The Nürburgring hosted its most well known event last weekend in the Eifel: The 24 Hours of Nürburgring. The main story of the weekend was Max Verstappen making its long awaited debut in the event. The Verstappen Racing AMG GT3 #3 led for most of the race but unfortunately was retired due to a driveshaft issue. This paved the way for the other AMG powered #80 Winward Racing car driven by Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin to win. The Abt Lamborghini made it to second place, followed by the Walkenhorst Aston Martin in third place.
A record number of 352.000 viewers attended the event after four times F1 world champion Max Verstappen announced his participation, crashing last years viewership record of 285.000 and selling out all tickets for the first time in the history of this race.
In addition, a number of new cars on the track made the day exciting. HWA returned one of the most iconic silhouettes of the German Touring Car Championship. The HWA Evo honours the design of the Mercedes Benz Evo 2 with some major technical upgrades.
Also BMW sent in a fan favourite. What originated as an April fools joke ended in the participation of the M3 Touring in the race, even grabbing a class win.
For endurance racing fans, this event is unlike everything else. 161 cars on a 25km track, battling through fog and rain in the forest, making the “green hell” just so special. On the campsite the atmosphere is part motorsport event, part festival with many events happening outside the track.
Photo Credit: ADAC Nordrhein Cologne / Julian Schroeder-Frerkes
