Max Verstappen will definitely participate in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring later this year. His team, Verstappen Racing, confirmed this on Monday after the Australian GP. It had been rumored for a while that the Dutchman would venture into the 24-hour race. In preparation, he will also participate in the second NLS race on the Nordschleife. This was specially moved for him to the free weekend between the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix.
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“The Nürburgring is a special place,” Max Verstappen responds via an official press release. “There is no other circuit like this. The 24 Hours of Nürburgring has been on my bucket list for a long time, so I am incredibly happy that we can now make it happen.” The four-time world champion already obtained his special Nordschleife racing license in September, in the hope of one day participating in the infamous 24-hour race. During his debut in the NLS in October, a preparatory endurance race, he immediately took the win.
“Last year I got my license and participated in NLS9, which we won,” Verstappen says proudly. “That preparation has proven very valuable, because we learned a lot that we can take into our program for this year.” His team, consisting of Austrian Lucas Auer, Frenchman Jules Gounon, and Spaniard Daniel Juncadella, will participate in a Mercedes GT3 car, featuring a new Red Bull livery. The announcement of Verstappen Racing’s endurance program happened in the characteristic Red Bull style: skydiver Max Manow jumped with a parachute into a 131-meter high cooling tower, where the Mercedes car was parked.
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‘Strong line-up’
“We have a strong line-up with Dani, Jules, and Lucas and great support from Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG Motorsport,” says Verstappen. “Now it’s about the right preparations before the events, so we can maximize in the races.” The quartet will also participate in another NLS race at the Nürburgring later this month. This was specially moved for Verstappen to a weekend without Formula 1. The 24-hour race falls between the Miami and Canadian Grands Prix, in the weekend of May 15 to 17.
At the Nürburgring, they are naturally delighted that Verstappen is putting the circuit in the spotlight again. Race director Walter Hornung responds to De Telegraaf: “We are happy that Verstappen is participating. The fact that he takes his participation seriously and approaches it incredibly professionally is already evident from his intensive preparation. He went through the normal qualification process without special treatment, prepared with races on the Nordschleife, followed the mandatory e-learning, and intensively engaged with the circuit with numerous sim racing laps.”
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