Starting fourth on a packed grid, car #42 grabbed the lead early on. Team-mates in car #43 driven by former Formula 1 driver Pedro Lamy of Portugal, Dutchman Duncan Huisman and American Boris Said started 10th, and finished second, 142 laps later.
The two BMW M3 GTR cars beat off a field of 208 other challengers in front of a huge crowd of close to 200,000 fans.
The extreme M3 was created for American Le Mans Series, and won the Series in its debut year in 2001. A super-powerful 4.0-litre 90-degree V8 engine producing 500 BHP (373 kW) at 8,000 rpm and 480 Nm of torque at 6,500 rpm drives the M3 GTR racer.
Naturally, the BMW M3 GTR drives the rear-wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox, as this is the only type allowed under the race regulations.
The M3 GTR’s victory was watched by an admiring BMW Group head of development, Professor Burkhard Göschel, himself no stranger to a high-speed lap of the challenging and rewarding circuit.
BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen hailed the team’s victory in the 32nd running of the notorious marathon:
“This is a fantastic result. A huge compliment to the team and the drivers, who always managed to keep a cool head and made the right decisions in spite of the most challenging conditions.
“BMW Motorsport has added another memorable one-two victory to its numerous touring car successes at the Nordschleife. The two BMW M3 GTRs ran like clockwork. After their commanding successes in the ALMS (American Le Mans Series), they have now corroborated their qualities in Europe as well. We are well equipped to take on the next 24-hour race at Spa.”
With this, its seventh one-two win, BMW continues its story of success in the Nürburgring 24 Hour Races. BMW has claimed overall victory 17 times, the most recent occasion being 1998, when a BMW 320d became the first diesel-powered car to win a 24-hour event in the hands of Hans-Joachim Stuck.
The 2004 victory was Stuck’s third overall win in this event. The now 53-year-old Stuck's victories at the Nordschleife have always doubled as premieres: in 1970 he won the first 24 Hour Race at the Nürburgring. Then 28 years later came victory in the BMW 320d and now his first triumph in a GT model. Stuck has now won the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Eifel classic three times each.
“Psychologically it was the most strenuous race I have ever entered,” said Stuck after the BMW M3 GTR had crossed the finishing line. "The difficult weather conditions meant you were constantly riding along a razor's edge. But despite that it was tremendous fun. I have to express my special praise for the engineers. They handed us a perfectly functioning BMW M3 GTR.”
The event was the first ever 24 Hour endurance victory for the Müllers.
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