The History of the Nürburgring 24 Hours

May has to be one of the best months of the year for racing fans: Not only are the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 traditionally held, the Nürburgring 24 Hour Race has made the month even more special since its inaugural event in 1970. It has since become the biggest racing event of the year in the Green Hell, drawing over 200.000 spectators every year – but it was not always like that.

Image Credit: Nürburgring on Twitter

Over 50 years ago, two different events took the spotlight on the Ring's annual schedule: It was still the host of the German Grand Prix (with the exception of 1970 to have work on safety measures carried out) in Formula 1, the other major event being the 1000km race as part of the World Sportscar Championship. Both were professional in nature and, of course, relatively expensive affairs to compete in. To give amateurs and smaller teams a more affordable alternative, the 24 Hour Race was created.

The initial running of the race was a spectacle already, with a fair-like atmosphere surrounding the old Start-Ziel-Schleife. One of the first winners would go on to become a racing legend, but was only 19 years old at the time – Hans-Joachim Stuck took the win alongside Clemens Schickentanz in a BMW 2002 TI. The tall Bavarian took to the top step of the podium two more times, winning the 1998 edition with Marc Duez, Andreas Bovensiepen and Christian Menzel, as well as the 2004 race alongside Dirk Müller, Jörg Müller, and Pedro Lamy.


Lauda's teammate Joisten leading Stuck's BMW in 1973. Image Credit: Lothar Spurzem on Wikimedia Commons, available for free distribution under the CC BY-SA 2.0 DE license

Another name that would turn legendary not long after was on the 1973 race-winning BMW Coupé 3.3 – Niki Lauda and his teammate Hans-Peter Joisten took the checkered flag first. It was the only race that saw a scheduled 8-hour "night rest" being implemented to improve driver safety and also keep the noise down around the Breidscheid village during the night. At the time, usually only two drivers shared a car during 24-hour events, and frequent stamina difficulties towards the end the race were a testament to its amateur nature.

Forced Break in the 70s​

The 24 Hour Race at the Nürburgring had quickly established itself as a popular event at the Eifel rollercoaster by that point, but it would not be until 1976 before the race's fifth running was held. The oil crisis of the early 1970s put a temporary stop to the event, but it was back for 1976 and has had to be on hold only once after that: In 1983, the Nürburgring was reworked considerably, with the GP course being added in place of the original Start-Ziel-Schleife, and the 24 Hour Race had to be canceled. It has run every year since 1984, though – even the COVID-19 pandemic could not prevent the race from being held, although it had to be postponed from its orignal May date to late September.


Ford Capri of Klaus Fritzinger and Hans Heyer in the Carraciola-Karussel in 1973. Image Credit: Lothar Spurzem on Wikimedia Commons, available for free distribution under the CC BY-SA 2.0 DE license

By the 1980s, professional drivers and teams had made their way onto the grid as well, trying to tackle the unique challenge a 24-hour race at the Nürburgring provided. Klaus Ludwig (1982, 1987, and again in 1999) and Klaus Niedzwiedz (1982, 1987 as Ludwig's teammate) won the race twice that decade, and in the 1990s, drivers like Joachim Winkelhock (1990, 1991), Franz Konrad (1993) or Sabine Reck, better known as Sabine Schmitz later on (1996, 1997) made their way to the top of the results sheets.

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Since the 1990s, more and more professional teams took part in the race. Operations like Zakspeed with their Chrysler Viper GTS-R, DTM teams like Phoenix and the Schnitzer Motorsport squad raised the bar regarding professionalism at the front of the grid. This continues to this day, as since 2006, GT3 vehicles have taken control over the battle for overall victory.

Still, the amateur roots of the event are present, as there are classes for almost any car that wishes to enter and fulfills the safety requirements. In recent years, the Opel Manta B most recently piloted by Olaf Beckmann, Peter Hass, Volker Strycek and Jürgen Schulten in 2021 and a Dacia Logan driven by Jürgen Bussmann, Oliver Kriese, Michael and Yannik Lachmayer have become fan favorites on the enormous grids of up to 170 cars in more than 20 classes. The size of the field results in multiple starting groups taking the green flag after each other.

Fans take to camping around the Nordschleife and celebrating the event, creating an atmosphere of a motorsport festival. Those who cannot be present at the Nürburgring themselves do not have to miss out on the action: The race is live streamed for free on YouTube, both with German and English commentary as the international interest has grown significantly over the years.

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While it used to be difficult for broadcasters to properly show the race from all areas of the track due to technical limitations and the extraordinary length of a lap on the Nordschleife, these problems are a thing of the past now. Full onboard laps are part of the broadcasts now, and cameras are positioned around the circuit to make sure none of the action is missed.

If the NLS races that have been contested so far in 2023 are any indication, the BMW M4 GT3 is the car to have for the race: The endurance series holds eight rounds, all of them at the Nürburgring and with similarly diverse grids to the 24 Hour Race. All four rounds ahead of the big event have been won by the Bavarian manufacturer, although Porsche and Audi were not far off in each instance.

The 2023 Nürburgring 24 Hour Race is set to see the green flag fly on May 21st at 4pm CEST/2pm UTC. You can find the live streams in both languages on the event's official YouTube channel, which also has full-length replays of previous years' races for you to enjoy. If you want an overview of all teams and drivers, you can find it on the offical event website.

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• The longest interruption of the race took place in 2021 due to fog engulfing the Nürburgring. The teams and drivers had to wait for over 14 hours starting on Saturday evening before conditions were deemed safe enough to race again. This topped the previous record of about nine and a half hours in 2020, where heavy rain prevented the race from continuing throughout the night.
• Pedro Lamy, Marcel Tiemann and Timo Bernhard share the record for most wins at the event at five.
• The longest time between two victories for the same driver is 28 years, as Hans-Joachim Stuck followed up his win at the 1970 event in 1998.
• No other manufacturer has had more success than BMW in the race: The Bavarian manufacturer took 20 victories at the Ring as of 2022, followed by Porsche, who scored 13 wins.
• Only two winning manufacturers were not from Germany: Ford won with the Escort RS2000 in 1979 and 1980, plus the Capri 3.0 in 1981 and 1982, while Chrysler was on top in 1999, 2001 and 2002 with a Viper GTS-R. However, Ford had and still has a German HQ in Cologne, and the Viper was heavily modified to the requirements of the race by German team Zakspeed.
• The original DTM held championship rounds as part of the 24-hour events from 1988 to 1990 and again in 1992 and 1993.
• Three of the four 2022 winners are looking to defend their victory in 2023, but all of them are in different cars this time: Frederic Vervisch is driving an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II for Audi Sport Team Scherer PHX, Laurens Vanthoor is behind the wheel of a Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), and Kelvin van der Linde races in ABT Sportsline's Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2. Robin Frijns is not entering the race in 2023. The quartet had won for Audi Sport Team Phoenix in 2022.

Your Thoughts​

What do you think about the Nürburgring 24 Hour Race? Who are your favorites for the overall victory this year? Have you ever been at the event in person? Let us know in the comments below!