The 2023 N24 threw up what was an all-round good news story on Sunday. Not only did this result break the 21-year hegemony of Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche, it also delivered Ferrari its first win at this great race, in its 51st edition.
Local team Frikadelli Racing had risked the wrath of 230,000 mostly partisan and famously raucous fans by switching from its Porsche tradition to the new 296 GT this year. But what a great call it proved for team boss (and meat ball impresario!) Klaus Abbelen, who was the partner of the late and much-missed circuit icon Sabine Schmitz.
The Ferrari was the quickest thing around the Nordschleife last weekend. Still, it takes more than speed to win a 24-hour race and cool heads were required to steer the Ferrari home, on a disconcertingly bone dry weekend in the Eifel mountains that made this the fastest N24 on record. The winning car and its four closest rivals managed 162 laps, three more than the previous distance record.
Beyond the late shock absorber worries, a single puncture was the only setback for the Frikadelli Ferrari as GT3 collisions with slower cars became a running theme. The top-class cars have become super-quick and although entries have been reduced from the old days of circa 200 to 131 this year, speed differentials to the slower classes make negotiating traffic the key to becoming a hero – or a zero. But the Ferrari quartet were near flawless. They were: two-time Porsche Le Mans winner Earl Bamber, all-round ace Nicky Catsburg – who won this race with Rowe in 2020 – the flamboyantly-named Felipe Fernandez Laser and Pittard. And of the four, it was the British driver who played the anchor role, starting and finishing the race to deliver Abbelen the victory he has craved for years.
Pittard’s own story is remarkable. A British GT racer, he also drove historic cars – Lotus Elan, Cortina and Chevron B8 – when a chance conversation with Goodwood regular Frank Stippler sparked a dramatic change in direction. Five years ago he upped sticks and moved to Germany to build a career as a Nordschleife specialist, first with BMW squad Walkenhorst Motorsport and then with Aston Martin. Now he is flying high as a Frikadelli driver.