Nissan battles rivals and the weather in Nurburgring 24 Hour

Torrential rain, fog and hail may have technically shortened the Nürburgring 24 Hour by 17 percent, but the Nissan GT Academy Team RJN squad pulled a 100-percent effort at the race renowned as the toughest in the world.

Not only did more than 150 cars lineup on the grid for the event, which combines the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit with the famous Nordschleife, up to six cars are crammed into each pit box.

Nissan's star driver line-up of Michael Krumm, Alex Buncombe, Kazuki Hoshino and Lucas Ordóñez then had to battle horrendous weather including hail, which caused the race to be red flagged for four hours.

The NISMO quartet pulled off a faultless run during the race but just missed out on its top 10 target with an 11th place finish.

"Everybody did a great job, the drivers made no mistakes, we had no penalties and the car did not fail at any point at any time," said Krumm. "Our target was a top 10. We didn't quite make it, but our competition was just a little too strong for us this weekend. We now just have to keep developing and improving the car."

Not only was the race staged in challenging conditions, the Top 30 qualifying on Friday was also conducted in pouring rain with Alex Buncombe at the wheel.

The Nissan squad contesting this year's race was the same combination which did battle here last year with Nürburgring expert Krumm joined by Blancpain Endurance Champion Buncombe, multiple Super GT GT300 champion Hoshino and inaugural GT Academy winner Ordóñez.

"It is a super difficult race and very tough. We are very proud to have finished 11th and I had a really good experience here. I can't wait to come back here and fight again," said Hoshino.

June 4-524 Hours of Le Mans Test Day

June 12-1324 Hours of Le Mans Scrutineering

June 18-1924 Hours of Le MansAustralian Supercars, Hidden Valley, Darwin, Northern Territory

June 25-26Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, Circuit Paul Ricard, FrancePirelli World Challenge, Road America, WI, USA


Related Motorsport Articles

84,519 articles