Asian Teams and Drivers Deliver Class Podiums and Wins Across the Nürburgring 24 Hours

In SP9 Pro-Am, #30 Hankook Competition emerged as the highest-finishing Asian-linked entry in class. The Korean team of Roelof Bruins (Récardo Bruins Choi), Steven Cho, and Kim Jongkyum recovered from P24 overall in SP9 qualifying to finish 13th overall, 12th in SP9, and fourth in the Pro-Am category after completing the full distance cleanly. #32 Toyo Tires with Ring Racing, featuring Yuichi Nakayama, secured seventh in SP9 Pro-Am, while the Chinese pairing of Kerong Li and Leo Ye Hongli in the #86 High Class Racing entry completed the category in sixth after another consistent endurance run.

Toyo Tires with Ring Racing also featured strongly in SP10, where Kazuto Kotaka, Miki Koyama, and Shunji Okumoto guided the #170 entry to fifth in class after qualifying ninth.

Cup3 competition produced some of the strongest outright category results for Asian drivers. Akshay Gupta secured second in Cup3 Am after finishing 35th overall and sixth in class, while #945 Renazzo Motorsport, representing Thailand with Kouichi Okumura in the lineup, narrowly missed the Am podium in fourth. In Cup3 Pro, Chinese drivers Zhang Zhendong and Lu Chao in the #961 W&S Motorsport delivered a class podium with third place after qualifying inside the top five.

#830 Hyundai Motorsport N delivered one of the weekend’s headline performances in TCR. The Korean outfit converted class pole position directly into victory, securing another Nürburgring 24 Hours class win after surviving the full race distance in difficult conditions.

#88 Subaru Tecnica International added another major class result in SP4T. Takuto Iguchi, Rintaro Kubo, and Kota Sasaki converted pole position into class victory for the Japanese manufacturer, while #302 Hyundai Motorsport N added another SP4T podium finish with third in class as the team’s #303 entry followed closely in fourth.

Elsewhere in the field, Thanathip Thanalapanan secured a VT2-Front podium with third in class. Yutaka Seki added another class podium with second in VT2-Hecka while #519 Ravenol Motorsport Japan finished third in the category, and #520 Toyo Tires with Ring Racing followed in fourth.

 In the BMW one-make categories, Ryusho Konishi and Yunfeng Zou secured second in BMW M2 Racing, while Takayuki Kinoshita completed the podium in third. Singaporean outfit Giti Tire Motorsport by WS Racing also delivered a class podium finish in BMW M240i Racing with second place for the #665 entry while the #670 entry placed sixth. Ke Shao secured a P5 finish in BMW M240i Racing after qualifying eighth in class.

Across outright GT machinery, touring cars, and one-make categories, the Nürburgring 24 Hours once again highlighted the scale of Asian representation throughout the endurance racing field. From Hyundai and Subaru converting poles into class victories to multiple podiums across Cup3 and BMW competition, the event delivered one of the strongest collective weekends for Asian teams and drivers in recent editions of the race.