1-2 finish for Hyundai cars in TCR class at the ADAC 24H

At the Nürburgring, Hyundai Motorsport’s cars scored a 1-2 finish in the TCR class of the ADAC 24-hour race. Crossing the line in formation the winning Elantra N and i30 N successfully defended the title won in last year’s red flag-shortened edition.

The Elantra N driven by Mikel Azcona, Marc Basseng and Manuel Lauck completed 145 laps of the Nordschleife, to finish four laps clear of teammates Antti Buri, Moritz Oestreich and Jean-Karl Vernay. Their performance secured an outstanding 18th position overall. The result did not come easy, as both cars had to overcome setbacks during the race and even before the start.

After incurring a penalty in qualifying the Elantra N started in the rear-most rows of the second of the three starting groups. The recovery was complete after one quarter of the race when Lauck put the car into the class lead for the first time, despite a tyre delamination that necessitated an extra pitstop. For several hours into early Sunday morning the Hyundai cars swapped the lead of the class. The challenge of the i30 N team was severely dented before half-way when Buri stopped on track with a mechanical problem. The team was able to fix the problem, returning the Finn to the action, but the delay dropped the car to fourth in class. From there, the trio put in a faultless performance to regain the second position.

The Bonk Motorsport-run CUPRA Leon Competición driven by Hermann Bock, Max Partl, Alex Prinz and Michael Fischer completed the class podium, two further laps adrift.

Picture: Hyundai Motorsport