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All eyes will be at the Eifel mountain region this weekend as the 44th staging of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring (DE) begins. This famous race is a festival that gathers together the best drivers, teams and cars in the GT racing world. The race also happens in the most demanding circuit in the world. What could be more thrilling than that?
The iconic Nordschleife race has been happening annually since 1970 in Eifel. BMW has already gotten 19 overall victories for the brand in this festival and is considered at the most successful manufacturer at this endurance race classic. This year, BMW teams are set to add to the list of victories with a strong contingent.
The race will be held in the 25.378-kilometre combination of the Nordschleife and parts of the Grand Prix circuit. More than 40 cars will be participating. Six of those will race in the SP9 class for powerful GT3 cars. BMW teams of Schubert Motorsport, ROWE Racing and Walkenhorst Motorsport will be on this with the newly developed BMW M6 GT3.
Thirteen BMW M235i Racing cars will also join as represented by privateer teams.
This is the debut of the BMW M6 GT3 is at a European 24-hour race. The pressure is on as its predecessor, the BMW Z4 GT3, won pole positions in back to back in 2013 and 2014. Last year, the same car won the 24-hour classic at Spa-Francorchamps (BE).
Three drivers in the BMW M6 GT3 have won the Nürburgring 24 Hours in the past: Müller (2 wins), Farfus (1 win) and Lucas Luhr (DE, 2 wins), who is looking to return to the top step of the podium exactly ten years after his first victory. Five drivers from BMW Motorsport’s current DTM squad are taking time out from the popular touring car series to take on the Nordschleife. Timo Glock (DE) will not actually be behind the wheel at the weekend, but will accompany his team-mates as a TV expert, giving him a completely different perspective of the weekend. RTL and RTL NITRO will provide extensive reports from the highlight of the 2016 season.
