In Pictures: the Nürburgring 24 Hours 2012
In the final part of our 2012 in review series, Martin Spain and Chris Ratcliff share their favourite photographs from the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hour endurance race.
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In the final part of our 2012 in review series, Martin Spain and Chris Ratcliff share their favourite photographs from the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hour endurance race.
Alastair Preacher explains why he believes the Nürburgring 24H race is the best endurance race in the world. Yes, even better than the one in France.
Superb archive footage from the Nurburgring 1000Km held as part of the World Sportcars Championship in 1971. 1971 was the last year that the monster 5.0 litre Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512 were allowed to compete in the championship. Despite this Porsche considered the smaller more nimble Porsche 908/3 to be more suitable for the circuit that the 5.0 litre monsters, although private teams still entered them.
Ferrari was already looking to the next season and had handed the big 512s over to private teams to concentrate on developing the 3.0 312PB. It was the sole 312 driven by Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni that took pole (with a lap of 7 minutes and 36 seconds). To complete the works teams Alfa Romeo entered three T33/3s.
Straight from the start it was clear that Ickx and the 312PB were the class of the field and after four laps had a lead of over 25 seconds. The new car was rather fragile though and at the end of the sixth lap Ickx came into the pits with overheating problems. The mechanics entered added more water and Ickw rejoined in fourth place. By Lap 12 Ickx was back in the lead, and had again built up a lead of some 25 seconds when he handed over to Regazzoni on lap 15. This gallant effort all came to nought though as the overheating returned and the Ferrari was out of the race on lap 21.
Vic Elford and Gerard Laurousse would take the win in a Porsche 908/3 from Pedro Rodriguez and Jo Siffert in their sister car.
The cause of the overheating in the Ferrari was diagnosed as a failed cylinder sealing ring
Reference Scarlet Passion by Anthony Pritchard
Drive Cult's crack photography squad, Martin Spain and Chris Ratcliff, present their favourite photographs from the race.
We knew that we would see a flood of Nürburgring 24 media released on to the internet in the weeks following the race, but 24 Hours in 19500 Frames has completely blown away all expectations. It was filmed and edited by Tim and Nick Hahne on the Canon 5D MkII and features 13 minutes of the most epic racing footage you'll see anywhere.
It's a candid yet polished look at what makes the N24 such special race. The filming and editing is nothing short of Oscar-worthy. We see the race through the eyes of the drivers, the pit workers, the team bosses and most importantly 100,000 drunken Germans. You won't find the distracting generic hard rock or techno sound track that ruins so many other internet videos here either. Instead there's a smart balance of well-chosen music (Sigur Ros in a racing video!?) and the wonderful noises that only an endurance race can provide.
Watch it below. For less artfully done videos (and writing) check out our Nurburgring 24 Live Blog too.
Get ready for the 2010 Nürburgring 24H race!
It's the Nurburgring 24 Hour race this weekend, the blue riband race for the VLN series.