The season on the world’s longest and most beautiful race track has begun – and the signs point to an ultra-exciting event at the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring (14–17 May). The first real clash between the key contenders in the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) was characterised by close battles across the large field of over 130 teams and a curious conclusion. Alongside the high level of competitiveness at the front and across all classes, one man caused a sensation – a man who also intends to compete in the 24h Nürburgring: Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen secured pole position in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and, alongside his team-mates Daniel Junadella and Jules Gunon, crossed the finish line first ahead of Rowe Racing’s BMW M4 GT3 Evo after a fiercely contested race. However, the joy lasted only two hours before the team was disqualified – they had used too many tyre sets due to an oversight. In the end, the victory went to Rowe. This thrilling start to the endurance season has whetted the appetite for the 24 Hours, which promises a spectacular showdown.
Following the weather-related cancellation of the first NLS round a week earlier, the second championship round served as the first opportunity to assess the state of the Nordschleife scene. And this season, it appears to have grown significantly. More entrants, more public interest, higher quality in the starting grid – all of this is also building anticipation for the Nürburgring 24 Hours, for which the organisers are already seeing a rush of entries. Surrounded by crowds in the pit lane and paddock: Max Verstappen, who is preparing for the start of the 24 Hours with Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing. He showed he’s well on track with a top performance, promptly securing pole position in qualifying. “I was lucky with the traffic on the track and managed a single lap without a Code 60 phase,” said the Dutchman afterwards. “The feel in the car is good, but I’m still lacking a bit of experience with it. Today’s race is also about practising the pit stops. After all, the procedure, including the driver change, is of course completely different to Formula 1.” Looking ahead to the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, he added: “I like the GT3 cars. And I’ve watched the 24 Hours of Nürburgring a few times already. Now I finally wanted to drive it myself. The feeling of driving on this circuit is, of course, always something very special.”
Disappointment following disqualification
In the subsequent race, the Verstappen Mercedes-AMG GT3 went on to secure a hard-fought victory – which was, however, subsequently revoked. Instead of the permitted six sets of tyres, the team had fitted fresh slicks seven times during the race, as revealed during the routine checks at the end of the race. This naturally led to long faces in the Stuttgart camp: “A mistake was made behind the scenes, forcing the race stewards to disqualify the winning car,” explained Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing. “That hurts, and naturally everyone involved is very disappointed. It shows once again that you can only win on the Nordschleife if everything comes together. Winward Racing, who managed the deployment of the two performance cars, were competing in the NLS for the first time in this line-up. Now we need to analyse the mistakes, whilst also taking the positive lessons from the weekend with us.”
Race winner Pepper: “An intense race with great battles”
Even so, the race was by no means a walk in the park for Verstappen and his team: early on, he was locked in a thrilling battle with the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II from Scherer Sport PHX, during which Nordschleife veteran Christopher Haase briefly had the Formula 1 star in his rear-view mirror. Later in the race, Dan Harper and Jordan Pepper in the BMW M4 GT3 Evo from Rowe Racing emerged as the Mercedes AMG’s strongest rivals. They eventually crossed the finish line in second place, 59.524 seconds behind, and were ultimately awarded the race victory. Third place went to the Porsche 911 GT3 R from Falken Motorsports. “What a dream start – to make it onto the podium straight away on our first outing in this line-up on the Nordschleife,” said Rowe driver Jordan Pepper after crossing the finish line. “It was an intense race with some great battles – in the closing stages we were also locked in a tussle with the Falken Porsche. The Mercedes-AMG was in a slightly different league today, but we had our fun too. The big goal is the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.” Harper added: “It’s always fun to battle it out on the track with other top drivers. It was my first race with Rowe on the Nordschleife, and for that it was a great start, which we hope to build on.” Tim Heinemann in the second-placed Falken Porsche was also highly satisfied. “We hadn’t expected a podium finish at all, as we started from tenth place. Our race was flawless, our 911 was a joy to drive – though we’re currently still lacking a bit of acceleration and top speed. Of course, we also have Max to thank for the fact that so many fans were at the track. But that helps our sport move forward. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a direct duel with him because he started from pole and we started a few rows behind. But if it comes down to it, I’m definitely confident I can take him on.”
Plenty of action and a premiere ahead of the 24h
The run-up to the 24 Hours of Nürburgring is also very much dominated by the NLS. The next preparatory event is the series’ third race of the season on 11 April, before the big prologue takes place. This will be held from 17 to 19 April at the ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers, where NLS points will once again be up for grabs in two four-hour races.
The final race weekend before the 24 Hours of Nürburgring also offers perfect conditions to fine-tune preparations for the season’s highlight. Race 1 starts on Saturday afternoon at 5.30 pm and, until the chequered flag falls at 9.30 pm, offers a taste of racing into the sunset. On Sunday, the fastest drivers from qualifying (from 8.15 am) will first take part in Top Qualifying (10.40 am): here too, the Prologue simulates the procedure for the 24-hour race in May. The second race (from 1.00 pm) is then the last opportunity to clock up race kilometres and gather valuable data and insights before the season’s highlight. A special treat at the 24h Qualifiers weekend: the German Historic Endurance Championship (DHLM) celebrates its debut with its first round, thereby taking over the legacy of the popular 24h Classic. Qualifying for the historic cars takes place on Friday afternoon (4.00 pm – 5.00 pm) following the test and set-up runs for the 24h Qualifiers (12.15 pm – 2.45 pm). The three-hour inaugural race of the DHLM is then scheduled for Saturday from 12.00 pm – 3.00 pm.