This Is The Toughest Test Of Production Machinery In The World. Held Annually At The Nrburgring Nordschleife, It's Also The Most Demanding Event For Drivers.
Racing enthusiasts all over the world know The Ring. We are talking about one of the world's most famous racetracks, which is also one of the most dangerous - the Nrburgring. Situated in the picturesque Eifel landscape in mid-west Germany, racing icon Jackie Stuart once named it "The Green Hell". Drivers and fans alike pronounce the name with a mixture of fascination and fear.
In '06, The Ring celebrated its 80th birthday. It consists of the 3.2 mile Grand Prix track, which regularly hosts F1, and the legendary "Nordschleife" (northern loop), which comprises part of the historic grand prix circuit and is 14 miles long.
The circuit was built from 1925-27 around the tranquil medieval town of Nrburg. The aim was to attract more tourists to the region. Mission accomplished. Within the past 80 years, the racetrack has never ceased to cast its unbreakable spell over professionals, amateurs and of course mere enthusiasts like us.
Every June hell breaks loose at The Ring, but it's not Michael Schumacher and the Formula 1 circus performing in the presence of their most loyal subjects; it's the annual 24-Hour Race of ADAC, the venerable German automobile association.
Ever since the 1920s, Germany's biggest automobile association has organized a slew of races at The Ring. In 1970 they launched the 24-Hour Race, similar to the legendary 24 Heures du Mans.
More than 200,000 fans and 220 teams arrive at the circuit each year to take part in a racing event that has its own magic. Approximately 30 makes compete in 20 different categories, dedicated to victory.
In categories SP7 and SP8, vehicles like Porsche, Dodge Viper and Lamborghini battle for overall victory. In category SP6, rides like the BMW M3 dominate. In other categories, GM (Opel) and Volkswagen race for fame and glory. This event is open like no other to a diverse field of cars and categories.
In 2006, BMW fielded the most teams with - believe it or not - 73 cars, followed by Honda (34) and Porsche (25). BMW has also been crowned with an awesome 18 overall victories and 104 category victories since 1970. Next in ranking come Porsche (6), Ford (5), Chrysler (3) and GM (1).
The '06 race was dominated by the Manthey Racing Team - Lucas Luhr, Timo Bernhard, Mike Rockenfeller and Marcel Tieman - who made the fastest 24-Hour Race of all time (151 laps, 2381 miles) in a works-supported Porsche 911 GT3.
The second placed Porsche GT3
One lap behind was Jrgen Alzen, Uwe Alzen, Klaus Ludwig and Christian Abt in a Porsche GT3, and then the Dodge Viper GTS-R team of Hans-Peter Huppert-Nieder, Christopher Gerhard, Dirk Riebensahm and Werner Mohr finished nine laps in arrears.
The sensation of 2006 was the Schubert BMW 120d that finished fifth. Pardon? Yes, that's right, a diesel!
Driver Claudia Huertgen was aglow with happiness after the finish: "There's no way we would've dared to imagine anything like this. We just wanted to finish among the top ten, but to come fifth is so phat!"
With her victory, she also won the S1 category ahead of the Mk5 Golf team of Kai Jordan, Ralph Bonhorst, Sven Koch, and Andreas Waldheim.
Sister car to the fifth place BMW 120d.
Huertgen and her team benefited from the 120d's extraordinary reliability that meant the car had no unscheduled stops. Every two hours they had a conventional pitstop to change drivers and refuel, but there were absolutely no other problems for the entire 24 hours.