For many visitors, the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring is a journey to the proverbial heaven in (green) hell: for a whole week, the race track is firmly in the hands of the horsepower enthusiasts, who turn the usually tranquil forests into a gigantic camping area. Last year, 240,000 visitors were counted during the four days of the festival, many of whom traditionally turn their camping ‘claims’ into a small fan paradise with a great deal of personal effort. However, visitors can also look forward to many offers to enhance their visit – from a ride on the Ferris wheel, which title sponsor RAVENOL has set up in the paddock, to the Falken drift show on Friday evening in the Müllenbachschleife. Of course, there will also be plenty of opportunities to meet the protagonists themselves: Autograph sessions, talk rounds and pitwalk are among the permanent institutions. If you don’t want to miss anything and also want to receive important visitor information, you should subscribe to the new WhatsApp fan channel (German-language), in which the organisers also provide information on the traffic situation and campsite occupancy.
As always, the official fan offers will be centred around the start/finish. Fans should not miss out on a stroll along the fan mile on the ring°boulevard. Many companies and partners will be present there, inviting fans to take a ride in a racing seat, providing information about their services, exhibiting exciting vehicles and offering a whole range of attractions. On Friday afternoon at 3.30 pm, there will even be a car world premiere, as Volkswagen will be presenting its brand new anniversary model here at the Nürburgring – the VW Golf GTI Edition 50!
Many attractions also await in the paddock
Of course, you shouldn’t miss the walk through the paddock. This is where the teams, tyre suppliers and their service crews are at work, where you can meet a racing driver, a team boss and other exciting participants in the mega-event from time to time. However, there are also two important zones here that are particularly aimed at the fans: On the Helipad (next to the Medical Centre), in the shade of the RAVENOL Ferris wheel, there is a catering mile with numerous offers. A quiet zone with seating and a large video wall invite fans to linger. Mercedes-AMG will be operating its fan base here with a wide range of offers and Monster Energy will even be setting up its own action area with drift demonstrations. Music will be provided by the Monster DJ. Incidentally, on Friday and Saturday you can also do something very worthwhile here and register as a stem cell donor free of charge at the DKMS typing campaign! Next door on the ‘multifunctional area’ there are more industry partners, manufacturers and racing services to discover. It’s also worth going there because the paddock zone of the ADAC 24h Classic race in the Mercedes-AMG Arena is right next door, where you can marvel at the fantastic historic vehicles up close. At the beginning of the paddock, opposite the petrol station and technical scrutineering, you will also find the so-called ‘Hospi Zone’ (hospitality zone). Some of the larger partners are accommodated here and several car manufacturers show interesting vehicles.
On tour around the Ring
From Thursday, a shuttle service for visitors will be in operation, regularly connecting the most important spectator areas on the Nordschleife with the Grand Prix circuit. One of the buses already runs from the Pflanzgarten and Brünnchen spectator areas to Adenau and back every half hour on Wednesdays. And of course the racing town on the Ring is worth a visit during all event days. Melanie Koch’s REWE at the entrance to the town is one of the most important supply points for fans and has extra-long opening hours and many great offers and promotions for visitors during the race week.
First highlight of the long 24-hour week: Adenauer Racing Day
From Monday morning at 8:00 a.m., the on-demand campsites around the Nordschleife will be opened to visitors, and from then on a stream of fans will pour into the Eifel. Those who arrive this early can drop by the paddock from Tuesday onwards, as the technical scrutineering of the competition cars will already be underway there from midday. On Wednesday, the Adenauer Racing Day in the centre of the racing town on the Ring will kick off the official programme. From 16:00, there will be plenty of information, encounters and autograph opportunities with the drivers and their cars. One of the highlights will be racing driver Christopher Haase himself. As is well known, he and Luca Ludwig will be driving the #1 Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II from Scherer Sport PHX, which won last year’s 24h Nürburgring. However, he is coming to Adenau with a rare Mercedes-Benz 190 16V, which he wants to have signed by Klaus Ludwig. The famous father of Haase’s team partner will be driving one of the two new HWA Evos on Racing Day, which fans can marvel at in Adenau and which will be on display in the paddock for the rest of the time. Racing driver Vincent Kolb also has special automotive souvenirs with him: in Adenau, he will be showing two Audi R8 LMS cars from his collection, both of which won the 24-hour race. They will be on display in the ring°boulevard at the weekend.
Racing starts on Thursday!
On Thursday morning, the RCN performance test will take over the wake-up service on the Nordschleife from 8.15 a.m., and from then on there will be non-stop action on the race track. The first two qualifying sessions for the 24h at noon and in the evening are of course a must, and especially the evening practice session until 11.30 p.m. is the first time there is a real ‘endurance feeling’.
Friday evening is fan time
The top qualifying session on Friday lunchtime marks the sporting highlight of the day, before the third qualifying session in the afternoon is all about the starting positions in the 20 racing classes on the grid. Once all the 24-hour teams know their starting positions and the drivers and teams are making the final preparations for the start of the big race on Saturday, it’s time for the fans. Selected drift artists from Falken and Monster will kick things off by turning onto the Nordschleife for an extra lap at 18:00 and showing off their skills at the main spectator points. From there, their route leads straight into the Müllenbachschleife, where the Falken drift show will take place from 19:30. Parallel to this PS party, the gate to the pit lane will open at the start/finish and fans are invited to the track walk and pit walk. At the big autograph session, the drivers wait for the fans in front of each pit and look forward to the countless autograph and selfie requests. A last, friendly breather before the big day!
From Saturday, the race will take centre stage twice around the clock
From 4.00 pm on Saturday, there is only one thing left to do: the 24h Nürburgring and the question of who will do best in the marathon. However, the time until then will not be boring: in the morning, the ADAC 24h-Classic with 210 starters will provide the best entertainment, and after Race 3 of the touring car legends, the traditional countdown before the start will begin. Corsos on the Nordschleife, the presentation of the Glickenhaus trophy to the pole setter and finally the formation lap will finally herald the start of the 24h.
