Porsche has won the Nürburgring 24 hour race for the fourth time in a row. Timo Bernhard (Germany), Marc Lieb (Germany), Romain Dumas (France) and Marcel Tiemann (Monaco) crossed the finish line in the 480 hp Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of the Manthey Racing team with a one lap advantage over the second-placed Audi R8. The sister Manthey Porsche, the 445 hp 911 GT3 Cup S manned by Richard Lietz (Austria), Wolf Henzler (Germany), Emmanuel Collard (France) and Dirk Werner (Germany), occupied third position. Seven Porsche race cars finished in the top ten.

A total of 235,000 spectators witnessed the fastest 24 hour race in history on the Nürburgring. Clocking up 3,933 kilometres, the Manthey Racing squad improved on its own distance record from 2006 by a further 101 kilometres. Timo Bernhard and Marcel Tiemann are the first pilots to win the long distance classic four times in succession.

Already in the early stages, the race turned into a thriller. For almost one hour, Marc Lieb followed in the slipstream of the pole-setting Ford GT driven by Dirk Adorf. Only when the Ford spun after lapping a slower vehicle and fell back, did Lieb get a free run. Until the early morning hours, the winner of last year was entangled in a gripping duel with the fastest of the Audis. As the regulations allow the more powerful R8 LMS a 20-litre larger fuel tank, the Audi could turn out one more lap per tank. “To counteract this we had to take more risks and turn one qualifying lap after the other to stay in the lead,” says Timo Bernhard describing his most gruelling 24 hour race to date. “It was only when the Audi experienced technical problems that we could take it a little more carefully during the last hours,” added Marc Lieb. For Romain Dumas the most decisive factor in the race was: “All of us were able to maintain this unbelievable pace and not one of us made the slightest error.” For Marcel Tiemann a dream came true: “We wrote motorsport history today. To win this race four times in a row with this team and now become the driver with the most victories here, that means a great deal to me.”

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Overall result 2009 Nürburgring 24 hour race

1.  Bernhard/Lieb/Dumas/Tiemann             Porsche 911 GT3 RSR    155 laps
2.  Abt/Hemroulle/Kaffer/Luhr               Audi R8 LMS            154 l
3.  Collard/Henzler/Lietz/Werner            Porsche GT3 Cup S      152 l
4.  Alzen/Bert/Arnold/Mies                  Porsche 911 GT3 Cup    150 l
5.  Basseng/Fässler/Rockenfeller/Stippler   Audi R8 LMS            149 l
6.  Schmitz/Abbelen/Althoff/Heyer           Porsche 911 GT3        149 l
7.  Kräling/Gindorf/Scharmach/Holzer        Porsche 911 GT3 Cup    149 l
8.  Bermes/Kainz/Schmickler/Bergmeister     Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S  148 l
9.  Quinn/Quinn/Baird/Denyer                Porsche 911 GT3 RSR    146 l
10. Adams/Ludwig/Meier/Grossmann            BMW Z4 M Coupé         145 l