2022 24H Nürburgring / NLS(Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie) Overview

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• 2022 24H Nürburgring / NLS(Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie) Overview
  

The renowned German race track, Nürburgring, was built in 1927. By that time, about 40 years had passed since the first petrol-engined car became available, and motorcars had already begun to spread among the upper-class people in Europe. So naturally, some of them took up to compete with their vehicles, initially on the public roads. However, as the cars were improved in performance and became faster and faster the danger of racing on the roads significantly increased. Thus, German motorists in the Eifel area wanted a dedicated closed race track, and the 28km-long Nürburgring was constructed.

Since then, the circuit has hosted a wide variety of race meetings, from local events for amateur racers to Formula One races. In 1970, the inaugural Nürburgring 24-hour race was held as a local event mainly for non-professional drivers. However, it gradually attracted more and more participants from around the world. The pure privateers were joined by some professional manufacturer teams, whose aims were car development or sales promotion. As a result, the around-the-clock race has grown into one of the global motorsport events and has more than 150 cars on its entry list over recent years.

Meanwhile, in 1977, the race organizing clubs which run their endurance races at Nürburgring created a new series, VLN (Veranstaltergemeinschaft Langstreckenpokal Nürburgring), under the unified rules and regulations. It was renamed NLS (Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie) in 2020, as it is known today.

While the series hasn’t included the 24-hour race in recent years, this doesn’t mean they have no relevance to each other anymore. Firstly, the teams who want to enter the 24-hour are required a record of participation in an NLS race. On top of this, competing in an NLS event, especially those in the early season, effectively becomes an opportunity to do a simulation for the 24-hour race. Of course, the NLS races themselves are popular and attractive, and a wide variety of drivers, from young guns to veterans, including professionals and gentleman drivers, are racing hard in the series.

It has been true for both the 24-hour and NLS events that the races are so unpredictable at Nürburgring where, it’s been said, a “demon” lives. For example, the 24-hour races in 2020 and 2021 had prolonged interruptions because of sudden heavy rain or thick fog. So, the around-the-clock race through the Eifel forest is a brutal test of not only the cars’ speed and durability but also the comprehensive strength of the teams, including the ability of race management.