The Nürburgring 24 Hours is a 24-hour annual touring car and GT endurance racing event that takes place on a combination of the Nordschleife ("North Loop") and the GP-Strecke ("Grand Prix track") circuits of the Nürburgring in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Held since 1970, the over lap length allows more than 200 cars and over 700 drivers to participate.
Starting in 2024, the event has been officially named ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring for sponsorship reasons. Also since 2024, the race has been included in the Intercontinental GT Challenge calendar.
Overview Officially called "ADAC 24h Rennen Nürburgring" in German ('ADAC 24 hour Race Nürburgring'), it was introduced in 1970 by the ADAC as an official race, unlike the earlier endurance contests that covered 12, 24 (in 1961 and 1967), 36, 84 and even 96 hours, like the Marathon de la Route. This substitute for the Liège-Rome-Liège and Liège-Sofia-Liège rallies was held on the Nürburgring from 1965 to 1971.
It is similar to the Spa 24 Hours, which had been introduced in 1924, following the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The ADAC had held its first 1000 km Nürburgring sports car racing event in 1953. As the 1000 km Spa had been introduced in 1966, the 24h at the Ring gave both circuits a pair of endurance racing events at very long tracks, at least until Spa was shortened in 1979.
Just like the VLN series with its 4-hour races, the 24h race is mainly aimed at amateurs, in order to fill a starting field of around 200 cars. Unlike the VLN races, the 24h is officially an international event, with trilingual (French, German and English, since 2024 because SRO regulations are in French) organization and documentation. Entry fees are due, in 2010 these were per car, of which was an advance payment for fuel. Typical entries range from second hand standard road cars to European Touring Car Championship vehicles and GT3 sports cars like the Porsche 911 GT3. The participation of manufactures and professional teams and drivers has varied over the decades. As spectator numbers had dropped in the 1990s when only rather standard FIA Group N cars competed, more spectacular vehicles were admitted since 1999, like the Zakspeed Chrysler Viper GTS-R which originally was built by Oreca to FIA GT2-spec, turbo-charged Porsche, modified Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars from Opel and Abt Sportsline-Audi, and the Schnitzer Motorsport-entered BMW M3 GTR V8 that had been run in the 2001 American Le Mans Series.
Due to various changes and versions of the Grand Prix Strecke, the overall length of the track varied from the original to nearly of the maximum length configuration which was in use in 2002 and 2003, after the GP track had been extended by the Mercedes Arena. As this section and its large paved run-off areas was useful as extra paddock zone for the competitors of the support races, it is bypassed with a sharp Z-shape chicane since 2005 for a track length.
The number of cars starting is limited to 150 as of 2024, driven by up to 600 drivers, as 2, 3 or 4 can share a car. One driver is allowed to drive 150 minutes non-stop, and can enter on two cars, yet a rest time of at least 2 hours has to be observed between two turns of the same driver.
The race is typically held in May or June on the Ascension Day or Corpus Christi holiday. The 2013 edition was held on Pentecost. The 2020 race was postponed to September and held with limited spectators, restricted to the Grand Prix course area (initially planned to be held behind closed doors) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2024 race set a new shortest distance record of just 50 laps with less than 10 hours of racing due to rain and overnight fog; the 2023 race set a new longest distance run for the race, as well as the first win for Ferrari.
Cars
The Nurburgring 24 Hours is known for its wide variety of cars. In 2023, 135 cars in 20 classes were entered. Available classes include:
The 24h-Special classes that consist of pure race cars that may compete in other race series. It consists of the classes SP1 to SP8 differentiated by engine displacement with an optional suffix T for turbocharged engines, the SP9 class for FIA GT3 cars, the SP10 class for SRO GT4 cars. The VLN production cars classes that intend to allow relatively low-cost racing with near-series cars. It consists of several classes of normally-aspirated cars (V3 to V6), and several classes of turbocharged cars (VT1 to VT3, with separate classes for front-wheel drive cars), differentiated by engine displacement. Cup classes(BMW M240i, BMW M2 CS, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport). TCR touring car. AT class for cars using alternative fuels.
The race has often seen cars that are rarely used in other international racing events. Examples include Fiat Cinquecentos in the 1990s, a Volkswagen Caravelle in 2000, the P4/5 Competizione in the 2010s, or a 1988 Opel Manta that has raced from 1994 to 2023.
Safety
Due to the length of the track, the Nürburgring 24 Hours has unusual safety procedures compared to other modern professional endurance races. Safety cars are not used except during red flag and ensuing restart situations, double yellow flags indicate a local speed limit of , and code 60 flags, used locally for incidents warranting a safety car on shorter tracks, limit the speed to . It is common for course cars and vehicle recovery trucks to travel around the course under local double yellow flags. Since 2015; competitors must hold a valid "DMSB Permit Nordschleife", a license to race specifically on the Nordschleife section of the Nürburgring. They must also take part in 3 races on the track within the last 2 calendar years.
Closing speeds between the fastest and slowest car classes is a common concern, as the track has many blind crests and corners. In 2023, a serious accident happened between a Porsche 911 GT3 R and a Dacia Logan SP3 - the slowest car in the field that year - after the Porsche hit the Logan at the high-speed Stefan-Bellof-S and sent it into the barriers.
