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.
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.
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.
Source: The Toyota Corolla Altis conquers the 2023 Nürburgring’s 24H SP3 class; 4th clean sweep in a row