MOTORSPORT: Nurburgring 24 hour attracts a crowd

It doesn't have the international reputation of the 24 Hours of Le Mans or Daytona but the Nurburgring 24 hour is growing in stature. It's Germany's answer to the Bathurst 1000, attracting a crowd of over 200,000 people -- with most of them camping and drinking plenty of beer!

It attracts almost 200 entries that vary from the latest Porsche 911 racing machine to lightly modified hatchbacks like the BMW 120d and Toyota Corolla. The 20km circuit contains over 180 corners and can often be blanketed in rain or fog. It's the type of event that attracts some of the world's best drivers looking to test themselves in these difficult conditions.

Audi driver Frank Biela sums up the race best. The five-time Le Mans winner will be competing in this year's race as part of Audi's four-car factory team.

"Even after five Le Mans victories, the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring is something really special for me," says Biela. "The reason is the Nordschleife, which is simply always a challenge and real fun -- no matter how often you've driven there. No matter how old you are. No matter what car you're driving.

But in recent years its reputation has been growing not only with supporters and entrants from around the world but among automakers. Traditionally Germany's manufacturers have been big supporters of the race, with the winners list featuring plenty of BMWs and Porsches, but there are now teams from Aston Martin and Lexus to give the locals a fight.

This year's race has attracted 193 entries for the twice-round-the-clock race on the world's most challenging circuit. This year Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, BMW, Lexus, Aston Martin and Subaru have all entered factory-backed machines across a variety of classes.

There is also a strong contingent of Australians (and Kiwis) there too, including an ex-V8 Supercar Holden Commodore.

Here then is a rundown of the big name entries to watch out for.

Porsche
The hot favourite for this year's race is undoubtedly the Manthey Racing Porsche team. Officially blessed by the factory and fielding a line-up full of factory pilots the team has won the race the last three years. Not only did it score a hat-trick in 2008 it did so with a one-two finish.

The winning team is intact for this year with Porsche factory drivers Timo Bernhard, Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas and Marcel Tiemann sharing a 911 GT3 RSR. The second entry is a 911 GT3 Cup S, which will be steered by fellow factory drivers Emmanuel Collard, Wolf Henzler, Richard Lietz and Dirk Werner.

Audi
The four-ringed company has never won the race before despite several big efforts in recent years with modified examples of its A4 German Touring Car (DTM). In the year of its 100th anniversary, the company is launching a determined effort to score its first win. There will be four of the new R8 LMS supercars entered by two of its leading racing teams: Abt Sportsline and Phoenix Racing.

Drivers for the cars have been drawn from both Audi's touring car and sportscar racing programs -- as well as a few Germany racing legends. The lead Abt entry will be driven by DTM champions Mattias Ekstrom and Timo Scheider alongside former Le Mans winner Marco Werner. The second Abt car has team co-owner Christian Abt partnering with Belgium Audi ace Jean-Francois Hemroulle and sportscar regulars Lucas Luhr and Peirre Kaffer.

Phoenix has arguably the most experienced and impressive line-up with German legend Hans-Joachim Stuck partnering multiple Le Mans winners Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro and Swiss ace Marcel Fassler. The partner car will be shared by Mike Rockenfeller, Frank Stippler, Marc Besseng and a hard-working Fassler.

Audi has been testing the new V10-powered racers for months leading up to this race and has entered several warm-up events at the track to help prepare. Given the quality of the driver line-ups don't be surprised if Audi breaks its duck.

"The 24 hours on the Nürburgring are the ultimate endurance test for our new R8 LMS customer sport project," says Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Audi Motorsport boss. "We know that this circuit is particularly demanding and that it's really one of the toughest races in existence. We'll go there with our partner teams to give the R8 LMS its definitive fine-tuning before delivering larger volumes of the car to our customers next year.”

