Audi claimed its fourth victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours in a rain-affected conclusion that saw the lead change on the final lap.
Kelvin van der Linde took the chequered flag for the Land Motorsport crew, with the South African crossing the line 29 seconds ahead of Nicky Catsburg in the second-placed ROWE Racing BMW M6.
Van der Linde shared the #29 Audi R8 LMS with Connor der Phillippi, Christopher Mies and Marcus Winkelhock, who collectively led the majority of the race (126 out of 158 laps) from second on the grid but lost their advantage with 25 minutes remaining.
An electrical gremlin at the start of Van der Linde's final stint forced the Land crew to bring its car back into the pits, which promoted the #9 WRT-entered Audi R8 LMS of Rene Rast, Marcel Fässler, Nico Müller and Robin Frijns into the lead.
However, a rain shower on the Nordschleife portion of the 16-mile combined circuit caught out Rast and Catsburg who were both running on slick tyres.
The pair elected to pit at the start of the final lap, elevating Van der Linde – whose team had fitted wet-weather rubber – back into the lead.
In another twist, Catsburg caught and overtook Rast on the final lap to split the two Audis, while Van der Linde brought the Land car home for a hard-fought victory.
The result marked the first Nürburgring 24 Hours triumph for an African driver in Van der Linde, plus a first-time win for De Phillippi who becomes the second American to win the event. Winkelhock and Mies, meanwhile, clinched their third and second wins respectively.
Two other cars finished on the lead lap, with the Marco Wittmann/Tom Blomqvist/Martin Tomczyk/Augusto Farfus BMW M6 finishing six minutes down in fourth, ahead of the best-placed Marcedes AMG-GT3 driven by Maro Engel/Adam Christodoulou/Yelmer Buurman/Manuel Metzger.
In sixth place was the top-ranked Porsche 911 GT3-R run by Frikadelli Racing, in front of the
SP8 category honours for GT4-spec cars went to the Aston Martin GT8 crew of Darren Turner/Nicki Thiim/Peter Cate/Markus Lungstrass, which finished 22nd overall in a field of 160 entries.
