A station wagon looks out of place on a racetrack, but that is exactly what grabbed attention at the Nürburgring 24H. The BMW M3 Touring 24h, driven by the factory team of Jens Klingmann, Connor de Phillippi, Neil Verhagen, and Ugo de Wilde, finished fifth in the endurance race. 

This performance drew even more attention when you notice the final results; an M4 GT3 driven by Wittmann Marco, Eng Philpp, Weerts Charles, and Frijns Robin, ended up in ninth place! So how did a station wagon outperform an actual sports car? 

In an interview with Motorsport.com Germany, Jens Klingmann, one of the factory drivers of the M3 Touring, revealed that the tires gained better grip due to the chassis's stiffness, particularly in the track's cold temperatures. 

"The chassis is a bit stiffer, primarily due to the body shell and the roll cage," said Klingmann. "Maybe not when riding over the kerbs, but to give the tyre a bit more energy here and there when it matters. That worked very well, and especially tonight during the low temperatures, it was really super competitive out there."

Klingmann also attributed the pace to the extra turbo boost allowed on the M3 Touring, while the rear wing, which sits significantly higher when compared to the M4 GT3, also helps in generating more downforce. 

"We got the aerodynamics into a good window, and we also received a slightly better Balance-of-Performance because we have to compensate for the aerodynamics with more wing angle. To be fair, the Balance of Performance also helped us a little bit to be on eye level, also in terms of top speed compared to others."

Interestingly, during the entire race, the M3 Touring never dropped below the Top 10, and consistently stayed within the Top 5, except for once when it briefly dropped to P6. The M3 Touring also received a 45-second penalty right after grabbing the lead from Jules Gounon and Fabian Schiller, who drove one of the two Mercedes-AMG GT3s. 

With a fastest lap time of 8:13.580, which was quicker than the M4 GT3, the M3 Touring won in the SP-X category. Given the unexpected performance, BMW has confirmed that the M3 Touring will appear in select racing events in the future. 

While the M3 Touring stole a lot of attention, it was Mercedes-AMG that ended the day in celebration. However, it wasn’t the car driven by Max Verstappen.

How Max Verstappen Fared At The Nürburgring 24H

Max Verstappen’s participation made a lot of noise at the Nürburgring 24H. However, his debut race ended in disaster, as the four-time F1 World Champion's team faced issues with the car towards the end of the race, resulting in a DNF. 

The AMG-GT3, being driven by Verstappen,  Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, and Lucas Auer, enjoyed a considerable lead from Saturday evening to Sunday morning. However, the final session is where things took a turn. 

Juncadella took over from Verstappen, who had just completed a long stint. After two laps, Juncadella felt the car was not behaving properly and slowed down. He eventually rolled into the pits, and the car did not return for at least an hour. The issue was later pinned down to a faulty drivetrain. 

A mechanical issue robbed Verstappen of a potential Nürburgring 24H victory on his debut, while the No. 80 Mercedes-AMG GT3 took the overall victory. How did you feel about the four-time F1 champion's heartbreak? Let us know in the comments!

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Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Yask Kotak