Seven Audi R8 LMS cars to race Nürburgring 24 Hours

This weekend's 38th running of the 24 hour race at the Nürburgring will bring over 200,000 spectators and over 200 competing vehicles - seven of which will be Audi R8 LMS cars entered by Audi customer teams ABT Sportsline, Black Falcon and Phoenix Racing. Not too mention, the race's formation lap will be led by none other than the all-new Audi R8 GT.

It's worth noting that with the purchase of the Audi R8 LMS, each race team receives technical support by Audi Sport from the recently opened customer sport center in Ingolstadt – including the ABT Sportsline, Black Falcon and Phoenix Racing teams at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. "We’re happy to see as many as seven Audi R8 LMS cars contest this race. With their visual design, the sound of the V10 engine and the many popular drivers, these cars will probably be among the favorites of the audience,” says Audi Head of Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "As in all other Europe-wide GT3 races, the Audi customer sport center ensures the required technical support. Entering the cars as well as selecting the drivers is up to the teams which compete against each other as well. We’re very excited to see how our customers will do in this race.”

In addition to leading the formation lap, the Audi R8 GT will be on display at "Audi Fantreff” on the Ring Boulevard. Audi will also use this weekend's race to hand over 33 R8 Spyder and Coupe cars to customers as part of its "Drive Away” program.

Below is the full list of Audi R8 LMS teams and drivers for this weekend's Nürburgring 24 hours. You'll notice that these teams have secured a noteworthy lineup of Audi 'factory' drivers such as Mattias Ekström, Oliver Jarvis, Lucas Luhr and Timo Scheider (among others) for Team ABT Sportsline and Mike Rockenfeller and Markus Winkelhock for Team Phoenix Racing.

The Audi R8 LMS customer teams in the 2010 Nürburgring 24 Hours

Team ABT Sportsline (2 vehicles)

Audi R8 LMS #2
Christian Abt (D)
Emmanuel Collard (F)
Lucas Luhr (D)
Christopher Mies (D)

Audi R8 LMS #100
Mattias Ekström (S)
Oliver Jarvis (GB)
Timo Scheider (D)
Marco Werner (D)

Black Falcon (2 vehicles)

Audi R8 LMS #102
Sean Paul Breslin (GB)
Christer Jöns (D)
Kenneth Heyer (D)
Johannes Stuck (D)

Audi R8 LMS #111
Michael Ammermüller (D)
Sean-Patrick Breslin (GB)
Vimal Mehta (EAT)
Rob Wilson (NZ)

Phoenix Racing (3 vehicles)

Audi R8 LMS #97
Marc Bronzel (D)
Luca Ludwig (D)
Dennis Rostek (D)
Markus Winkelhock (D)

Audi R8 LMS #98
Marc Basseng (D)
Mike Rockenfeller (D)
Frank Stippler (D)
Hans-Joachim Stuck (D)

Audi R8 LMS #99
Frank Biela (D)
Pierre Kaffer (D)
Marcel Fässler (CH)
Marc Hennerici (D)

The 24-hour race schedule

Thursday, May 13
13:00–14:30 Free practice
16:00–17:00 Autograph session, Ring Boulevard
19:30–23:30 Qualifying 1

Friday, May 14
10:30–11:30 Meet the Audi Teams
12:45–14:45 Qualifying 2

Saturday, May 15
11:30–12:30 Driver parade
12:30–14:10 Grid formation
14:40 Start of formation lap
15:00 Start

Sunday, May 16
15:00 Finish

TV schedule

Thursday, May 13
12:00–14:00 Sport1, preliminary reports and free practice (live)
16:00–16:15 Sport1, intermediate reports (live)
22:30–00:00 Sport1, qualifying 1 (live)

Friday, May 14
22:30–00:00 Sport1, highlights

Saturday, May 15
12:15–13:30 Sport1, grid formation
14:00–15:55 Sport1, start (live)
19:15–20:00 Sport1, race (live)
22:30–23:00 Sport1, race (live)

Sunday, May 16
07:00–11:00 Sport1, race (live)
13:00–16:00 Sport1, finish (live)

Source: Audi Motorsport
Photos: Audi Motorsport - Header image via Team Black Falcon