PREVIEW: 2025 ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring
What the Nürburgring 24 Hours Qualifiers told us about Porsche, Mercedes-AMG, BMW, Audi, and the wildest endurance race of the year.
After the Qualifiers: Who’s hot, who’s hiding, and why this race still matters
Every year, the Nürburgring 24 Hours makes bold promises: danger, drama, a little chaos, and the potential for a lifetime’s glory or heartbreak. Now, with the Qualifiers behind us, the real stories are beginning to take shape for 2025. There’s nothing quite like the Nordschleife: that blend of mythology, meteorology, and pure German willpower. This is more than a race for Porsche, Mercedes-AMG, BMW, and Audi. It’s an annual reckoning.
The event at a glance
- Date: 19–22 June 2025
- Circuit: Nürburgring Nordschleife + GP-Strecke (25.378 km per lap)
- Duration: 24 hours, starting 16:00 on Saturday
- Entry: Over 100 cars, more than 400 drivers, a grid so broad it feels more like a festival than a race
Practice and qualifying sessions fill Thursday and Friday; Saturday is for nerves and anticipation, and Sunday is only for survivors.
What happened at the 2025 Qualifiers?
The Qualifiers, run last weekend over two four-hour races and a Top Qualifying shootout, have given us a glimpse of who’s ready, who’s sandbagging, and who’s hoping for divine intervention.
Saturday’s first race saw factory teams quietly logging mileage, trialling driver orders, and keeping their hands close to their chests. Sunday’s contest and Top Qualifying session turned up the heat, with several teams showing true pace and a handful of others blinking under pressure.
Headlines from the Qualifiers:
- Porsche, Mercedes-AMG, and BMW all left with momentum.
- Audi’s Scherer Sport PHX kept their name in the mix.
- The German brands, especially among customer teams, dominated the narrative.
Deep dive: The German heavyweights
Porsche – Nordschleife soulmates
Porsche and the Nordschleife: it’s almost a cliché, but true. Manthey EMA’s ‘Grello’ remains an icon here. The team’s weekend was focused, quietly menacing, as if holding back something for the big event. Julian Andlauer looks sharper than ever, and Ricardo Feller has fitted in almost instantly. Falken Motorsports is also right there; consistency and local know-how remain their calling cards.
The whole Porsche camp wants redemption after losing out to Audi last year. If they manage traffic well and keep out of the chaos, the #911 will be at the front as the sun rises on Sunday.
Mercedes-AMG – Method, might, and maybe a little mischief
Mercedes-AMG, led by GetSpeed and HRT, turned the Qualifiers into a demonstration of discipline. The GetSpeed #14, piloted by Maxime Martin, Fabian Schiller, and Luca Stolz, rarely put a wheel wrong. HRT kept a lower profile but matched them on outright pace.
What sets AMG apart? Depth. They always seem to have a hand to play with so many customer teams in the mix. When the weather changes or the field descends into chaos, as it always does, there is usually a Mercedes still circulating smoothly. Do not be surprised if it’s an AMG on the top step, not just a familiar name.
BMW – All-in, every year
For BMW, expectations are simply part of the uniform. M Team RMG and ROWE Racing both used the Qualifiers to test the M4 GT3 Evo’s staying power and tyre life. ROWE ran clinical stints, barely putting a foot wrong. RMG was a bit more stealthy, but history suggests they prefer it that way.
BMW’s secret is in the roster: a revolving door of hotshots and ironman veterans. FK Performance Motorsport’s GT4 efforts add to their depth. The NLS and Qualifiers have shown that BMW is not here to make up the numbers—they’re here for win number 21.
Audi – Old dog, old tricks
Audi’s Scherer Sport PHX squad, reigning champions, returned to prove a point: the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II might be getting on, but on the Nordschleife, experience still counts. Frank Stippler led a line-up that’s still dangerous, especially in mixed conditions. Audi’s ability to shine in Top Qualifying shows they should never be ignored, no matter how many headlines the others grab.
Class diversity: more than just a GT3 parade
Yes, the battle at the front is what gets most attention, but the Nürburgring 24h is a celebration of car culture in every form.
- SP9 (GT3): The outright contenders, the professionals, the heroes, the heartbreakers.
- SP10 (GT4): Road-based racers, fighting every bit as hard, and often with the closest finishes of the event.
- Cup classes:
- Cup2 (Porsche Carrera Cup): Where club racing meets the world stage.
- Cup3 (Porsche Cayman GT4 Trophy): Regularly the most fun to watch, especially as the ringers fight for honour.
- Cup5 (BMW M240i Racing Cup): Sometimes chaotic, always entertaining.
- SP-X / SP-PRO: The wildcards, prototypes, and home-grown specials that make you look twice.
- Production classes (V): Genuine “race on Sunday, drive to work Monday” cars. Grassroots, gritty, and often the heart of the paddock.
- TCR: Touring cars with elbows out—tight, aggressive, and a favourite for the fans.
- AT (Alternative fuels): The experimental vanguard. Sometimes contenders, sometimes comic relief, always a look to the future.
It’s the traffic, not the pace, that makes this race uniquely hard. Watch any onboard: it’s not the big crash that ends a dream, it’s a missed TCR braking point, a lunge past a Cup car, or a wheel on the grass at Pflanzgarten.
Why the Nürburgring 24h still matters
Where else do you see world-class professionals sharing tarmac with club racers and local legends, all through a night where the temperature can swing 15 degrees and the mist rolls in without warning? The scale, the tradition, and the real chance for an underdog to become a hero keep the 24h relevant, unpredictable, and loved.
Every brand has something to prove this year. Porsche wants its crown back, Mercedes-AMG wants to prove method beats magic, and BMW simply expect to win. Audi, meanwhile, lurks—ready for anyone else’s story to end in the gravel.
Race week: what’s coming up
- Thursday, 19 June: Practice and Qualifying sessions (including SP9 exclusives)
- Friday, 20 June: Top Qualifying: grid positions set, nerves hit new highs
- Saturday, 21 June: Grid walk, build-up, and race start at 16:00
- Sunday, 22 June: The finish at 16:00 for the cars and drivers who last
How to follow
Visit the official 24h-rennen results page for live timing, streaming, and full results. If you’re at the track, take in the campsites at night; the real Nürburgring experience is there, not just on the start/finish straight.
Subscribe
For full race week coverage, stories the TV won’t show, and an honest look at German GT, subscribe to The Rennsport Report.
Sources:
- ADAC/24 h-rennen schedules and releases
- NLS and manufacturer news
- RSR on-site analysis and archive
