24h Nürburgring: Major BMW M3 Touring 24H Show in front of a record crowd in the “Green Hell”.

Nürburgring. Sensational performance by the BMW M3 Touring 24H at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring (GER)! What began as an April Fool’s joke and was then built by BMW M Motorsport as a real race car for enthusiastic fans, celebrated a truly fairy-tale ending with fifth place overall and victory in the SPX class. The #99 BMW M4 GT3 EVO from ROWE Racing narrowly missed the podium in front of a record crowd of 352,000 spectators, finishing fourth. The defending champions with car #1 retired late on Saturday evening due to a technical defect.

A top-ten result had been declared by those responsible at BMW M Motorsport as a dream outcome for the BMW M3 Touring 24H ahead of the race. What then unfolded during the race caused a sensation among all fans and throughout the paddock. The Schubert Motorsport team and drivers Jens Klingmann (GER), Connor De Phillippi (USA), Ugo de Wilde (BEL), and Neil Verhagen (USA) delivered a perfect race, quickly establishing themselves in the leading group and at times even having the overall podium in sight. In the end, fifth place was a sensational result.

The BMW M3 Touring 24H originated from an April Fool’s joke in 2025 and the extremely positive response from fans. In just eight months, BMW M Motorsport engineers built the car based on the BMW M3 Touring road car and with many racing components from the BMW M4 GT3 EVO. The goal was not just to create a show car, but a vehicle capable of competing at GT3 level. However, even optimists did not expect things to go so well at the 24-hour race. As a result, the car will appear at selected events in the future.

For defending champions ROWE Racing, it was just not enough for another podium finish in the “Green Hell” this time. In the #99 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Dan Harper (GBR), Max Hesse (GER), Sheldon van der Linde (RSA), and Dries Vanthoor (BEL) finished fourth, with victory going to Mercedes-AMG. The quartet fought back strongly after an unavoidable spin shortly after the start. Fourth place overall also meant second place in the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) classification, which includes the 24h Nürburgring. The #1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO with defending champions Augusto Farfus (BRA), Raffaele Marciello (SUI), and Kelvin van der Linde as well as Jordan Pepper (both RSA) retired around 11:00 p.m. due to a technical defect in the fuel system. The #77 BMW M4 GT3 EVO from Schubert Motorsport with drivers Philipp Eng (AUT), Robin Frijns (NED), Charles Weerts (BEL), and Marco Wittmann (GER) finished ninth.

In total, the BMW M Motorsport teams celebrated eight class victories: with the BMW M3 Touring 24H in SPX, the BMW M4 GT4 EVO from Riller & Schnauck powered by Cerny Motorsport in SP10, the BMW M2 Racing from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport in the BMW class, the BMW M240i Racing from Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels in the BMW M240i class, the BMW 330i from Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels in the VT2 Rear category, the BMW 325i from Pistorius by EiFelkind Racing in the BMW 325i class, the BMW 325CI from Oepen Motors Automobilsport in SP4, and the BMW 318ti from RAVENOL Motorsport by MDM Racing in SP3.

Quotes after the 24h Nürburgring:

Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “First of all, congratulations to everyone at Team Schubert, ROWE Racing, and BMW M Motorsport for their great effort. The 24 Hours is always very tough, but we had an intensive preparation and, as a result, a great race. Congratulations also to Mercedes-AMG. They set the benchmark this weekend. For car #3 with Max Verstappen, it was of course unfortunate, but it was still a well-deserved victory. Overall, it was a fantastic event here at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring – with record spectator numbers. This classic once again offered everything needed for a spectacular race. It became clear to us relatively quickly that, unfortunately, we didn’t have the speed this year to fight at the very front. That makes the result all the more satisfying: three out of four cars finished in the top ten. Our BMW M3 Touring 24H even made it to fifth place, the best car, the #99, finished fourth – just missing the podium, but that’s how it goes sometimes. I think we can take away many positives, especially that our Touring project was certainly one of the big fan favorites here at the Ring. The car definitely showed that it is a serious competitor and can run at the front. Of course, we are also proud of the many class wins – including with our BMW M4 GT4 EVO and our BMW M2 Racing. Next year, we’ll be back to go for our 22nd overall victory.”

Hans-Peter Naundorf (Team Principal ROWE Racing): “That was really not an easy race for us, a big challenge. The team still tried to make the best of it. We fought until the end and were within striking distance of the podium right up to the finish. In the end, it just wasn’t meant to be. Our car #1 retired due to a technical problem. That’s very unfortunate for the crew, who couldn’t defend the title. We’ll analyse what happened and provide them with a reliable car next time. Congratulations to Mercedes, the Winward team, and Christian Hohenadel. They did a great job, really impressive. And I think we at BMW M Motorsport can be satisfied with two cars in the top five. That was a very good performance under the circumstances we had.”

