leads the way in the TCX class after gearbox problems felled class rival Valluga (#205, Bradley Ellis / Leonidas Loucas / Rhea Loucas). Following a full gearbox change overnight, the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS is expected to return to the track tomorrow. 

Making its first start with CREVENTIC in three years, the Wimmer Werk Motorsport CUPRA TCR (#124, Peter Gross / Dominik Haselsteiner / Günther Wiesmeier / Daniel Lemmerhofer) is a solid 5th overall in TCE ahead of Lestrup Racing’s second entry.

An unusual incident for the GSR Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR SEQ (#105, Ernesta Globytė / Rokas Kvedaras / Mindaugas Liatukas) saw the front left wheel bearing seize under braking for turn three, requiring the wheel to be removed altogether during the VW’s recovery. The Lithuanian team has since returned to the track and is currently 7th in TCE.

The Hankook 12H HOCKENHEIMRING is set to continue tomorrow afternoon, Sunday 15 May, at 14.00 hrs local time following the overnight intervention. The final half of the race will run uninterrupted until the chequered flag is flown at 19.55 hrs. Live streaming of the race in HD quality will be available on our official website and the 24H SERIES YouTube channel. Regular updates will be published on Twitter (@24HSeries), Facebook (24H Series) and Instagram (24H Series). Further information can be found HERE