What's it like to attend the Nürburgring 24 Hours

J.G.
By J.G. Pasterjak
Oct 6, 2023 | Nürburgring, Nürburgring 24 Hour, ADAC TotalEnergies 24h Nürburgring | Posted in News and Notes | From the Nov. 2023 issue | Never miss an article

Photography by J.G. Pasterjak

The Nürburgring 24–officially the ADAC TotalEnergies 24h Nürburgring–essentially operates as the world’s largest pro-am race. Professional and factory-backed GT teams square off for domination of one of the world’s most complex racing circuits, all while dicing it up with amateur and club squads competing in their own classes. It’s as if the Rolex 24 and the 25 Hours of Thunderhill had a beautiful little motorsports baby and left it to be raised by wolves in the German countryside.

Then add the sheer complexity of competing on a course where the length of each lap is equivalent to driving from Dallas to Fort Worth, and the traffic is just as intense. Those near-16-mile laps make things a bit easier in some ways, though, as teams know exactly how many circuits they can run in a stint. There’s no coaxing another lap out of a nearly empty tank when that go-around takes 9 minutes to complete. 

We can go eight laps on fuel,” Hyundai’s Kyle Compton tells us. “That’s it. After that, there’s not enough reserve to get us back around if we miss it, so eight laps is our limit.

But that’s about 70 minutes,” he continues, “so it’s a fairly full stint on tires as well, especially the fronts.”

The welcoming of all comers to the track also swells the size of the field–133 cars took the green flag this past May–and further complicates matters on pit road: Up to six cars share each pit spot, and all that fueling is done from commercial-style gas pumps located between each garage. Crews aren’t even allowed to put the gas cap in the handle to keep it running while they go inside for Corn Nuts. 

When not fueling, teams are required to roll the car into the garage and out of everyone else’s way for service. “So we need to kind of keep our service window inside of our fuel window anyway, because we don’t want the extra hassle of having to roll back into the garage,” Compton explains. “So the stops here are a bit more methodical and relaxed than IMSA stops. Since we have the time and we need to use it anyway, why not use it in a way to minimize mistakes?” 

Wheel changes are finished with a torque wrench, for example. Cordless impact guns eliminate a potential tripping hazard. 

Despite these challenges, there’s little other sports car action that the dedicated German crowd–and, well, we–would rather see each spring. The N24 exists outside the typical structure of international sports car racing; it’s not part of any major FIA series. Instead, it exists more as a “house” event at the Nürburgring, run as a special event sanctioned by the ADAC, which is an organization probably best described as a combination of AAA and the SCCA

Then there’s always the big story, with this year’s being the big win by Frikadelli Racing, the team founded by legendary ’Ring racer Sabine Schmitz, who succumbed to cancer in 2021. The Ferrari team became the first non-German manufacturer to win the race in more than two decades. What will next year bring? See you there May 30-June 2. 

With more than 16 miles of track winding through the countryside and guardrails right at the edge, getting service vehicles to incidents is always tricky and never fast. Drivers do their best to limp broken cars to one of the many track exits, where a tow back to the paddock can be more easily expedited. 

The Nürburgring Classic is a 3-hour celebration of historic machinery that tackles the Nordschleife before the main event. The grid ranges from the most mundane track tools to priceless artifacts plus a lot of rad-era heroes.

It’s just you and 234,999 of your closest friends. With an official gate of 235,000, the entire countryside around the track fills with fans, campers and partiers. 

The Nürburgring is surrounded by hundreds of marshal stations, and nearly all of them have line-of-sight contact with the previous and subsequent station. Unlike in U.S. motorsport, however, corner marshals at the Nürburgring 24 will not intervene in on-track incidents. Marshal stations provide flagging and traffic control via signs, and all the on-track response is handled by specialized crews.

Unlike an IMSA or WEC enduro, the Nürburgring 24 is open to all comers. While the factory GT3, GT4, GT3 Cup and TCR teams usually dominate the leaderboards, club-level teams of privateers comprise much of the field, which can reach up to 180-plus cars some years. 

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Comments
ConiglioRampante
ConiglioRampante Reader
10/6/23 9:50 a.m.

I'm always thankful for the livestream.
This is an incredible event, and along with the Isle of Man TT, I'm amazed (and thankful) it is still "allowed."

I love the idea of "slow zones" and the lack of the use of a safety car.  There are just too many positives to list.  And I'm glad you mentioned the sharing of pit and garage space.  It was  hard to fathom how it's timed and done when I first saw it, but it works.

