Nürburgring: Start of season with cutbacks 🎥

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In a video, some drivers express their anticipation for the start of the season. They also call on the fans to be sensible: Please stay at home!

The 51st Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy will be the first motorsport event in Germany after the Corona lockdown on June 27. 141 race cars are on the provisional list of participants, with some likely to drop out by then. In any case, there will be significantly fewer on Saturday than in previous years at the VLN rounds held before the 24-hour race.

Livestream instead of race attendance
As usual, the teams will be sent out on the four-hour journey at 12 noon and will feel pretty lonely - except on the race track. This is because spectators are not allowed anywhere, and all grandstands and track areas along the Nordschleife will be cordoned off.

Fans will have to make do with a livestream on the Internet. This will be upgraded from 8.15 a.m. on the VLN homepage and on YouTube with the Goodyear Fanzone. Raffles and interaction via social media channels are planned. In the Goodyear Lounge, the two presenters Patrick Simon and Oliver Martini will also welcome interview guests.

Concessions to the participants
The first VLN races also require the willingness of the participants to compromise. Only a comprehensive hygiene concept of the VLN, which was refined together with the ILN (Interessengemeinschaft Langstrecke Nürburgring), forms the foundation for the officially approved execution.

In addition to the ban on spectators at the race track and strict compliance with distance and hygiene rules, the pit lane in particular is a novelty. To minimize contacts, a total of 71 plots measuring 6 x 20 meters were built in the paddock of the Nürburgring using concrete elements, where the teams can work on the race cars separately from each other and in the open air.

The route during the pit stop leads through the normal pit lane entrance, then through pit 1 into the paddock, through the paddock in a loop with a turning circle and back through pit 2 into the normal pit lane. Finally, it is possible to refuel there before exiting onto the race track.

Müller and Niederhauser on GT3 Audi
The winners of this race will go down in history. Maybe they will even come from Switzerland?

Nico Müller and Patric Niederhauser will start for Car Collection Motorsport in Audi R8 LMS cars. Nine months after winning the 2019 ADAC GT Masters title, this means the first start for "Nidi" as a factory driver. Together with Mike Ortmann (D) and Milan Dontje (NL), he will contest the entire VLN season.

In contrast to him, Canton's colleague Müller has already competed in Formula E in the spring. His partners in the Audi Sport Team, according to the official application, are DTM colleague Robin Frijns (NL) and Christopher Haase (D).

Zurich Ferrari in GT3 for the first time
The Octane126 team is entering the race strengthened. The Zurich-based team is fielding its Ferrari 488, designed for the Nürburgring as a factory partner of Maranello, for the first time with the update developed last year in the SPX class.

The sports car is now homologated for the GT3 category. Its potential will be explored by Simon Trummer from Berne and Jonathan Hirschi from Neuchâtel as well as Björn Grossmann from Germany. Luca Ludwig (D) is scheduled as the fourth man with a view to the 24-hour race.

Goodbye Black Falcon
In the German racing one team, Nikolaj Rogivue will be driving another Ferrari 488. Other favorites include Raffaele Marciello on a Mercedes-AMG from GetSpeed, but the Ticino native will be driving under the Italian flag as usual.

The big absentee among the top teams is Black Falcon. The multiple VLN and 24-hour winning team has withdrawn from this scene. The Mercedes-AMG Team HRT, led by German Hubert Haupt, is a newcomer.

Absences in the TCR
Not at the start are Jasmin Preisig and Frédéric Yerly. The team of the fast Herisauerin (Max Kurse Racing) has decided for economic reasons to a change of plans. Therefore, the VW Golf GTI TCR may be used later to focus already on 2021.

Also expected to be absent will be Frédéric Yerly, who captured the title in the 2019 VLN TCR standings with mathilda racing's Cupra TCR and German Matthias Wasel as his regular partner. Roland Schmid, who won the class three times with them, will now drive an Opel Astra TCR from Lubner Motorsport together with Roger Vögeli.

The other Swiss and all other drivers and teams in the individual classes are here from the provisional start list.

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