Torsten Schubert (Team Principal Schubert Motorsport): “With the BMW M3 Touring 24H, we had a very successful race. We said we wanted to finish in the top ten, and in the end, we came fifth. That’s a great result. We won the class, and I’m very happy about that. With the BMW M4 GT3 EVO, we had hoped for a bit more. We need to understand why the car didn’t perform in four stints, even though we didn’t do anything differently. We have to analyse that and look at the data closely, because we would have liked to fight for the podium until the end. We were actually lucky with the weather: there was only a brief rain shower.”

Dries Vanthoor (#99 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, ROWE Racing, 4th place): “That’s obviously not the result we were hoping for. For us, it started off a bit difficult; we were spun around in the first lap. Then we fought our way back into the top five, which was very strong. The team did an incredible job. They worked very hard all week, so a big thank you to them. It’s sad not to have given the crew a podium, but that’s how it is. We’ll be back next year.”

Jens Klingmann (#81 BMW M3 Touring 24H, BMW M Motorsport, 5th overall, 1st SPX class): “The 24-hour race at the Nürburgring was the big highlight and the climax of our BMW M3 Touring 24H project. I think we can all be extremely proud, every single person involved and also the brand, that we got the project started and then finished it successfully. We saw that the car was not just an April Fool’s joke in the end, but a competitive vehicle that was consistently in the top five. Accordingly, I am very proud of the whole team and BMW M Motorsport. We are very happy with the result;  a top ten would have been a dream, and it turned into a top five finish. We are overjoyed.”

Connor De Phillippi (#81 BMW M3 Touring 24H, BMW M Motorsport, 5th overall, 1st SPX class): “Fifth place with the BMW M3 Touring 24H here at the Nürburgring – that’s an incredible result. Everyone delivered a flawless performance throughout the weekend. No one made a single mistake. The car ran perfectly. I’m just super happy for everyone involved. I think it was an emotional weekend for everyone to implement this special project. And the fact that it went so smoothly is proof of how many great people we have in this team. This is a great success for the BMW M Motorsport family today.”

Neil Verhagen (#81 BMW M3 Touring 24H, BMW M Motorsport, 5th overall, 1st SPX class): “We knew the car would be strong, but this result really shows how special this BMW M3 Touring 24H project was. Bringing the car into the top five overall and winning the class is something very special. It’s actually my best result here at the Nürburgring. In the end, it hurts a bit because we saw that the potential was there to maybe even fight for the overall podium but we didn’t have the necessary luck. Still, I’m very grateful to be part of the programme and very happy to have driven the BMW M3 Touring 24H. I think it will definitely go down in history as one of, if not the coolest car ever to race on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.”

Ugo de Wilde (#81 BMW M3 Touring 24H, BMW M Motorsport, 5th overall, 1st SPX class): “I’m super happy that we made it into the top five. I don’t think we even dared to dream of such a good result. What a project! I feel so honoured and grateful to have been a part of it. I get a bit emotional when I think that the whole story is now coming to an end and we won’t be driving our baby on the Nordschleife anymore. But we really did a great job. The car was incredible to drive. We stayed out of all the chaos that can happen on this track, and the team did a really good job. That’s why I’m very proud of everyone.”

Philipp Eng (#77 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Schubert Motorsport, 9th place): “As always, it was a very intense race here. Unfortunately, we lost quite a bit of time at the beginning in the mixed conditions and were twice on the wrong tyres at the wrong time. After that, the package was really very fast. Especially with the Yokohama tyre, it was incredibly fun. I drove two stints at night and then finished with both slick compounds. We really have a strong partner on our side and a lot of potential in the whole package. Thanks to Team Schubert, thanks to BMW M Motorsport.”

Jordan Pepper (#1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, ROWE Racing, DNF): “This was my first 24h Nürburgring as a BMW M works driver, and I’m very proud to have been part of the #1 crew. We would have liked to defend this starting number, but technical defects happen in motorsport. That’s very unfortunate, but no one is really to blame. I think we would have had a good chance to at least fight for the podium again, because we were especially strong in mixed conditions. The problem with refuelling occurred quite early in the race and set us back. I would love to come back with this crew next year.”

Media Contact.

Andrea Schwab 
Spokesperson BMW M GmbH and BMW M Motorsport
Phone: +49 (0) 151 601 60988
Email: Andrea.Schwab@bmw.de

Laura Claesgens
Spokesperson BMW M GmbH and BMW M Motorsport
Phone: +49 (0) 151 601 47299
Email: laura.claesgens@bmw.de

Christophe Koenig
Head of BMW M GmbH and BMW M Motorsport Communications
Phone: +49 (0) 176 601 56097
Email: christophe.koenig@bmw.de

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