Dumas disappointed with his 24 hours of the Nürburgring

Romain Dumas hoped to achieve his second consecutive victory at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, but the Porsche 911 of Manthey Racing which he shared with Richard Lietz, Marc Lieb and Lucas Luhr was not spared from accidents, notably with an exit from the track or a sensor problem which disrupted restarts. However, the winner of 24 Hours of Le Mans 2010 was on track to finish third behind the two Audi R8 LMSs from Team Phoenix and Mamerow Racing before having to retire a few seconds from the finish.

“At the exit of the last corner, the team asked me to decelerate: we risked running out of fuel and the rules forbid stopping in front of the line”, explains the Frenchman. “Unfortunately, the engine cut out and did not restart. A competitor did not see the car and hit me: we were therefore not able to complete a final lap to finish classified. After having had so much fun behind the wheel, it's frustrating to end up like this. We have made so much effort to go back? The podium would have been a great reward for the drivers and the team. No one gave up: we fought until the end. We knew that consistency was our strength, but we had too many incidents. Despite this, we were able to finish in the top three, which shows the quality of our crew. The Nürburgring once again proved that it is a unique and terribly difficult race. Congratulations to Audi for their victory. »

Discover in the new issue of AUTOhebdo, available today in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from tomorrow on newsstands, the analysis of the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring by our special correspondent in Germany.