The Nürburgring 24 Hours remains gloriously old-school in a modern world. Damien Smith returned for a long-overdue visit

GRUPPE C PHOTOGRAPHY

Thank the automotive gods for the Nürburgring. Since its creation in 1927, the rollercoaster through the verdant Eifel forests has been considered the ultimate test, and it still is today. Hence the steady drip of car manufacturer record attempts that keep the Nordschleife regularly in the news. It’s still absolutely relevant. And yet it’s also a strange anachronism in our fast-changing world. Yes, the ’Ring is safer than it used to be, but relative to other old-school hairy race circuits neutered for the modern age, not by much. Better barriers, debris fencing and track surfaces are all very well, but the sheer physicality and pure-bred nature of threading it through the trees without respite until you get to the big straight cannot be diluted. Its throwback character is precisely why the car makers still value it. There’s nowhere else that can match the ’Ring.

Test and development is one thing, but even the Nürburgring would lose some of its lustre without the thrill of racing. The Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS), as the name suggests, is a one-track championship (formerly known as the VLN) that keeps alive the competitive flame and spurs drivers to become Nordschleife specialists. Few circuits inspire and support such commitment. And the jewel remains the Nürburgring 24 Hours, held each summer since 1970. It’s Germany’s biggest motor race in more ways than one, especially while Formula 1 continues to snub a nation that used to be considered among its most illustrious hosts. But what really enhances the N24’s status is the weight it carries with the Deutsch Big Four: Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche. All invest heavily in a race that for years amounted to little more than a glorified clubbie. Those days are gone. In an era centred on increasingly rapid and spectacular GT3 cars, the race has joined Le Mans, Daytona and Spa to form a golden quartet of unofficial ‘majors’. The N24 matters, especially for those endurance racers who yearn to win the set.