Weekend Tip: 24 Hours Nürburgring
LIVE ON THE SITE OR ON TV Around two dozen Swiss drivers will be competing in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring this weekend. The world's biggest motor sport event is well worth a visit or spending time in front of the TV. Nico Müller, Marcel Fässler and Edoardo Mortara start with the best chances of winning. Depending on traffic density, the Nürburgring can be reached from Basel in four to five [...]
Depending on traffic density, the Nürburgring can be reached from Basel in four to five hours. Either via Alsace and then via Saarbrücken/Trier (as the author always drives), or via Walldorf/Hockenheim towards Koblenz (permanent risk of traffic jams).
The ambiance at the 24-hour race is incomparable - spectators are just as captivated as the drivers.
Those who don't want to spend the time or expense to travel can watch the entire 24-hour race live on the free-to-air channel RTL nitro. Anyone who has already done so appreciates the quality of this live broadcast and the spectacular images. But just, the atmosphere can only really be experienced on site...
Double chance for Nico Müller
Some of the 150 cars are manned by Swiss drivers who have a legitimate chance of claiming a place on the overall winners' podium. First and foremost Nico Müller, who will be competing in two Audi R8 LMS cars.
The curiosity is that he and Christopher Haase (D) serve as jumpers in two different teams (Phoenix and Mücke). This underlines their qualities at the wheel of a GT3 sports car on the Nordschleife.
The joy and expectation of the Swiss Audi factory driver is correspondingly great.
Nico Müller: "Everyone knows how important and special this race is - a highlight. It's going to be the case that each of the two of us will mainly be driving one car. As you saw last year when a lapped car knocked me out of the way on Saturday night, it's good to have a second car in the race in such a case. Therefore, only the victory is my goal, I don't care about the rest."
Does Marcel Fässler finally have the necessary luck?
Müller took his first victory as the first and so far only Swiss in the almost 50-year history of this marathon in 2015 at only his second attempt. A year ago, the team (WRT from Belgium) threw away the triumph due to a wrong decision in tire selection in the rainy final phase.
Marcel Fässler, who has been chasing this success for years, suffered the most inwardly. He has already won all the other big endurance races. This time, the man from Schwyz is only driving in the same team as Müller (Mücke), but not with him as a partner, but in the second Audi. That increases the chance of a Swiss victory.
Also driving an Audi R8, but from the private Car Collection Motorsport team, are Simon Trummer and Ronnie Saurenmann. For them, a top ten finish would be a success.
The same applies to Philipp Frommenwiler in a Porsche GT3-R fielded by Manthey Racing, which is also not top-class in terms of drivers, and Alexandre Imperatori in the BMW M6 GT3 fielded by Falken Motorsport. The man from Freiburg, who races under a Chinese license, came close to the podium in fourth place in a GT3 car fielded by tire manufacturer Falken in 2014.
In one of the strong Mercedes teams with factory support, Edoardo Mortara also has the best prospects of a top classification.
Duel of the sexes
The other Swiss are racing for a top classification in their classes. Like Müller, Ivan Jacoma is named on two cars. With Ivan Reggiani, Nicola Bravetti, and Giampaolo Tenchini, the director of Centro Porsche Lugano forms a pure Ticino quartet on a 997 GT3 Cup in the SP7 class. He also competes with German partners in a Cayman GT4.
Hofor Racing also spreads its cards in SP6 on two BMW M3s, led by Chantal, Martin and Michael Kroll with Alexander Prinz on the GTR and Roland Eggimann on the CSL.
Teammates, but on two different Opel Astra TCR from Lubner Motorsport, are Ruedi Rhyn and Röger Vögeli in the TCR class. Opponents on BMW M235i Racing from two different teams are Fredy Barth and Yannick Mettler in the Cup 5 class.
Among the Swiss participants, Manuel Amweg on a Toyota GT86 in the SP3 class and Rahel Frey on a KTM X-Bow GT4 are still to be noted. The woman from Solothurn is taking part with three female colleagues in a duel staged by sponsor ATU against four men, including Hans-Joachim Stuck's sons Ferdinand and Johannes and ex-Opel sports chief Volker Strycek. "Strietzel" Stuck won the first edition of this race in 1970 on BMW 2002 Gr. 2.
The starting numbers of the top seeded Swiss:
#3 Christopher Haase/Nico miller/Frank Stippler/Frédéric Vervisch (D/CH/D/B), Audi R8 LMS
#12 Philipp Frommenwiler/Lars Kern/Otto Klohs/Dennis Olsen (CH/D/N), Porsche 911 GT3 R
#15 Christopher Friedrich/Pierre Kaffer/Adrien De Leener/Simon Trummer (D/D/B/CH), Audi R8 LMS
#24 Christopher Haase/Nico miller/Markus Winkelhock/Mike Rockenfeller (D/CH/D/D), Audi R8 LMS
#25 Marcel Fässler/Christer Jöns/Pierre Kaffer/Stefan Mücke (CH/D/D/D), Audi R8 LMS
#33 Peter Dumbreck/Stef Dusseldorp/Alexandre Imperatori/Jens Klingmann (GB/NL/CH/D), BMW M6 GT3
#47 Dominik Baumann/Edoardo Mortara/Renger van der Zande/Daniel Juncadella (A/CH/NL/E), Mercedes-AMG GT3
