Dunlop teams dominate thrilling Nurburgring 24h

• Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 takes last gasp victory after late switch to Dunlop Wet tyres
• Dunlop teams dominate race with close battle between Land Motorsport Audi and WRT Audi
• Aston Martin take SP8 class win with Vantage GT8
• Dunlop equipped Glickenhaus SCG003C storms to stunning pole position
• 18th victory for Dunlop in Nurburgring 24h

Nurburgring Nordschleife. For almost 90 years, the German tracks has been seen as one of the most demanding in the world. Long, fast and dangerous, the 15mile/25km track is renowned as a test of endurance. This year's Nürburgring 24 Hours was dominated by teams who chose Dunlop tyres.

The Dunlop equipped Audi R8 LMS cars of the Audi Sport WRT and Land teams battled throughout the weekend. It was the Land team who took the honours after a frantic race. Driven by Christopher Mies, Connor de Phillippi, Markus Winkelhock and Kelvin van der Linde it was a significant win, as the final minutes of the 24h marathon were thrilling. The Land Motorsport Audi had a refuelling delay at the final pitstop, but this soon turned to an advantage. The rain began to fall heavily during the pitstop and they were able to fit Dunlop wet tires whilst fixing the refuelling issue. This allowed them to charge back to the lead on the last lap as the leading cars had to make a further pitstop for wet tyres.

The similar WRT Audi led for much of the race, but finally finished third after its late stop.

"We always had a good Dunlop tyre," said Team Principal Wolfgang Land after the team's first 24h triumph. "There were no problems with quality."

Congratulations to the Audi Sport Team Land on the deserved 24h victory and WRT for third place," said Alexander Kühn, Product Manager Dunlop Motorsport EMEA. "Our development work of the past months, which have prepared ourselves for the new tyre regulations for the Nordschleife, has paid off. Our tyres were able to easily cover all the required temperature ranges - even at the unusually high temperatures this weekend. "At asphalt temperatures above the 30-degree mark, asphalt temperatures were measured at about 45 degrees, while in the warm night the circuit was still 22 degrees"

The 24h race also features many classes for cars of different engine categories and levels of modification. In the SPX experimental class, the Dunlop equipped American Glickenhaus SCG003C won, and the Aston Martin Racing team triumphed in the SP8 class with their Vantage GT8 on Dunlop tires.

Dunlop-shod cars have now won the Nürburgring 24 Hours 18 times since the 1970 inauguration.