The Monster; The Nurburgring Nordschleife

The world of racing is a world of amazement and excitement. There are many endurances and hardships we face without choice. Sure you may have to get up at 5 or 6 or whatever time you need to wake up to go to work, catch a bus, or prepare breakfast. That’s extreme. Maybe you work a 9 to 5 shift. Maybe you only get 4 or five hours of sleep a day. All in all you have a rough day. But all of the previously stated things are nothing compared to the event I’m writing about.

In the crazy land of Nuremburg Germany, there lies the ultimate test of endurance and hardship. Imagine this. You’re in a full bodied fire retardant suit. The temperature is a blistering 106 degrees inside the car you’re in.  You’re traveling an average of 85-90 miles per hour. You’re feeling twice the force of gravity every time you turn. The only thing you can hear is the sound of an enormous performance engine and the faint whisper your car tearing through the air. For 6 hours straight. With only an average 14 second break when you need to refuel or tires. This is the challenge of the Nurburgring Nordshleife 24 hour endurance race. The Nordshleife track is full of twists, turns, and hazy straight-aways. It’s a 15.8 mile track that tests the skill of every driver that tries to defeat the monster known as the Nurburgring Nordshleife.

In the 2010 Nurburgring 24 hour race, people wanted to see a wide variety of things. They wanted to see their favorite team win, or a crash, or just the pure joy and excitement that goes with Performance Motorsports. Most people predicted that the Porsche team would win again, seeing as they have dominated the race for the past 4 years. Other popular manufactures such as Ferrari, BMW and Aston Martin were also fan favorites. The race begins with Porsche gaining and dominating the lead as usual in their new Porsche 911 GT3 hybrid, which could run an average 12 laps longer than the other cars. But a flywheel malfunction caused the Porsche to be docked for the rest of the race. Such a shame. But in the end, it was the #25 BMW team that took the win in their M3 GT3, leading with 156 laps completed around the 15.8 mile course that’s 2465 miles driven all together.

Think you have a rough schedule? Try doing one of these races, then we’ll see If your daily routine is so “challenging”.