Porsche sends 60 cars to Nürburgring

Porsche said on May 15 that it will have 60 customer cars on the grid for this weekend’s Nürburgring 24 Hours, giving the German manufacturer the biggest presence in the 161-car field. The company said its entries span 11 classes, from production-based categories to the top GT3 division, underlining how heavily its customer-racing program shapes the event. Porsche also said 13 of those cars are 911 GT3 R entries in SP9, the class that will decide the overall winner. The race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Nürburg, Germany, is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. local time on Saturday, May 16. ### Why is the number 60 notable at this race? The 60-car total means more than a third of the full field carries Porsche branding, according to Porsche’s pre-race preview. Porsche said that made it the most strongly represented manufacturer in the 2026 race. The company put the broader customer-racing total at around 60 cars and more than 200 drivers. (newsroom.porsche.com) The Nürburgring’s official event page lists 161 vehicles for the 2026 edition, while Porsche’s May 15 update described the field as “around 160” cars. The scale matters because the Nürburgring 24 Hours is a multiclass race, and Porsche’s footprint extends well beyond the overall-victory fight in GT3. ### Which Porsche entries are fighting for the outright win? (newsroom.porsche.com) SP9, the GT3 class, contains 41 cars from nine manufacturers, and Porsche has 13 of them, according to Porsche and the race entry list. Porsche said six of its 911 GT3 R cars have all-professional driver lineups and are among its main hopes for a top result. (nuerburgring.de) Manthey, Dinamic GT, Lionspeed GP, Dunlop Motorsport and Black Falcon are among the Porsche customer teams in that group. Porsche said Manthey’s No. 911 — the “Grello” car — emerged as the highest-placed 911 GT3 R after final qualifying and will start eighth. ### Who did Porsche put at the center of its lineup? (newsroom.porsche.com) Michael Dreiser, head of sales at Porsche Motorsport, said the “record number of 13 Porsche 911 GT3 R cars in the SP9 class” reflected the company’s focus on customer teams. Dreiser also said Porsche was contesting the race with the evolved 992-generation 911 GT3 R and called the competition “particularly strong this year.” (newsroom.porsche.com) Nine former Porsche Juniors are in top SP9 cars, Porsche said, including Klaus Bachler, Michael Christensen, Sven Müller, Thomas Preining, Julien Andlauer, Ayhancan Güven, Laurin Heinrich, Bastian Buus and Alessandro Ghiretti. Porsche’s May 15 race-week update also named Kévin Estre, Güven and Preining among the factory drivers attached to its leading effort. (newsroom.porsche.com) ### What did qualifying show before the race? Friday qualifying left Porsche short of the front rows. Porsche said four 911 GT3 R cars advanced through the first top-qualifying phase, including entries from Black Falcon, Dinamic GT, Lionspeed and Manthey. Güven moved Manthey into the final individual time-trial segment before Preining secured a fourth-row starting spot. (newsroom.porsche.com) Maximilian Müller, GT race support at Porsche Motorsport, said after qualifying that “we’re a little way off our rivals” and that the team expected the opening stages to be chaotic. He said Manthey had pushed for one final low-fuel lap after a rival’s crash to reach the last top-qualifying segment. (newsroom.porsche.com) ### How broad is Porsche’s presence beyond GT3? Porsche said its cars are entered in 11 classes, with machinery ranging from the Porsche Cayman S in production-based competition to the latest 911 GT3 R in SP9. That spread is central to the company’s customer-racing model at the Nürburgring, where class wins carry almost as much visibility in the paddock as the overall result. That final point is an inference from the event’s multiclass structure and Porsche’s class-by-class participation. (newsroom.porsche.com) The race organizer’s participant list shows Porsche entries in classes including SP9 and Cup categories, reinforcing that the manufacturer is present across both headline GT3 competition and lower divisions. Porsche said that breadth is part of why it remains the most heavily represented brand at the event. (newsroom.porsche.com) ### When does the weekend move from buildup to the main event? The Nürburgring schedule set the 2026 event for May 14-17, with practice and night qualifying on Thursday and top qualifying on Friday. Porsche said the 24-hour race itself begins at 3 p.m. local time on Saturday, May 16. Nitro will broadcast the full race live in Germany, Porsche said, and the official race website is carrying a free livestream and live timing. (newsroom.porsche.com) Organizers said the weekend runs through Sunday, May 17, at the Nürburgring in the Eifel. (newsroom.porsche.com) (nuerburgring.de)