Herberth Motorsport seals fourth event victory at the 25th Hankook 24H BARCELONA

Herberth Motorsport has taken a record-extending fourth win at the 25th edition of the Hankook 24H BARCELONA – Trofeo Fermí Vélez, simultaneously securing the 24H SERIES’ overall GT3 Teams’ championship in the process.
Having swapped the lead repeatedly with the Saintéloc Junior Team throughout the night, the Herberth Motorsport Porsche 992 GT3 R (#91, Scott Noble / Ralf Bohn / Jason Hart / Dustin Blattner) managed to extend its advantage to just over two laps heading into Sunday morning. A couple of on-track clashes aside, the newly-crowned GT3 Teams’ and GT3-AM Teams’ champion ran faultlessly en-route to the chequered flag, extending the event’s ‘GT era’ distance record (2011 to present) from 725 laps to 738 laps of the 4.657km Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Ralf Bohn, already an event victor in 2016, 2018 and 2021, becomes only the second driver to win the Hankook 24H BARCELONA four times overall, drawing him level with ’02, ’03, ’04 and ‘09 event winner, Oscar Nogués.

Celebrating this accomplishment with radiolemans.com’s Joe Bradley, Ralf Bohn praised former teammate Daniel Allemann, with whom he secured three of those four wins.

“Winning is always a nice thing! Congrats to my teammates who I’ve won the race with before– hi Daniel! – and I’m very happy.

“We had a very strong season, we didn’t make many mistakes, and we had a very good car, as usual from the Herberth team. I’d like to say thank you very much to everyone involved preparing the car. Together with a strong [driver] line-up, this has been the basis for success.”

With this victory, Herberth Motorsport also draws to a close a decade-long partnership between Hankook Tires and the 24H SERIES, one that began at the Hankook 12H ZANDVOORT in 2014. CREVENTIC would like to sincerely thank Hankook Tires for its support down the years.

After a typically impeccable performance, the Saintéloc Junior Team Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II (#18, Michael Doppelmayr / Pierre Kaffer / Elia Erhart / Stephane Tribaudini / Christer Jöns) came home 2nd overall to secure its second consecutive class win of 2024 and the GT3-PRO/AM Teams’ title.

The Poulsen Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 (#14, Kristian Poulsen / Roland Poulsen / Alfred Nilsson / Jens Klingmann) eventually emerged on top in a close fight with the Red Camel by Juta Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II (#9, Ivo Breukers / Luc Breukers / Rik Breukers / Fabian Danz) for 3rd overall. This marks Poulsen Motorsport’s first overall podium since its return to the 24H SERIES in 2022.

2017 Overall GT Teams’ ‘Europe’ champion Hofor Racing (#11, Michael Kroll / Chantal Prinz / Alexander Prinz / Maximilian Partl / Kenneth Heyer) completed a remarkable fightback to finish 5th overall and 2nd in GT3-AM at Barcelona. Suspension failure ended up dropping the Mercedes-AMG GT3 out of the top 30 completely just 60 minutes into the 24-hour event.

The pole-sitting Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 EVO (#4, Todd Coleman / Aaron Telitz / Robert Megennis / Frederik Schandorf) had headed the field by more than 50 seconds during the opening stint, and was still well in the hunt for overall victory at half-distance. Regrettably, the British team lost close to 20 minutes in the pits during the night when the McLaren’s throttle pedal went to the floor. This dropped Optimum Motorsport into the fight for 3rd, from which it would be eliminated, less than 45 minutes from home, with fuel pressure problems. The McLaren was eventually classified 7th.

Despite a late-race collision with the GSR Motorsport Ginetta and an earlier trip into the gravel at turn five, the Juta Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II (#71, Arunas Geciauskas / Eimantas Navikauskas / Sigitas Ambrazevicius / Martin Ryba / Francois Beziac) ended a bruising race 9th overall and on the final step of the GT3-AM podium.

