24h Nürburgring/VLN

[Starfish Primer]

DTM is very complicated. Drivers must act like robots for the manufacturer under heavy team orders, not everybody adapts to this type of racing.

Even Allan McNish performance wasn't top.

[Miguel]

The guy races all around the globe, every weekend, at the greatest tracks in the world, in the most awesome championships with the best teams, in every car there is: GT1, GT2, GT3, LMP1, LMP2, IndyCar and Daytona Prototypes in the past few years. And he probably gets paid well doing so. If you want to measure success by the amount of fun, experience, demand and diversity, Luhr is probably in scarce company. I admire his career more than any other current driver.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Miguel

The guy races all around the globe, every weekend, at the greatest tracks in the world, in the most awesome championships with the best teams, in every car there is: GT1, GT2, GT3, LMP1, LMP2, IndyCar and Daytona Prototypes in the past few years. And he probably gets paid well doing so. If you want to measure success by the amount of fun, experience, demand and diversity, Luhr is probably in scarce company. I admire his career more than any other current driver.

By pure speed, he isn't the best. But he can bring a wealth of experience to the table quite unlike any other, so he's definitely one to be admired.

[Babapapa]

a first timetable for the weekend of the 24h-race is published:

http://www.24h-rennen.de/uploads/med...en_2014_01.pdf

there will be an early warm-up for the 24h-race on raceday and the "Special-Tourenwagen-Trophy" as a part of a support-race for the first time.

http://www.spezial-tourenwagen-trophy.de

for example the entry-list of a race at hockenheim in 2013:

http://www.spezial-tourenwagen-troph...10-04-2013-49/

[hondafan37]

The new Glickenhaus´s project
http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/un-...n-glickenhaus/

[Miguel]

Maybe he's building that Gran Turismo red bully thing, that would be quite something

[Babapapa]

Aston-Martin back again with the Bilstein-V12-Vantage GT3 and Darren Turner, Pedro Lamy and Stefan Mücke at the wheel.

http://www.speedweek.com/24hnuerburg...rburgring.html

[nasdriv87]

awesome news!!!

[Coach Ep]

revised schedule: http://www.24h-rennen.de/uploads/med...en_2014_01.pdf

[Babapapa]

Premiere photos of the Lexus RC-F GT3 for the race in 2015

http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/lex...e-la-rc-f-gt3/

So 2014 will be the last time for the LF-A.

[Rodger Davies]

Four really strong lineups for BMW, they're really pulling out the stops this year to get the Z4 a win.

http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/24h...ouer-la-gagne/

[carbon_titanium]

BMW had always a great line-up at nurburgring, 2011 too much mistakes by Lamy. 2012 the schubert Z4 was clearly the fastest car on track, but too much unreliable. Last year the race was crazy, but MVDS finished second.

[Rodger Davies]

Great to see Maxine Martin back with Marc VDS after last year too, would have been a huge shame/waste if he were lost to DTM completely.

[Intimidator]

I want to go at the Nurburgring 24 hours in one of the coming years.
I do not like camping so I'm asking if there are some hotels in the area not too far from the track and if there's the possibility to use the car to move from different track sectors. Are the public roads good enough? Parking?
Thanks a lot for the feedback.
I went to the Nurburgring for the Le Mans Series on the f1 circuit so my experience doesn't count.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Intimidator

I want to go at the Nurburgring 24 hours in one of the coming years.
I do not like camping so I'm asking if there are some hotels in the area not too far from the track and if there's the possibility to use the car to move from different track sectors. Are the public roads good enough? Parking?
Thanks a lot for the feedback.
I went to the Nurburgring for the Le Mans Series on the f1 circuit so my experience doesn't count.

The infrastructure up there isn't great, so hotels are few and tend to go very fast, so make sure to book well in advance.

Parking around the Nordschleife is probably going to be a big issue as all the usual parking zones are camping sites for that weekend.

I guess you could park down in Adenau and then walk up Wehrseifen to Adenauer Forst and so on.

[Intimidator]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

The infrastructure up there isn't great, so hotels are few and tend to go very fast, so make sure to book well in advance.

Parking around the Nordschleife is probably going to be a big issue as all the usual parking zones are camping sites for that weekend.

I guess you could park down in Adenau and then walk up Wehrseifen to Adenauer Forst and so on.

How much time from Adenau to the track by feet?

[Speed-King]

Depending on where you find a parking spot: None. The Breitscheid-bridge at the lowest point of the track is right at the edge of the town.

[rich07]

Originally Posted by Rodger Davies

Four really strong lineups for BMW, they're really pulling out the stops this year to get the Z4 a win.

http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/24h...ouer-la-gagne/

As good as the driver lineup is, I hope they've put more work into the reliability of the Z4 as that has been the cars downfall in recent years.

