2011 24 Hours of Nürburgring: Hour 18 update

Despite gloomy skies and sporadic drizzle overnight, the weather has improved at the Nürburgring. While there has been plenty of (expected) carnage, no major incidents occurred other than an Audi R8 GT smashing a wall just past the Tiergarten corner a few hours into the race. The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, which was leading, had contact with another vehicle, destroying its gearbox. After dropping 103 positions, it has crawled back to 23rd overall (but is still down eleven laps).

Interesting factoid: The track is so big that we've heard reports of damaged race cars using public roads (fighting the traffic) to head back to their pits - cutting the distance to make it an effective shortcut.

With six hours left, a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR is the overall leader, with a BMW M3 GT in second place and a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in third. The Audi in the lead image is in sixth. Current standings:

1. 18 Lieb/Luhr/Bern/Duma 113 8:55.568
2. 1 Mül/Farf/Alze/Lamy 113 9:05.144
3. 32 Arno/Marg/Brü/Fran 112 9:04.302
4. 15 Stip/Henn/Haas/Wink 112 9:03.756
5. 14 Bass/Fäs/Picc/Stip 112 8:58.694
6. 16 Ekst/Sche/Wern/Abt 111 9:09.3032
7. 22 Heye/Jäg/Blee/Seyf 110 8:57.280
8. 8 West/Menz/Stur/Rieg 110 9:03.508
9. 4 Hart/Vieb/Coro/Hür 110 9:09.661
10. 12 Weis/Kain/Jaco/Krum 110 11:52.511