wasn’t the first opening round of an endurance championship to be taking place. Over in Rheinland-Pfalz, the VLN – the Nurburgring’s own sportscar racing series – was just getting underway, too. It came after a long
hiatus for the ‘ring, that also prompted a flurry of testing activity this week that saw a series of
among others take to the hallowed tarmac in various levels of disguise. Not to mention, of course, the reinstatement of the
But on Sunday, the racers had the Green Hell to themselves, and the entry list was long and comprehensive. The SP9 class, featured here and consisting of GT3-spec cars, could also lay claim to a smattering of well-known names, not least Dirk and Jorg Muller who, together with Brazilian co-driver Augusto Farfus, went on to win the race. Sadly, the Porsche 911 GT3 R seen leading in this shot, which could count Sabine Schmitz among its driver roster, failed to finish after a collision with a backmarker on lap 19.
It’s a welcome return for racing at the ‘ring, then, and it’s got us all excited about the prospect of the Nurburgring 24-Hour next month. We’ll be there – will you?