Like Hofor Racing, Land Motorsport (#34, Dr. Johannes Kirchhoff, Ingo Vogler / Tim Vogler / Wiggo Dalmo / Elmar Grimm) was forced to battle back from early mechanical problems – on this occasion, a torn alternator belt – to finish 11th. Just 25 minutes in, the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II had fallen to the tail of the field.

Spain’s E2P Racing (#90, Pablo Burguera / Antonio Sainero / Alvaro Parente / Javier Morcillo) was sadly forced to retire from a potential top five finish when the Porsche 991.2 GT3 R suffered power steering issues during the night.

992 and GTX
Red Ant Racing (#903, Ayrton Redant / Yannick Redant / Kobe de Breucker / Lars Zaenen) secured its fourth class win of the season at Barcelona following a near race-long battle with eventual 992-AM class winner QMMF by HRT (#931, Abdulla Ali Al Khelaifi / Ghanim Al Ali / Ibrahim Al Abdulghani / Julian Hanses). Though they were separated by four laps at the flag, the overall 992 lead swapped repeatedly between the pair during the night.

The result secures Red Ant Racing its second 992 Teams’ title in the 24H SERIES, while QMMF by HRT, on only its second European start with CREVENTIC, becomes the fifth different 992-AM class winner of 2024.

Newly-crowned 992-AM Teams’ champion RPM Racing (#907, Tracy Krohn / Niclas Jönsson / Philip Hamprecht / Patrick Huisman) bested HRT Performance (#967, David Holloway / Jonathan Kearney / Gary Terclavers / Bradley Ellis / Kim André Hauschild) for the final overall podium spot in 992, despite losing time to an early collision, though HRT did round out the 992-AM class rostrum after a quiet run.

Following a complete engine change, a move that cost the Danish team almost three hours in the pits, Holmgaard Motorsport (#902, Magnus Holmgaard / Jonas Holmgaard / Martin Vedel Mortensen / Stéphane Perrin / Michel Sallenbach) went the full distance to finish 8th overall in 992, securing radiolemans.com’s much-heralded ‘Spirit of the Race’ award for a second time in the process.

Red Ant Racing’s sister entry (#904, Brent Verheyen / Peter Guelinckx / Gavin Pickering / Jef Machiels) had battled its way back into podium contention at half-distance, despite a mounting issue with its in-car radio and damage sustained to its radiator. The Belgian team was sadly forced to retire during the night however with terminal electrical issues.

24H SERIES mainstay NKPP Racing by Bas Koeten Racing (#992, Gijs Bessem / Harry Hilders / Bob Herber / Mark van der Aa) also ended its weekend early against the tyre barriers following a collision with Land Motorsport. Heavy chassis damage meant the Dutch team was unable to continue, but fortunately, Harry Hilders emerged unscathed.

Vortex V8 (#701, Philippe Bonnel / Solenn Amrouche / Gilles Courtois / Lionel Amrouche) secured both its fourth class win of the season and the GTX Teams’ title at Barcelona, despite a loss of power bringing the Vortex 2.0 to a stop late on.

Early GTX leader Razoon – More Than Racing (#714, Artur Chwist / Christian Loimayr / Daniel Drexel / Simon Birch) ended up nursing the after-effects of a heavy crash during the second hour – including significant bodywork repair on the KTM X-BOW GTX and a severe vibration – for almost the entirety of the event. The Austrian team looked set to finish 3rd in-class, but, amazingly, differential failure for the sister Vortex V8 (#702, Lucas Sugliano / Cyril Calmon / Miguel Moiola / Pierre Fontaine) two hours from home meant Razoon – More Than Racing snatched 2nd in-class with only four laps remaining.

