Double-shot of 24-hour races for nearly 20 drivers

By Jun 18, 2014, 11:15 AM EDT
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So last week was the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the midsummer endurance classic.

And what’s a better way to spend the next weekend than with another 24 hours?

For 18 drivers, they’re staying in Europe for another week, and another 24-hour race. The ADAC Zurich 24-Hour Race, or as it’s more commonly known, the 24 Hours of the Nurburging, follows a week after Le Mans and will see a wealth of talented drivers take to “the Green Hell.”

The 18 include two Le Mans winners. Overall winner Marcel Fassler, who co-drove the winning No. 2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro with Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer, is entered in the No. 3 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra with co-drivers Marc Basseng, Frank Stippler and Laurens Vanthoor.

Additionally, GTE-Am class winner Nicki Thiim shifts from the No. 95 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage to the No. 10 Prosperia C. Abt Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra he’ll share with Christopher Mies and Christer Jons.

Jeroen Bleekemolen, who co-drove with Cooper MacNeil at Le Mans, has two more drivers to support him at Nurburgring. The No. 1 Black Falcon Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 features Bleekemolen, Andreas Simonsen, Christian Menzel and Lance David Arnold behind the wheel.

Here’s the full entry list. In the meantime, below is a list of those doing the “24 double,” with their cars last week and now this week to monitor. An update after a double check reveals there’s a 19th driver doing the double, as well, that I forgot initially.

DRIVER		     LM24/CLASS
		     N24/CLASS
Jeroen Bleekemolen	79 ProSpeed Porsche 911 GT3 RSR/GTE-Pro
			1 Black Falcon Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3/SP 9 GT3
Marcel Fassler		2 Audi Sport Audi R18 e-tron quattro/LMP1
			3 Phoenix Audi R8 LMS Ultra/SP 9 GT3
Rene Rast		24 Loeb Oreca 03 Nissan/LMP2
			4 Phoenix Audi R8 LMS Ultra/SP 9 GT3
Patrick Pilet		91 Porsche 911 RSR/GTE-Pro
			6 Frikadelli-Racing-Team Porsche GT3 R/SP 9 GT3
Stefan Mucke	        97 AMR Aston Martin Vantage/GTE-Pro
			7 AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3/SP 9 GT3
Darren Turner	        97 AMR Aston Martin Vantage/GTE-Pro
			7 AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3/SP 9 GT3
Pedro Lamy		98 AMR Aston Martin Vantage/GTE-Am
			7 AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3/SP 9 GT3
Richard Westbrook	74 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R/GTE-Pro
			8 Haribo Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3 R/SP 9 GT3
Nicki Thiim		95 AMR Aston Martin Vantage/GTE-Am
			10 Prosperia C. Abt Racing GmbH Audi R8 LMS Ultra/SP 9 GT3
Abdulaziz Al Faisal	66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari F458 Italia/GTE-Am
			14 Black Falcon Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3/SP 9 GT3
Roman Rusinov		26 G-Drive Racing Morgan Nissan/LMP2
			17 G-Drive Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra/SP 9 GT3
Alvaro Parente          52 RAM Racing Ferrari F458 Italia/GTE-Pro
                        20 Dorr Motorsport McLaren 12C GT3/SP 9 GT3
Markus Palttala		75 ProSpeed Porsche 911 GT3 RSR/GTE-Am
			26 BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS BMW Z4 GT3/SP 9 GT3
Pierre Ehret		70 Taisan Ferrari F458 Italia/GTE-Am
			29 GT Corse by Rinaldi Ferrari 458 Italia GT3/SP 9 GT3
Alexandre Imperatori	47 KCMG Oreca 03 Nissan/LMP2
			44 Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R 997/SP 9 GT3
Nick Heidfeld		12 Rebellion R-One Toyota/LMP1
			80 Nissan GT Academy Team RJN Nissan GT-R GT3/SP 9 GT3
Lucas Ordonez		0 NISMO Global Nissan ZEOD RC/G56
			80 Nissan GT Academy Team RJN Nissan GT-R GT3/SP 9 GT3
Tristan Gommendy	46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Ligier JS P2 Nissan/LMP2
			121 Philippe Salini Seat Leon Supercopa/SP 3 T
Pierre Kaffer		71 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia/GTE-Pro
			502 Audi race experience Audi R8 LMS Ultra/SP 9 GT3

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”