N24 Team Fined After Running Out Of The Pits To Fix An AMG GT3

After an AMG GT3 lost a wheel while exiting the pits, the team ran over to fix it, prompting a fine from race organisers

Matt Robinson

14 May 2018

.@Max_Goetz loses his left rear wheel, coming out of the pits and goes for a spectacular looking spin. #24hNBR pic.twitter.com/607SrLP7jG
— The Caution Clock ⚠️ (@CautionClock20) May 12, 2018

Few 24 hour races are quite as mad as the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, and this year’s race certainly delivered yet another classic. It’s hard to pick a stand-out moment from the race, but what we’re looking at here is quite possibly the most unusual.

It all started when the number 48 HTP Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG GT3 shed a left rear while leaving the pits. Some of the pit crew then ran out of the pits to come to the aid of driver Max Goetz. Yep, a bunch of mechanics heading onto live race track. In the dark. With a load of tools.

HTP Mann-Filter crew members run across a life track to their No. 48 car... This can't be allowed, can it? #24hNBR pic.twitter.com/VtrYa4E755
— The Caution Clock ⚠️ (@CautionClock20) May 12, 2018

Goetz had to come back to the pits anyway to have a missing spacer fitted, using the GP loop and bypassing the Nordschleife to return much faster. All told, the team lost around 30 minutes.

Race organisers were - understandably - less than amused by the stunt, and slapped the team with a €2000 fine.

The race was won by the Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 of Frederic Makowiecki, Patrick Pilet, Richard Lietz and Nick Tandy, following a lengthy red flag period brought on by heavy rain.

Source: Jalopnik

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

Organisers be like:
Here is a fine for keeping the crowd entertained

Having your head sliced by a GT3 wing? That’s what I call entertainment!

🎵When your legs (AMG) don’t work like they used to before…🎵

Well, watching that was certainly AMGusing

Watching the Spanish F1 GP after watching the entirety of 24 hours of Nürburgring made the already boring F1 race look like a plankton documentary on Discovery Science. It was too predictable over who’d win and took away most of the fun. The Nürburgring 24 hours was a complete contrast to the Spanish F1 GP. It was almost impossible to decide who’d win the race even after the restart in the closing hours due to heavy rain and fog. That’s what’s going to make the 2018 N24 so much memorable over the Spanish F1 GP. No wonder F1 is still boring in comparison to such smaller events.

Honestly, 24 Hours of LeMans make the 24 Hours of Nürburgring look like the Spanish GP

Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that live in large bodies of water and are unable to swim against a current. They provide a crucial source of food to many large aquatic organisms, such as fish and whales.