NLS Considering ’12 Hour’ Race in 2022

This interview – with the two heads of the VLN – Ralph-Gerald Schlüter (General Representative VLN e.V. & Co. oHG) and Christian Stephani (Managing Director VLN VV GmbH & Co. KG) – is reproduced from the VLN website.

The first three events are behind us. How is your mood?

Stephani: “If everything had gone optimally, we would have already had four events behind us – including the VLN trial and recruitment day. The weather thwarted our plans this year. And the pandemic continues to challenge us. Nevertheless, I would draw a positive conclusion at this point in time.”

Pandemic is a good keyword. Corona still keeps the world in suspense. Nevertheless, all racing events took place with the sophisticated hygiene concept.

Schlüter: “We put a lot of energy into it in advance and used the experience from the previous year. Together with the Nürburgring and other organizers, discussions were sought with the responsible government agencies. That worked. The unrestricted obligation to test in connection with the continuous obligation to wear FFP2 masks on the entire site and in the buildings contributed significantly to the approval.

In this context, the keyword ‘professional sport’ came up again and again.

Stephani: “The Nürburgring long-distance series is a professionally oriented racing series with commercially operating teams and therefore quite comparable to other racing series that are also taking place.”

The two races that took place can be described as successful?

Stephani: “Absolutely! The events ran smoothly on the part of the organization. Our teams deserve a big thank you. Pandemic racing is always a compromise. But in the end we are all happy that we were able to race.”

However, one important aspect of the Nürburgring endurance series was missing …

Stephani: “Sure, the audience. It still feels wrong asking people to stay home. The good thing is: The Nürburgring spectator concept is ready to hand in the drawer and we can start ticketing immediately if we have the approval.”

What is your conclusion on the field so far?

Schlüter: “We are thrilled. Both the quantity and the quality of our field of participants in the two races were enormous. Here, too, I have to praise the teams again.”

Stephani: “And we brought this great sport to our fans’ homes with our upgraded livestream. The ROWE helicopter is an absolute asset. And the fan onboard, initially supported by H&R and now Schnitzelalm Racing, is also very well received. As a marketing man, I can say: Two thrilling races have achieved very good numbers.”

Even if the 2021 season has just really got going, the planning for 2022 is already underway. And there are two big projects. Christian, the first one please.

Stephani: “We are considering doing a 12-hour race in 2022.”

What is behind this consideration?

Stephani: “Last year, the double header, born out of the corona situation, was a complete success. Everyone involved was enthusiastic, so we have a double event on our calendar this year as well. The obvious thought is: Why not combine two 6-hour races in one rating? The 6h race remains. We are also planning six more races over a distance of four hours.”

What’s the second project?

Schlüter: “The 12-hour race alone requires a thorough revision of our point system. On this occasion, we will check whether fundamental changes are also sensible for the 4 and 6-hour races and whether they are more fair from a sporting point of view.”

What should change?

Schlüter: “We plan to cap the point formula in the future if the number of participants has yet to be defined. For example, first place out of ten will bring in as many points as first place out of 20 vehicles. This means that more vehicle classes and thus participants have the chance to become the champion at the end of the year.”

That already makes you want to start the new season. Have you already spoken to stakeholders about these topics? How was the feedback?

Schlüter: “We discussed both innovations in talks with our partners and the ILN and the reactions were consistently positive. Now we’re going to work out the details.”

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