2012 Nürburgring 24 Hour Race: Lexus LFA Updates


The #83 Gazoo Racing Lexus LFA is participating in the 24h of Nürburgring in Germany this weekend, and I’ll be following along and posting updates over the next couple days.


Before we start, there’s a few links that I recommend checking out for live coverage:

The following updates are in reverse order, with the lastest at the top. (Also, overall ranking is written with a P, so P32 is 32nd overall.)


8:45pm Sunday (CEST) – Time in Germany


Turns out there’s been an adjustment in the final results — the #83 Gazoo Racing LFA finished the 24h of Nurburgring 15th overall.

4:12pm Sunday (CEST) – Time in Germany


The race has finished, and the #83 LFA has finished 17th overall and 1st in the SP8 Class! Congratulations, team!

More updates shortly.

1:40pm Sunday (CEST) – Time in Germany


Lexus LFA Bird's Eye View

With just over two hours left in the race, the LFA has moved into P17 overall , and remains first in the SP8 class.

6:19am Sunday (CEST) – Time in Germany


Dawn is breaking in Germany, and the #83 LFA has clawed its way back to P21, setting its fastest time of the race with 8:47.713 on lap 86.

(FYI, the Toyota Europe blog has been updated with new photos and video, definitely worth checking out.)

2:19am Sunday (CEST) – Time in Germany


Here’s video of the LFA coasting in for a refuel stop:

1:49am Sunday (CEST) – Time in Germany


Damage to the front-end of the #83 LFA required some repairs:

Lexus LFA Front-end Repair

The bumper replacement has pushed the LFA back to P27.

11:20pm Saturday (CEST) – Time in Germany


Lexus LFA in the dark

It’s six hours into the the race and the sun has set at Nürburgring — Danny Chen has posted an update on the Toyota Europe blog that details not only the LFA’s progress, but the two Gazoo Racing GT 86s.

Currently, the #83 LFA sits at P19 overall.

8:56pm Saturday (CEST) – Time in Germany


Lexus LFA Wakisaka-san

Driver Wakisaka-san has taken over, and the LFA now sits at P20 after five hours of racing. Great progress!

Here’s the last pit stop and driver change:

6:15pm Saturday (CEST) – Time in Germany


Lexus LFA in the pits

With twelve laps done, the LFA has climbed up to P28 and is back in for a pitstop.

5:09pm Saturday (CEST) – Time in Germany


Lexus LFA at the Starting Grid

The race started at 4pm CEST (not noon as I originally thought), and the #83 LFA driven by Kinoshita-san put in three laps before requiring a pitstop, and is now running at P48.

Before the race, the LFA had a photoshoot with the Gazoo ladies:

Gazoo Ladies Lexus LFA

7:32am Saturday (CEST) – Time in Germany


After two days of qualifying, the race officially kicks off at noon CEST 4pm CEST, which is now just four and a half hours away.

The #83 LFA performed well in the qualifying rounds, finishing P32 overall and 1st in the SP8 class. As a result of finishing in the top 40, the LFA will be equipped with a blue light that signals to other slower drivers to get out of the way — here’s where it’s installed:

Lexus LFA Blue Light

Because of the time difference, I’ll be missing the beginning of the race, but will update tomorrow morning with the LFA’s progress.

EuropeLexus LFARacing
Comments
W
YES! TOP 40! Out of the way, SLOW POKES! Hopefully this means more video footages - greater coverage too!!!
B
Is it true that this LFA is specially tuned vs the other ones they race in the 24hour before. I read somewhere I believe it was IL or MT that says it was a specially tuned one...?
М
the LFA RANK # 1in SP8 CLASS # 21 TOTAL  (LAPS FINISHED 27)
М
http://www.24h-rennen.de/Einzelansicht.106.0.html?&cHash=907d0c5ef962de164abdb80f4f15d093&tx_24hliveranking_pi1%5Baction%5D=show&tx_24hliveranking_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=LiveRankingController&tx_24hliveranking_pi1%5BracePhase%5D=5
М
2 hrs remaining  LFA#83 RANK #1 (SP8 - CLASS) #17 (TOTAL) LAPS FINISHED=132
М
Congratulations 24N is finished #83 RANK#1 (SP8 - CLASS) #15 (TOTAL)
    W
    17th
    М
    no #15th in the last lap http://www.24h-rennen.de/Einzelansicht.106.0.html?&L=1&cHash=8e0a6f2b99643043f20ba9c5f9dffc5d&tx_24hliveranking_pi1%5Baction%5D=show&tx_24hliveranking_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=LiveRankingController&tx_24hliveranking_pi1%5BracePhase%5D=5 
    W
    Yeah, my mistake. Hadn't heard about the 2 disqualifications
М
Krew it finished #15 not #17
Y
TOP CLASS POSITIONS SP8 - #83 LFA (also in the top 20 overall) V3 --- #200 GT86 I saw this result , really good !

Y