The
Nürburgring 24 hours
How do you start 210 vehicles on one track?
The organisers, in their abundant wisdom,
chose to break the field into three groups of
seventy, each based roughly on qualifying
times. It took an hour and a half to get the
entire field onto the starting
“grid”, which was really the
entire pit straight of the GP circuit from
turn 1 back to turn 12. Each group set off at
three-minute intervals, led and tailed by a
pace car with the leaders lapping the tail
before they had completed even three
laps.
The race. 145 laps and 3,500+ kilometres
later the leader is preparing for the finish.
Around five minutes before the 24hr mark is
sounded, cars start banking up before the
finish line, in the hope of avoiding another
gruelling lap. Others dash into the pits to
be garnished with balloons, flags, soft toys
and streamers for the grand finale. By the
time our winner appears, there must be at
least fifty weary, battered vehicles, four
abreast at several points, waiting with
clutches slipping before the chequered flag.
Officials, photographers and god only knows
who else dash out onto the track to wave and
gesticulate to our winner, who by this time
was running down the grass verge towards the
finish line! (source: Rod
Eime)