The unpredictable Eifel weather is also a danger. Heavy rain and fog stopped the race for several hours in 2018, 2020 and 2021, while the 2016 race was red-flagged due to an unusual hailstorm that caused a series of crashes.
In 2001, driver Christian Peruzzi was killed after a practice accident in an Alfa Romeo 147.
Support races The Nürburgring 24 Hours has several support races on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, some happening on the GP Track, some happening on the Nordschleife only, some happening on the combined track.
As of 2023, the support program includes the Rundstrecken Challenge Nürburgring, and several historic touring cars and GT races. The last support race is the ADAC 24h-Classic, a 3 hour race on the combined track on Saturday morning, several hours before the 24 Hours race.
History
2006 race Unlike the two previous races, held on Ascension Day weekend in May in rainy and very cold weather, the 2006 event was run in warm, sunny and dry conditions on Corpus Christi (feast) weekend of June 17–18. Pure factory teams that challenged for the overall win were absent, yet Aston Martin and Maserati had entered factory-backed cars to promote their products, reminding of three overall wins each in the 1000 km Nürburgring decades ago. The Aston Martin car with Aston CEO Ulrich Bez finished 4th in class and 24th overall.
Due to good conditions and stiff competition by similar cars, a new overall distance record ( in 151 laps) was scored by the Porsche 996 GT3 of Manthey Racing that already had been the best privateer team in the previous three years. This team is partially supported by Porsche, though, with factory drivers, a 3.8L engine and a sequential gear box. Second place finishers Jürgen Alzen/Uwe Alzen/Klaus Ludwig/Christian Abt of team Jürgen Alzen Motorsport was only one lap down and have beaten the old record, too. They used a conventional gear box and a privately built 3.8L 500PS engine. The third of three fastest Porsche, the Wolfgang 911, had suffered a fiery failure of its standard 3.6L Porsche 911 GT3-RSR race engine after 21 hours, yet was classified as 14th with 133 laps.
A remarkable 5th place overall was scored by a BMW 120d from Schubert Motors, which had roughly half the power of some of the cars it beat. It was driven by Claudia Hürtgen (2005 VLN champion), Marc Hennerici (2005 privateer WTCC champion), (son of Hans-Joachim Stuck) and team owner Torsten Schubert.
2007 race
For the 2007 event held on Corpus Christi weekend of June 7–10, more than 260 teams had applied for the 220 race entries. Prior to the start which had been scheduled for 15:00, an approaching thunderstorm made the organizers delay the beginning of the race. Lightning struck the camp of fans, injuring several, while heavy rain made the track muddy. At 16:51, the race was started after two laps behind a safety car. Veteran Klaus Ludwig at the wheel of the Aston Martin DBRS9 which had been given the number 007 took the lead in wet conditions, but hesitating too long with the change to dry tyres, the favorite Manthey team took the lead in their new Porsche 997 GT3-RSR. More weather-related drama occurred in the night, when the race was interrupted due to fog for six hours, making the race 18 hours.
When the race resumed, the Land Porsche 996 GT3-RSR was slightly damaged when hitting the back of the Manthey car, and the Aston Martin engine failed. Thus the Manthey team could easily defend its 2006 victory. The reliable, yet no more fast enough Zakspeed Dodge Viper GTS-R came in second, with the Alzen brothers Porsche Cayman in 4th and the BMW Z4 M-Coupe 5th.
Remarkable performances were the top ten finishes of a VW Golf 5, an Opel Astra GTC and a BMW 130i, and the 13th place of a Hyundai Coupe V6 piloted by ex British Touring Car racer Peter Cate.
2008 race
For the 2008, over 270 cars were entered, of which only 230 could be accepted. The race began in sunny weather with drama for the favorite Porsche teams of Manthey and Land, losing time with a leaky radiator and a tire failure, and the new Alzen 997 Turbo and the Zakspeed Viper battling for the lead. After the Viper was out, only the BMW Z4 (E85) of Claudia Hürtgen, pole setter and winner of the recent VLN race, could challenge the Porsche armada and lead for some laps, but it crashed during the night.
Manthey could catch up and win the race for a third time in a row, with the winning car of 2006 (a 996 model) finishing 2nd. The triumph made the team mechanics cut off Olaf Manthey's famous moustache tips. Sabine Schmitz came in third, also on a Porsche 997. A strong showing among the high powered cars gave the three new Volkswagen Scirocco, finishing 9th and 12th, with veteran Hans Joachim Stuck driving both cars.
2009 race
For 2009, the organizers announced that they wanted to reduce the gap in speeds, by not accepting small capacity cars any more, and by slowing down the fastest classes, SP7 and SP8. Also, the new FIA GT3 and FIA GT4 classes were adopted, called SP9 and SP10. Some of the new rules are controversial, especially the fact that instead of the regular fuel pumps as used in any public station, the top teams have to use expensive equipment designed to equal the times needed to refill, meaning that an economic car is punished compared to a thirsty car. Due to the various rule changes, some teams have declined to take part, namely Zakspeed with their Viper.