As the largest grid in over a decade prepares to tackle the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring, Goodyear Racing Eagle tyres are the choice of 50 teams including factory-backed GT3 cars and defending touring car champions for one of motorsport’s greatest challenges.
161 cars are on the entry list in the biggest edition of one of the world’s toughest endurance races in over a decade. Teams in many categories in the Nürburgring 24 Hours have free choice of tyres. On a 25 km track with 170 turns and ever-changing weather conditions, they know that choosing the right tyre is paramount. With Goodyear tyres selected by 50 teams in a field that includes 10 tyre manufacturers, leading factory operations and recent class winners have made their choice clear.
Goodyear will support 7 cars going for outright victory in the SP9 category for GT3 cars. These include the two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs of leading GT team Black Falcon, a factory-backed Mercedes-AMG GT3 run by PROsport racing and that team’s Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3. SR Motorsport has also chosen Goodyear for its Mercedes-AMG, along with the two Audi R8 LMS GT3s run by KKrämer Racing and JUTA Racing.
With class wins for SR Motorsport (Pro-Am) and Black Falcon (Am) in the recent qualifying race, Goodyear arrives at the 24 Hours on winning form.
Away from GT3 machinery, Hyundai has selected Goodyear tyres for its three factory touring car entries: an Elantra N TCR to defend its five-year class winning streak and two new Elantra N1 RP models using a pre-production engine. Projects like this underline the race’s unique position for testing future technology.
Goodyear is also the exclusive tyre supplier to many touring car classes, including TCR and the BMW-backed categories each for the M2 Racing, M240i Racing Cup and 325i Challenge.
Goodyear has a long-standing history of developing tyres that can tame the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It has been five decades since the 1976 German Grand Prix, the last to be held on the full track before it was deemed too dangerous for Formula 1, when Goodyear tyres took James Hunt’s McLaren to victory in one of F1’s most famous races.
These days, the Nordschleife is trusted to develop the world’s fastest road cars and Goodyear uses its development centre at the track in partnership with OEMs to test its high-performance road and track tyres, such as the Eagle F1 SuperSport RS.
“The Nürburgring 24 Hours is one of the most gruelling endurance races in the world and a larger field this year means even more competition,” said Sebastian Trinks, Goodyear Sales Account Manager. “One thing that makes this race so fascinating is that it remains one of the few remaining events where teams have free choice of tyres. When tyres matter as much as on an undulating 25 km track with every type of corner imaginable, it’s a testament to our racing heritage in varied categories around the world that so many teams choose Goodyear.”
