For motorsport fans, there can only be one goal during the Ascension weekend: the “Green Hell”, the legendary Nürburgring-Nordschleife. The asphalt track in the Eifel region, more than 25 kilometres long, will be the venue for a very special showdown: some 800 drivers with over 200 cars will be competing in the 24-hour race, entertaining the more than 200,000 fans that are expected – all with the goal of claiming the coveted crown of endurance racing, the crystal winner’s trophy in the longest race at the world’s toughest race track.
Next to works- and works-supported teams with Audi, BMW and Porsche, the ranks of serious contenders for victory include above all the seasoned Nordschleife stalwarts from the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring: the entry list shows some 20 potential winners and 60 cars that could end up on the podium. Probably, no other race in the world has so many favourites.
“Compared to last year, entries have increased by almost three dozen”, says Peter Geishecker, head of the organisation on behalf of race promoter ADAC Nordrhein. “Especially the group of GT3 and GT4 cars has grown significantly this year and has a very strong entry. That is a clear sign of approval for the direction we chose last year concerning the regulations.” Once again, Olaf Manthey’s drivers are the favourites: his Porsche GT3 R will be raced by last year’s winners Marc Lieb, Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Marcel Tiemann. The other contenders are not only to be found among the ranks of the fellow Porsche drivers. For instance, former champion Hans-Joachim Stuck will be racing an Audi R8 LMS, just like ex-DTM champions Frank Biela, Mattias Ekström and Timo Scheider. BMW has entered its drivers from the World Touring Car Championship as well as Nordschleife-experts like ex-Formula 1 driver Pedro Lamy (a four times’ winner of the 24-hour race), Uwe Alzen and Dirk Adorf.
