Grit, preserverance, and a whole lot of duct tape very well sums up Toyota Gazoo Racing Team Thailand (TGRTT's) weekend in Germany – but it wasn't for nought as they bagged the coveted 1-2 in the SP3 Category in the 51st edition of the ADAC TotalEnergies 24h Nürburgring race with the Toyota Corolla Altis.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot('/22557728108/my_article_fourthp_under_pc', [
728,
90
], 'div-gpt-ad-1685525140735-0').addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1685525140735-0'); });
This win is the fourth time in a row for the Thai outfit. Cars #119 and #120 raced in the SP3 category (Super Production; for non-turbocharged cars up to 2.0L), besting entrant #121 from a German outfit racing in an Opel Manta that finished third. A Dacia Logan (car #118, another German team), did not finish the race.
Category classifications are as below.
51. ADAC TotalEnergies 24h Nürburgring results (SP3) |
Driver |
Stats |
Car #119, 1st Smittachartch Suttipong Charoensukhawatana Nattavude Hortongkum Nattapong Kulapalanont Manat |
Laps: 126 Elapsed time: 24:15:02.859 Fastest lap: 10:08.950 Average speed: 132 km/h |
Car #120, 2nd Supaphongs Grant Jian Hong Chen Kawamura Naoki Vasuratna Kris |
Laps: 125 Elapsed time: 24:15:02.932 Fastest lap: 10:20.214 Average speed: 124 km/h |
Car #121, 3rd Hass Peter Strycek Volker Schulten Jürgen |
Laps: 117 Elapsed time: 24:10:52.376 Fastest lap: 10:08.354 Average speed: 123 km/h |
Around the Green Hell, the race was classic endurance: there were no short spells of crashes, spins, and inclement weather. In fact, peep the pics that sees car #119 coming home with an entirely taped-up front bumper.
Also read: Exclusive: Toyota's new President, Koji Sato speaks to us on the future of racing, carbon neutrality, and more
This year's outing at the Nordschliefe is the tenth run for the Thai outfit, and the fourth since they started racing the current-gen Toyota Corolla Altis.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot('/22557728108/my_article_relatedmodel_above_pc', [
728,
90
], 'div-gpt-ad-1685525247138-0').addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1685525247138-0'); });