[Rodger Davies]

Intimidator, I recently found out I'm unable to go to the N24 this year but I checked the area and there are some hotels less than 30 minutes drive to the west still available. When I did it last time I actually slept in the back of a rented 4x4 car and enjoyed myself. Thoroughly recommend the event though, it's a must-do.

[Miguel]

Originally Posted by Intimidator

I want to go at the Nurburgring 24 hours in one of the coming years.
I do not like camping so I'm asking if there are some hotels in the area not too far from the track and if there's the possibility to use the car to move from different track sectors. Are the public roads good enough? Parking?
Thanks a lot for the feedback.
I went to the Nurburgring for the Le Mans Series on the f1 circuit so my experience doesn't count.

Last year I stayed in Bad Godesberg for a night during one of the VLN races. Was a short drive. Of course, it might be fully booked around the time of the 24h.

Also, parking during the 24h was a disaster. And with that I mean, driving around for an hour, missing the start, and then parking in a field where you're not allowed to park. No parking ticket or anything later that night, though.

[Dead-Eye]

Originally Posted by Miguel

Last year I stayed in Bad Godesberg for a night during one of the VLN races. Was a short drive. Of course, it might be fully booked around the time of the 24h.

Bad Godesberg is a part of Bonn, that's at least an hour away. Are you sure that's were you stayed?

[Miguel]

Yeh I'm sure about that I did it in 35 minutes, from the hotel to Brünnchen. Of course I might have been driving a bit fast, but never speeding.

[NaBUru38]

Speaking of Nürburging, the American investment company HIG Capital is "poised" to buy it.

[BobHWS]

There's a thread about "Saving the Ring" in the Trackside forum, but hardly anyone reads it, so I'll post this info about the sale of the Ring here:

The Nurburgring has been saved, for better or worse, by an American investment firm. Since hardly any other investors have stepped forward with bids to buy the Ring, I will give the firm the benefit of the doubt and say that this sounds like good news. However, whether that's true remains to be seen.

H.I.G. Capital website

Wikipedia: H.I.G. Capital


UPDATE 1-Motor racing-Buyout group HIG set to buy historic Nuerburgring
Thu Mar 6, 2014 12:04am IST
Reuters
- An investor group led by buyout firm HIG Capital is poised to acquire the financially troubled Nuerburgring race track in Germany, two sources familiar with the transaction said on Wednesday.

The circuit went into administration in 2012 after local politicians loaded it with debt equating to around 50 years worth of profit, and the famed and once-feared track started looking for a new owner in the spring of 2013...

According to weekly publication Wirtschaftswoche, HIG is paying no more than 60-70 million euros ($82.4-96.2 million)for Nuerburgring. HIG Capital declined to comment on the purchase...

Nurburgring Saviors' profiles on higcapital.com (i.e., founding partners of H.I.G.)

Tony Tamer



"Tony Tamer is a co-founding Partner of H.I.G. Capital and has served as a Managing Partner of the firm since 1993. He has directed H.I.G.'s development since its founding and approves all capital commitments made by the firm. Tony has led a number of successful investments at H.I.G. in both the management buyouts and venture capital arenas. He has extensive experience working with, and coaching, early stage and middle-market companies. Tony is a board member of several H.I.G. portfolio companies. He currently also serves on the Dean's Council of the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.

Prior to H.I.G., Tony was partner at Bain & Company where he developed business unit and operating strategies, implemented productivity improvement initiatives, and led acquisition and divestiture activities for a number of Fortune 500 clients. Tony has extensive operating experience. He has held marketing, engineering and manufacturing positions at Hewlett-Packard and Sprint Corporation.

Tony holds an M.B.A. degree from Harvard Business School, and a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. His undergraduate degree is from Rutgers University."

Sami Mnaymneh



"Sami Mnaymneh is a co-founding Partner of H.I.G. Capital and has served as a Managing Partner of the firm since 1993. He has directed the firm's development since its founding and approves all capital commitments made by H.I.G. Sami currently serves on the Board of Columbia College and on the Dean's Council of the Harvard Law School.

Prior to founding H.I.G., Sami was a Managing Director with The Blackstone Group in New York. Prior to that, he was a Vice President in the Mergers and Acquisitions department at Morgan Stanley & Co., where he devoted a significant amount of his time to leveraged buyouts, serving as senior advisor to a number of prominent private equity firms. Over the course of his career, Mr. Mnaymneh has led over 75 transactions in a wide range of industries.

Sami earned a B.A. degree, Summa Cum Laude, from Columbia University where he graduated first in his class, and subsequently received a J.D. degree and an M.B.A. degree, with honors, from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, respectively."

[urdragon]

LOL: Felix Baumgartner, the guy who jumped from very high settling the record man fall speed, will do the N24H , what a guy! :

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater



"After 2 days training at the Audi Driving Experience Center, I am looking forward to my next challenge: my way to 24h Nuerburgring!"