I woke up at 6:30am. It was quiet, no music, no fireworks, everyone was resting up for the big day; the day the 24hr Race at Nürburgring started. In this silence, I took a walk on the track itself from Schwalbenschwanz through Sprunghügel and into Pflanzgarten. There is a lot of history on this course. It is the longest and most challenging course known in Motorsports. I heard it takes 1000 hours of driving to understand and almost master it; but the Grüne Hölle is unforgiving and always has it's surprises; one can almost experience three seasons worth of road conditions in a single lap around the ring. One has to be able to adapt their driving style, knowing when to take it slow can be the difference between a fast time, and ending up in a wall.
People have left their mark on the track with paint. Messages ranging from advertisements, names, simple hello to parents and memorials in places people have died when driving on the track. I wish I had some paint to leave my impression. The stillness in the air with the sun casting an orange-white glow made the legendary track seem surreal.
We head out to Wehrseifen which is a very sharp left hairpin coming off a downhill followed by an uphill right-hander. We setup and it starts to rain (re-occuring theme). I fashioned a rainjacket for my camera by putting a hole in a plastic bag for the lens. I was able to catch the tail end of the MINI Challenge and saw Jörg drive by... but I wasn't able to take any pictures in time. Jörg placed 4th overall during the race due to some complications. But he did place 2nd in qualifying which is also an achievement in of itself. I hope there will be more successes in the future.
The Porsche World Cup started with a driver parade (like all the other races) where all 100 cars from 25 different countries drove through putting on a display before they battled eachother and the elements. Once the race was underway, in the FIRST lap, there were so many crashes and cars spinning out due to the wet weather conditions. It was such an amazing race, one could see the drivers taking different lines through the corner. Some were more experienced than others, and it showed.
We moved location to Brünnchen and waited for the 24hr Rennen Nürburgring to start. During the wait there were several parades and events taking place. They set up a large ramp and 3 motorcyclists jumped and did tricks while a cold and wet crowd cheered and clapped. There was a lap of small kids in what seemed like hundreds of go-karts driving around the track in a large group. It was really fun to watch. Next came a parade of Audi R8's, then there was Volkswagens XL1 concept car.
Finally it was time for the 24hr Rennen Parade. The cars drive around in groupings and people cheered, waved flags enthusiastically, and blasted airhorns for their favorite drivers, cars and teams. The cars, sometimes weaving to warm up tires responded with engine revs, and waves from drivers. The race was underway, and the fastest pack screamed through the large sweeping right and up-hill at Brünnchen.
After a while, I walked along the track to get a different vantage point. I took pictures and video at the Caraciolla-Carousel, Klostertal, Mutkurve and walked through a path in the woods along the second fastest straight at Kesselchen (where cars achieve up to 256km/h). Finally, after 8 km of wandering I arrived near Wehrseifen again. I took a shuttle-bus to Flugplatz where the others were. Flugplatz is a fast portion of track with an area that cars sometimes jump over a crest. It's really neat to see high powered race cars leap into the air at 230km/h.
I took the bus back to the welcome center/grand prix circuit to try to catch Claudia Hürtgen again. She was already gone for the day, but it's understandable, there was a LOT going on. Jörg was driving at the time, so I ended up going back to the camp site. BBQ, and more socializing with cars screaming around corners in the background. It was a pleasant evening!
Click here for Flickr of 24hr Rennen Nürburgring
Claudia Hürtgen
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