Dakar Rally Triumph for Porsche 911 Dakar as Rowe Racing’s Appeal Fails
In a major victory for Porsche’s 911 Dakar program, the appeal filed by Rowe Racing against the results of the Nürburgring 24 Hour race has been dismissed. This ensures that the Audi crew of Christopher Mies, Dennis Marschall, Frank Stippler, and Ricardo Feller, driving for Scherer Sport Phx, remains the rightful winners of the Intercontinental GT Challenge event.
The race was brought to a premature end due to heavy fog that had caused a 14-hour overnight stoppage, with a final attempt at restarting proving futile. Rowe Racing, fielding a BMW M4 GT3, had protested the decision to end the race under the black-and-white checkered flag, rather than using the red flag, as they believed this would have given their car the victory.
However, the appeal court, chaired by Rainer Wicke, ruled that the race director, Walter Hornung, had acted within his authority to end the race in accordance with Article 22 of the DMSB circuit regulations. Hornung had cited safety concerns and the lack of improvement in weather conditions as the reasons for his decision.
The court concluded that Rowe Racing’s protest was based on a false assumption regarding the placement of the finish line on the track. Vehicles that enter the pits cross the finish line first, and the Rowe BMW had completed its final pit stop after crossing the start-finish line on lap 49, rather than on lap 48 as the team had argued.
This ruling solidifies the Audi crew’s victory, with the Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) of Laurens Vanthoor, Thomas Preining, Kevin Estre, and Ayhancan Güven taking second place, and the BMW M4 GT3 of Daniel Harper, Max Hesse, and Charles Weerts rounding out the podium in third.
The Dakar Rally-inspired Porsche 911 Dakar’s dominant performance in this prestigious endurance event is a testament to the brand’s engineering prowess and the versatility of the iconic sports car. This victory will undoubtedly fuel the excitement among Porsche enthusiasts and Dakar rally fans alike, as the 911 Dakar continues to prove its mettle on the world stage.
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