24H Nürburgring: Race with cutbacks

WITHOUT PORSCHE WORKERS The 48th ADAC 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, which has been postponed to this week, has fewer participants than at any time since 1976. And fans are only allowed in the grandstands. Forty-four years ago, when the 5th International ADAC 24-Hour Race was held on the same weekend (Sept. 25-26, 1976) and never since in the fall, only 91 cars started on [...]

Editorial - September 22, 2020

There will be no such gathering of people on the starting grid and in the stands on Saturday (Photos: Group C Photography).

44 years ago, when the 5th International ADAC 24-hour race was held on the same weekend (September 25/26, 1976) and never since in the fall, only 91 cars started on the then 22.8-kilometer Nordschleife. There were no factory teams yet, and victory was decided between two of the three Porsche Carrera RS 3.0 cars in the field, which was restricted to production cars for noise protection reasons.

From well over 200 teams back to 100
Towards the end of the 1990s, the German marathon experienced a real boom, with over 200 participants taking part on a regular basis. The 2007 race went down as a record in the now 50-year history of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, which was first held in 1970, when 224 vehicles qualified.

With the predominance of GT3 factory teams and factory-supported private teams, the participation of pure amateurs declined. For those who for decades made up the appeal of this race and also of the VLN, which evolved from the Veedol Endurance Cup, the whole thing had become too elaborate, since they now only play a supporting role anyway.

This year, Corona is added to this plus the concentration of race dates in the second half of the year, which is simply too much for some teams. So it is not surprising that the provisional entry list included only 102 teams and in the meantime the 100 mark will not even be reached.

The yellow-green Manthey Porsche will be missing, as will tent castles along the Nordschleife.

Withdrawal of the Manthey Porsche
This is because Porsche had to decide at short notice to leave all of their nine works drivers and team members engaged at Le Mans last weekend at home after three Covid 19 cases occurred internally. The legendary "Grello," the yellow Porsche from Manthey-Racing that has already won several times, will therefore be missing.

The four customer teams with six Porsche 911 GT3 R cars supported by factory drivers will have to look for replacement drivers or throw in the towel at short notice as well. The team with the iconic Opel Manta also has to pull out due to a lack of spare parts.

Spectators only on stands, TV live around the clock
Perhaps the cancellation for 2020 would have made more sense instead of forcing it through at all costs and with cutbacks in the fall. So far, there has only been no 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 1974 and 1975 as a result of the oil crisis and the red figures after the first staging from 1970 to 1973.

And the fact that a limited number of spectators are only allowed on the grandstands of the GP circuit and the entire Nordschleife will remain bleakly empty robs this race of its otherwise unique atmosphere.

The plan of the open stands, parking lots and buildings. Personalized seats can only be booked online and must be vacated on the night.

At least all fans staying at home can experience it in a comprehensive TV broadcast with lots of show & action. The entire race up to the finish on Sunday at around 3:30 p.m. will be broadcast live on TV on RTL Nitro.

Nico Müller in the Audi #1
The lower number of participants in the 48th edition of the 24-hour race should not detract from the sporting quality. With more than 30 GT3 sports cars, it is a given despite the withdrawal of the six-time winning team from the Eifel.

Of the Swiss drivers, Nico Müller in one of the three R8 LMS fielded by Audi Sport in collaboration with the three customer teams Land, Phoenix and Car Collection may have the highest hopes for his second overall victory after 2015. As last year's winner, Müller's Phoenix Racing team will receive car number 1.

The Phoenix Audi #1 of Nico Müller, Frank Stippler (D), Dries Vanthoor (B) and Frédéric Vervisch (B).

Patric Niederhauser (for the first time as an official Audi Sport driver) and Mike Rockenfeller are aiming for a top finish on other R8s. Rahel Frey, who like "Nidi" is also in the factory squad for customer sport, can at best expect a top ten finish with her private partners.

Two Ferrari with Swiss
Three of the seven Mercedes-AMG GT3s are driven by the Swiss Philip Ellis and Manuel Metzger and Raffaele Marciello from Ticino, all of whom have a good chance of making the podium.

Whether Simon Trummer and Jonathan Hirschi will be eligible depends on the latest classification of Octane126's Ferrari F488 GT3 Evo, which was mistakenly registered with too much power in the VLN, and its reliability. Another private Ferrari will be driven by Nikolaj Rogivue.

Thursday starts
The action begins at noon on Thursday (September 24) with the 90-minute 1st qualifying session from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.. The three-hour 2nd qualifying session then follows in the evening from 20.30 to 23.30.

On Friday (September 25), after the 60-minute 3rd qualifying session from 1.25 p.m. to 2.25 p.m., Top Qualifying 1 will be on the agenda from 5.50 p.m., followed directly by the hunt for the prestigious pole position in Top Qualifying 2.

On Saturday (Sept. 26), the introductory lap will begin at 3:10 p.m. before the 48th ADAC 24-hour race in 2020 is released at 3:30 p.m.

In the supporting program, the WTCR will hold two sprint races over three laps each on Friday (start at 4:40 p.m.) and Saturday (10 a.m.). The TV station Eurosport will be reporting live.