Jarvis to do Nurburgring 24 hour race

Oliver Jarvis will take a break from his Audi 'factory' DTM duties to race a 'customer' Audi R8 LMS GT3 sportscar in the Nurburgring 24 Hours this coming weekend, May 15-16.

The 26-year-old, who is more accustomed to racing an Audi A4 DTM, will drive a V10-engined Audi R8 LMS sportscar in the twice-around-the-clock encounter - marking his first 24 Hour race.

"It'll be the first time I've ever competed in the Nurburgring 24 Hours and I'm very excited about contesting this race and delighted to be part of the ABT Sportsline line-up," said Jarvis.

"It's a unique race with well over 200 cars competing around the famous old 14-mile Nordschleife track race located in the Eifel mountains and watched by over 250,000 spectators."

ABT Sportsline raced the R8 LMS at Nurburgring for the first time last year, winning the GT3 category and finishing second overall. The Allgau-based team enters two R8 LMS sportscars and will include Jarvis's fellow Audi 'factory' drivers Mattias Ekstr?m and Timo Scheider plus Marco Werner.

The ABT team will be joined by Black Falcon and Phoenix Racing with seven Audi R8 LMS sportscars lining-up on the grid. Current Audi 'factory' driver Mike Rockenfeller and Le Mans driver Marcel F?ssler will be part of the Phoenix team along with two of the most successful Audi 'factory' drivers of years gone by, 1996 British Touring Car champion Frank Biela and Hans-Joachim Stuck.

"I took part in a VLN Endurance Championship race on the Nordschleife last year so I do have some experience of this track in race situations heading into my first ever 24 hour race," Jarvis continued.

"I'm very aware how difficult the track is and how much 'traffic' we'll come across during the race. The Nordschleife is one of the most challenging race circuits in the world and one that is steeped in history so to be part of this race is something very special."