Volkswagen
In a sign of just how serious Volkswagen is taking the race, the manufacturer has not only entered five racing examples of its Scirocco coupe, it's also unveiled the new Scirocco R Line in conjunction with the race (more here).

There will be three of the new R Line coupes entered alongside two versions using compressed natural gas (CNG). Having become the first manufacturer to win the Dakar Rally using a diesel engine earlier this year VW is hoping that it can help the image of CNG engines with its racing program.

"Natural Gas engines have rather unjustifiably a sedate image," says Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Volkswagen AG responsible for Technical Development. "We aim to correct this by fielding two Sciroccos with CNG technology… The goal is clear: With the fully-fledged race version of a car with Natural Gas power we aim to assert ourselves in the high-calibre field of gasoline powered cars.”

Drivers for the fleet of GT24 Scirocco's will include former Bathurst 1000 regular Klaus Niedzwiedz, Dakar winner Giniel de Villiers and rally legend Carlos Sainz.

BMW
While its fellow Germans Porsche and Audi fight for outright honours the Bavarians are focused on class victory with its new GT4-specification M3. The new car has been developed for the FIA GT4 championship as well as endurance racing, and the 24 hour race will part of the development program.

Although BMW isn't entering a factory car, it is deploying its World Touring Car drivers for the privately run machines. Former race winners Jorg Muller and Andy Priaulx (who will compete in this year's Bathurst 1000 with Walkinshaw Racing) will drive the new M3 GT4.

"Although we will not be represented by a works team at this year's 24-hour race, our Customer Racing programme ensures that our fans will still see plenty of BMW racing cars and BMW works drivers," says BMW Motorsport Director, Mario Theissen. "We will be particularly interested in how the new BMW M3 GT4 performs, which is fielded by Schubert Motorsport in cooperation with 'sport auto'. Jörg Müller and Andy Priaulx are two former overall winners in the Eifel. Spectators can certainly look forward to an exciting weekend."

As a back-up plan, BMW's other factory drivers -- Augusto Farfus and Dirk Muller -- will share a Z4 M Coupe which has already proven competitive in the race having been developed over the recent years.

Lexus
Even though the race attracts the most eclectic mix of cars, two that will stand out from the pack are the two entries from Gazoo Racing. Although Lexus hasn't officially given the green-light to its LF-A supercar, the project remains in development and most of the testing is being carried out at the Nurburgring. New Toyota president Akio Toyoda is entered to drive one of the entries along with a number of Japanese and German experts.

Aston Martin
Another company boss having a go behind the wheel is Nurburgring regular, Aston Martin chief Dr Ulrich Bez. He will be driving the new V12 Vantage in what he is claiming to be the final test before the car goes on sale.

"This is the final engineering durability test for the V12 Vantage programme," says Bez. "We will be subjecting the car to the toughest assessment yet under public scrutiny as we successfully did with the Vantage N24 programme."

Subaru
The final factory entry will be a lone Subaru Impreza WRX STI driven by four Japanese pilots. The company claims only limited modifications have been carried out to the drivetrain and chassis -- despite the demands of the race.

Australians
As mentioned at the beginning, the race has attracted a strong contingent from Australia. The list is headed by Mal Rose and his team who will uphold Australia's V8 pride in a Holden Commodore.

The VY Commodore is a former V8 Supercar that Rose has modified to better withstand the toll taken by a day and night on the 'Ring. This year will be Rose's fifth straight entry and he'll be hoping to go one better than last year's second in class.

But Australia’s best chance for a strong outright result lies with the VIP Petfoods entry. Fresh from his Targa Tasmania win VIP boss Tony Quinn will be making his now regular start in the race. The strength of his team is his Porsche 997 RSR that has proved to be a winner in the hands of Manthey Racing. Quinn will be supported by his son Klark, TV personality and V8 Supercar regular Grant Denyer and leading Australian sportscar driver Craig Baird.

You can follow the race online at its official website here.

Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at www.carsales.mobi