Kelvin van der Linde helps Rowe-BMW to Nürburgring 24 Hour victory
The #98 BMW M4 GT3, driven by Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn, Raffaele Marciello and South Africa's Kelvin van der Linde, completed 141 laps to finish just over a minute ahead of the Manthey Porsche crewed by Kevin Estre, Ayhancan Güven and Thomas Preining.
Though the Manthey entry crossed the line first, it was relegated to second place after incurring a 1:40 time penalty. The team had lodged a protest against the penalty, but it was dismissed by race stewards shortly before the end of the race.
The result marks Rowe Racing's second overall win at the Nürburgring 24 Hours after its 2020 triumph and is BMW's 21st victory in the event.
For Van der Linde, who celebrated his 29th birthday during the weekend, it was a third Nürburgring win after previous victories in 2017 and 2022. Farfus added a second title to his 2010 win, while Marciello and Krohn each claimed their first.
Third place went to the #54 Dinamic Porsche shared by Bastian Buus, Matteo Cairoli, Loek Hartog and Joel Sturm.
'Things looked very different for us on Thursday,' said Rowe team principal Hans-Peter Naundorf.
'We had completely different thoughts. But of course you always want to win. Today, it wasn't the fastest car that won, but the team that made the fewest mistakes. That was us and we are proud of that.'
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