IMSA and the WEC brag about multi-class racing, but the ADAC N24 has not only multi-class racing, it offers multi-generational class racing too.  Where else can you see modern  GT3 race cars on track with that old Opel Manta with a foxtail waiving from an antenna?  What's not to love?heart

lemachin
lemachin New Reader
10/8/23 11:51 p.m.

I attended the N24 this year and can add some more "what it's like" impressions.

We flew into Frankfurt on the Thursday and rented a VW camper van. It's a 2-hour drive from Frankfurt to the 'Ring.

Camping is first-come first-served, and administered separately from event tickets. If you want to camp trackside on the Nordschleife you've gotta show up way earlier than Thursday. Seemed like most of the people camped there had been around all week. There's a number of camping areas at the south end of the track and we got turned away from 5 or 6 full areas before finally gaining access to a field about halfway to the village of Mullenbach. We had been worried, but there's lots of room.

We had ambitions of filling up our van's water reservoir and getting groceries en route from Frankfurt, but we had not accounted for it being Ascension Day (May 18) and we couldn't find an open grocery store. We survived Thursday night living off gas station snacks and beer, and on Friday morning resolved to leave the campsite & acquire supplies. There's a Lidl in Kelberg about 6km south of the GP track . Coming & going from the campground is no issue once you've secured your site, but getting a VW camper on eco tires out of a damp field is an issue and we got it pretty decently stuck. Had to negotiate a tow from some logistics guys with a tractor.

Some of the busier campgrounds had people blasting music at deafening volumes late into the night. We were lucky to be in a calmer area. I'm not sure how you would plan around this or if there are designated quiet areas. 

We didn't have a set plan for watching the supporting events, we just wandered around and soaked up the atmosphere. Great car-spotting, lots of interesting pavilions and food/merch stands. The 3h Classic is a treat. There was also a Touring Legends event with vintage DTM and Group A cars. Paddock access, even during the main event, is similar to IMSA events - you can wander around the backside of the pits and watch the teams at work in their garages and mill about all the race transporters and HQ tents.  

On the big day we loaded up our backpacks with beer and snacks then headed out along the Nordschleife, going clockwise starting from the GP track. It is at this point I should specify that there are two theories of how to enjoy the N24: you can (A) find a good spot, settle in and enjoy the race, maybe relocating every so often, or (B) try to cover as much ground as possible, which is to say, hike as many of the 'Ring's 20km length as you can. I was on Team A, but my friends were on Team B. I soon came to regret not having packed hiking boots and a more substantial backpack, so if you're going to do this I recommend reaching consensus on a strategy ahead of time.

I cannot exaggerate how huge the Nordschleife is. There were moments in our day, between viewing spots, where we could not see any of the circuit, only fields and forests and hills for as far as the eye could see, and realize that somehow a racetrack encloses all this. The elevation change, too, is hard to appeciate from pictures or videos or racing games. It's pretty dramatic.

We befriended a few German superfans in the lead-up to the race and they took us under their wing. Given the scope of the event, insider intel is extremely valuable. We watched the race start from a vantage point on the fast downhill section leading to Fuchsroehre, then spent the rest of the afternoon hiking along the west side of the track to the town of Adenau, which the track actually passes over. We had dinner on a patio there and stocked up on beer & trail mix at the grocery store, then split up with our German pals as my bad knee was starting to slow me down. 

The sections of the track from Adenau to the Karussell are apparently tough going and not great for viewing, so we hired a cab and skipped ahead. We marked midnight standing with the crowd on the inside of the Karussell watching cars drop hard into the banked concrete & their headlights circling around us in the dark. Mesmerizing.

The stretch from Karussell to about Bruennchen (aka. "Youtube Corner") is apparently called the party mile. Huge elaborate soundstages, techno music at deafening volumes, lightshows, smoke machines, fireworks. Apparently drivers have complained that this chaos can be distracting, but to an extent the excess seems to be viewed as part of the N24's unique culture. Because it's near a main road and easy to service, there are food and drink stalls next to the track at this location. Here at 4am we had some currywursts mit pomme and then caught a shuttle bus back to get a few hours sleep and see the ending of the race along the GP track.

Anyhow - sorry for the novella - if you're into sports car racing at all, I highly recommend going. It's an unforgettable experience.

QuikMcshifterson
QuikMcshifterson New Reader
11/16/23 11:14 a.m.

In reply to lemachin :

Awesome write up!

ConiglioRampante
ConiglioRampante Reader
11/17/23 9:39 a.m.

Thanks for reviving this thread.  How'd I miss lamachin's post?!?  That is good info.

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