GT4 and TCE
In an incredible grandstand finish, series debutant Venture Engineering (#421, Neville Jones / Christopher Jones / Matthew George / Owen Hizzey) led 2021 Overall GT Teams’ champion ST Racing (#428, Samantha Tan / Neil Verhagen / Jon Miller / Pippa Mann / Fabian Duffieux) over the line by just ONE second after 24 hours of racing.

The ST Racing BMW M4 GT4 had bounced back from a punctured intercooler – the repairs of which dropped the Canadian team to 5th in-class, five laps down – to regain the GT4 top spot on Sunday morning. Fuel pressure problems however struck the BMW with less than an hour remaining, eroding the BMW’s 90-second lead and handing the top spot to the Venture Engineering Mercedes-AMG GT4. Incredibly, after 24 hours of uninterrupted racing, the British team crossed the line just 1.011 seconds clear to secure its maiden 24H SERIES win.

ST Racing would be penalized five seconds, post-race, for a Code 60 violation.

Ironically, Venture Engineering had looked set to finish behind Lionspeed GP (#424, José Garcia / Daniel Miller / Patrick Kolb / Dennis Bohn), only for the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport to lose 15 minutes to a lighting issue during the night. The German team did at least secure its fourth category podium of the 2024 season.

2017 Hankook 24H BARCELONA winner NM Racing Team (#415, Keith Gatehouse / Igor Sorokin / Guillermo Aso / Manel Lao Cornago / Maximilien Huber) completed a grueling run at its home event to finish 4th in GT4 with its Mercedes-AMG GT4. Having lost significant time to a collision on the opening lap, GT4 polesitter GSR Motorsport (#405, Mindaugas Liatukas / Rokas Kvedaras / Aras Kvedaras / Dovydas Ketvirtis / Egidijus Gelūnas) took a hard-fought 5th at the flag ahead of the Apex MP Racing KTM X-BOW GT4 (#414, Milos Pavlovic / Petar Matic / Alessio Ruffini / Mihael Ambroz).

Ironically, both GSR Motorsport and Apex MP Racing lost time in the turn 14-15 gravel trap in the closing stages of the race, the Lithuanian team’s Ginetta having collided with the Juta Racing Audi R8 and the Slovenian team’s KTM having collected the Orchid Racing Team (#917, Laurent Misbach / Antonio Garzon / Jeremy Brodard / Alexandre Mottet / Antoine Leclerc). Both incidents brought out Code 60 caution periods.

Multiple issues plagued the Team Africa Le Mans Ginetta G55 GT4 (#455, Emanuele Pirro / Jan Lammers / Greg Mills / Jeroen Bleekemolen / Cristoforo Pirro) en-route to 7th in-class. The South African team, running Le Mans legends Emanuele Pirro and Jan Lammers as well as Hankook 24H DUBAI record-setter Jeroen Bleekemolen, lost time immediately to a refueling issue, and yet further time later on with an off into the gravel and multiple diff pump failures. Team Africa Le Mans did however collect the chequered flag on its first 24H SERIES outing since 2017.

2020 Overall GT Teams’ ‘Continents’ champion SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#127, Henning Eschweiler / Benito Tagle / Tommy Gråberg / Richard Jodexnis) secured its first 24H SERIES class win since last year’s Hankook 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS in TCE. Minus one 28-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane, it was a fault-free run for the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS (Type 982).

The J-Mec Engineering BMW M3 E46 (#133, James Collins / Kevin Clarke / Nigel Greensall / Jimmy Broadbent) completed a character-building race to 2nd in TCE. The British team suffered a collision and wheel hub failure earlier in the event – whilst leading TCE – and was delayed further during the night with a throttle problem, intermittent power steering, AND rising engine temperatures.

The result means YouTube presenter and social media influencer Jimmy Broadbent finished his 24H SERIES debut on the podium.

The asBest RACING SEAT León Cup Racer (#101, Peter Baumann / Thomas Ardelt / Junichi Umemoto / Kim Berwanger) completes the TCE podium, despite losing significant time in the garage to a turbo issue.