The motorsport season on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife is finally picking up speed and is celebrating its first highlight at the ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers (April 13th – 14th, 2024). Because the prologue weekend, which has been a mandatory program for many teams in previous years when preparing for the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, is turning into a motorsport blast this year. This is made possible by the rating for the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS), which attracts numerous other teams and drivers: There are over 130 vehicles on the starting list – 30 of which are in the winnable SP9 and SP-X classes. There is also a rousing fight for victories and placings in the rest of the starting field with a total of almost 20 classes. Numerous top drivers, fully occupied classes and spectacular cars impress here. The cherry on the cake is the weekend’s supporting program, which shows a lot of exciting amateur and popular sports.
The 24h Qualifiers weekend will provide a good preview of what fans can look forward to at the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring (May 30th – June 2nd, 2024). The who’s who of the top Nordschleife teams can be found among the 30 vehicles in the victorious classes.
Seven brands are represented with GT3 models – including the Ferrari the 2023 24h winner, Frikadelli Racing. Teams with cars from Audi, Aston Martin, BMW, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche are hunting for the speedy Italian. Not to forget: the spectacular one SCG 004c von Glickenhaus Racing, which competes in the special SP-X class.
After a number of GT3 teams were unable to start at the NLS opener a week before the qualifiers due to a parallel GT World Challenge Europe race taking place at the Nürburgring, the list of operational teams also corresponds to a parade of the best Nordschleife teams. Particularly noteworthy is the significantly increased Aston Martin faction PROsport Racing, Dörr Motorsport and Trinity Solutions / Walkenhorst belong. The latter use three of the British Vantage AMR GT3.
All signs point to green for a real motorsport spectacle. Scherer Sport PHX (Audi), ROWE Racing and BMW M-Team for BMW, Konrad and Abt in the Lamborghini camp: Here we meet who have set the tone on the Nordschleife in recent years. This also applies to the GT3 brands with the highest number of participants: The six Porsche 911 GT3 R will be entered into the race by Falken and Manthey, among others. The beefy Mercedes-AMG GT3s are represented in the field eight times and are used by Bilstein and GetSpeed, among others. Get in the mood for the highlight of the year with a huge motorsport weekend © 24h Media
The fact that the tenth edition of the 24h Qualifiers will be the one with the highest number of participants to date is, of course, ensured by its double attractiveness. Careful preparation for the 24 Hours of Nürburgring will be the focus, especially for the top teams. Here, every lap on the track counts and every top speed kilometer provides valuable insights into what can be improved.
Of course, the fact that the first race on Saturday doesn’t start until late afternoon contributes to the maximum training effect. From 5:30 p.m. it continues for four hours into the cooler and darker evening hours – ideal in preparation for the 24 hours at the end of May. The second race on Sunday afternoon (start at 1:00 p.m.) also lasts four hours. Both heats are counted as NLS races and are therefore doubly exciting.
This leads to some particularly strong classes with highly attractive vehicles. The Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PETN), for which the Cup2 and Cup3 classes are counted, provides 27 vehicles here alone: Here, 911s in Cup specification (Cup2) and 718 Caymans (Cup3) compete for points and score more Action on the track. What particularly stands out in the “Specials” classes is the well-equipped SP10, in which GT4 vehicles from Porsche, BMW and Toyota are at the start. The VT2 FWD is also diverse as the best class in the production car category.
The fans can look forward to an exciting starting field in the 24h Qualifiers. The eye-catchers also include the popular Dacia Logan from Ollis Garage (#318), which was rebuilt after a racing accident at the 24h with the support of a crowdfunding campaign and now competes as a 280 hp turbo in the SP3T class. The newly built VW New Beetle RSR, which the White Angel team is sending into the race, also represents a special kind of crowdfunding: As part of the effort, Bernd Albrecht’s team is collecting money that will be used to build schools in developing countries.
There are also some exciting new additions to the Nordschleife circus among the drivers. This includes something like: Ex-Formula 1 and DTM driver Timo Glock, which deals with twice as much DTM champion Timo Scheider (24h winner from 2003) as well DTM-Trophy-Pilot Theo Oeverhaus shares a BMW M4 GT4 (#145). For Glock, it is also about qualifying for the “big” DMSB permit Nordschleife, which would then also allow him to start in higher-level classes in the future. The same applies to former Formula 1 driver Felipe Nasr, who completed his permit qualification in a Porsche 718 Cayman from Four Motors. The team is also continuing its long series of sustainable motorsport projects and is fueling its Porsche with a bio-fuel, which is why it is starting in the “AT” class for vehicles with alternative fuels.
24h Qualifiers ensure two double-headers in the NLS © 24h Media
If the two races on Saturday and Sunday aren’t enough motorsport for you, you’ll get plenty of other exciting competitions for free on the Qualifiers weekend. After the first Qualifers training session on Saturday morning, the Nürburgring Circuit Challenge (RCN) starts its first performance test of the season at 1:00 p.m. The popular recreational sports series is once again reporting a large rush of participants this year, which will provide good entertainment while waiting for the first qualifiers race.
Since the special 24-hour track variant of the Nordschleife and Grand Prix circuit is used by both the RCN and the 24h Qualifiers at the weekend, the Mercedes Arena is traditionally not used. The organizing ADAC North Rhine is using this to offer the best motorsport here too: there will be an automobile slalom event on both Saturday and Sunday, for which three-digit starter numbers are also expected.
There is also a full house at the weekend’s competition for the youngest motorsport athletes: from 10:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, 200 young drivers will take part in youth kart slaloms on the “helipad” in the Grand Prix paddock. The special feature here is that there will be both a competition with combustion engines and an e-kart slalom. If all that isn’t enough sporting entertainment for you, you should head towards the ring°arena: The German men’s individual judo championship in the over-30 age group will take place there this weekend. The competitions are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, entry to the ring°arena is free!
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24h Media
2024-04-05 12:50:06
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