BMW takes shock win in N24 2010!

The M3 GT2 has emerged from the Green Hell as the victor of this year’s 24-hour race. It’s the 19th time that BMW has taken the top step of the podium, and bodes well for Le Mans, where the German firm will be aiming for class victory with the same car next month.

The BMW took an unexpected victory by almost four minutes from the Hankook Team Farnbacher Ferrari F430, with the Phoenix Racing Audi R8 taking third.

Here’s a few choice stats from N24 2010:

•    This year marked the 38th running of the Nurburgring 24-hour race on the infamous Nordschliefe.

•    The track incorporates part of the Grand Prix track used in Formula 1, making a total lap length of 15.77miles.

•    220,000 spectators attended the race weekend.

•    199 cars took the start, with the ABT Sportsline Audi R8 LMS of Marco Werner taking pole position with a lap time of 8m 24.753s, beating the lap record by just under two seconds.

•    123 cars finished the race.

•    The winning BMW M3 GT2 was driven by a team of four drivers: Jörg Müller (Germany), Augusto Farfus (Brazil), Uwe Alzen (Germany) and Pedro Lamy (Portugal).

•    Car 25 won the race, covering 154 laps in 24 hours 18.1seconds, which is a total distance of 2,428.5 miles.

•    The winner’s average speed was 101.2mph, setting a fastest lap of 8m 32.644s on lap 125 – that’s at an average speed of 110.7mph!

•    Over the course of the race, there were 12 lead changes, including a lengthy stint in the lead for the Number 1 Manthey Porsche 911, which was crashed into by another car, and the 911 Hybrid, which retired from the lead with a broken transmission.

•    Auto Express’s very own Owen Mildenhall finished an excellent 59th overall and 4th in the SP8 class in the Playstation Lexus ISF.

•    Owen’s team completed 127 laps at an average speed of 83.2mph.