South Africa’s Jordan Pepper cannot wait for the coming 27-28 May weekend as he prepares to realise a long held dream to race the Nurburgring 24 hour race. Pepper, who has spent the past six months preparing for the big weekend, will share an Abt Bentley Continental GT with German trio Christian Mamerow, Christer Jöns and Christopher Brück and the quartet is looking forward to a competitive weekend on the legendary 22km Nordschleife, otherwise known as the Green Hell…
“Going into next week, I am prepared as I ever will be,” Jordan admitted. “I’ve been training hard on the simulator and at the gym and I’ve spent a lot of time with the team going over everything about the last three races. “It’s also been good to have had a month off — I think this next week is going to be very intense, not much sleep and so much to do, but I am really looking forward to my first 24-hour race.
"It is a great honour for me to be able to make my debut with a team like Abt and driving a Bentley Continental GT3 in the Nurburgring 24 — I have twice been to watch this great race — it’s absolutely incredible to stand on the start grid with 50 000 spectators there, let alone racing with another 300 000 people around the track in a great carnival that rocks through the night.
“It’s a major challenge though — we have a lot ahead of us — our first goal is to get well into the top 30 to make it into the qualifying shootout and to make sure we get a blue light to ensure the cars ahead know we are coming up fast behind at night. “Unfortunately we never got that right at the 6 hour thanks to a few issues with the car, but we have the chance to do that again in quali and we are quite confident we can still get that right.
“The team has also worked flat out to make sure the car is reliable, but one tricky aspect is always the weather — you never know what’s going to happen — it could be raining one side of the track and dry on the other, last year there was a freak hailstorm or it could be misty in the middle of the night, so I’m going there with an open mind and I’m ready to take what comes.
“Of course the objective is to get on the podium — our Abt Bentley Continental GT3 has come on leaps and bounds over the past season and the package really is great thanks to all the development; the team is working great and my regular teammates, 2014 race winner Christian Mamerow and Christer Jöns will be joined by Christopher Brück, who comes in as a fourth driver to relieve the pressure.
“I think we have a very good chance to fight amongst the front running Audis, BMWs and Mercs among others,” Pepper concluded “This weekend is a highlight of my career and I need to thank everyone who has supported me over the years to get me here - now it’s up to me and the guys - bring it on - I can’t wait!”
