Max Verstappen is participating in his first 24-hour race this weekend. The Dutchman is taking on one of the most extreme racing challenges in the world directly at the Nürburgring. Drivers Jeroen Bleekemolen and Tom Coronel know all about it; both have participated multiple times in the endurance classic and will also be at the start again this weekend. In the podcast Formula 1 Paddock Talk, they explain what Verstappen can expect at the Nürburgring.
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“There is no race more extreme than this,” Coronel begins. “That is exactly why Max (Verstappen, ed.) is taking on this challenge: it is the most extreme race in the world. Le Mans, Daytona, Bathurst – none of them can compare. Nothing is as extreme as this.” Bleekemolen – who already won the race in 2013 – adds: “Le Mans may have more prestige; after all, it is the biggest 24-hour race in the world. But the Nürburgring offers by far the greatest challenge.”
Unique conditions
“Le Mans may have the name, but at the Nürburgring you drive with many more cars on the track at the same time and the level of competition is simply higher,” Coronel explains. “Moreover, all the surrounding conditions make it even more extreme.” These conditions are unique on the more than 25-kilometer-long circuit. “There are more than 175 corners, so a perfect lap basically does not exist,” says Coronel. “Something always goes wrong somewhere: you make a small mistake, encounter traffic, deal with a Code 60, or yellow flags are waved.”
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“And then it can suddenly start raining,” he warns. “Because the circuit is so long and has huge elevation changes, it can be soaking wet on one side of the track while completely dry elsewhere. Then it really becomes a matter of survival – on rain tires or on slicks.”
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