The biggest race in the world will transform the Nürburgring into a top-class motorsport festival from May 30 to June 2. At the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring, the largest field of participants in international motorsport will compete on the world's longest race track in front of the largest crowd in the German motorsport calendar. 130 cars will take part in the 52nd edition of the XXL endurance race, including more than two dozen GT3s, which will probably be battling it out for overall victory. Eight makes will be battling it out in this extremely strong group - in addition to the German premium manufacturers Audi, BMW, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and an SCG 004c from the Glickenhaus team will also be taking part. Not to be forgotten: the Ferrari 296 GT3 of the defending champions from Frikadelli Racing, which will line up with starting number #1 after last year's success.

If you want to experience the race in person, you can buy your ticket directly at the Nürburgring at the open ticket offices. Anyone unable to experience the full-throttle festival, which is once again expected to attract over 200,000 visitors, can follow the race live and in full length on free TV partner NITRO. The 24h livestream, which goes live on Thursdays, provides even more comprehensive coverage of the event.

> All info & live streams here. 

The Porsche teams come to the 24h Nürburgring as favorites, as they proved to be extremely well sorted at the start of the season. In both rounds of the NLS (Nürburgring Nordschleife Series), which is held according to the same technical regulations, as well as in the two 24h Qualifiers races, a 911 was at the top of the podium. The two cars from Falken Motorsports are the class leaders, with a total of three victories. The fourth was claimed by the 911 from Manthey EMA, nicknamed "Grello" due to its striking color scheme. The most successful team in 24h history with seven overall victories has once again secured the distinctive #911 starting number for its latest-generation Porsche 911 GT3 R, which Falken and three other Porsche GT3 teams also use: Dinamic, Renauer u. Renauer and a Pro-Am 911 from Lionspeed GP will also be on the grid. With six entries, the Zuffenhausen-based team is the GT3 brand with the most participants in this year's 24h alongside Mercedes-AMG.

Last year's winner Frikadelli relies on Ferrari again
Frikadelli Racing, a team with a particularly large number of fans around the Nordschleife, won last year. The team led by Klaus "Frikadelli" Abbelen was cheered accordingly, especially as the local heroes, based not far from the Ring, also achieved the first Ferrari victory in the 51-year history of the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The defending champions will remain loyal to the Italian brand again this year, with which they set a historic distance record in 2023. They completed 162 laps (4085.90 km) on the world's longest race track at 25.378 km. Last year's winner Felipe Fernandez Laser (Leipzig) will be defending his title with three new colleagues as he shares the Ferrari 296 GT3 with Daniel Keilwitz (Villingen), Luca Ludwig (Bornheim) and Nicolás Varrone (ARG).

Mercedes-AMG celebrates at the Ring: 130 years of motorsport with a star
Like Porsche, Mercedes-AMG is also represented six times on the GT3 grid. A victory would certainly suit the Stuttgart-based brand, which supports its top-class customer racing teams with a large contingent of drivers from the works squad: 130 years ago, vehicles with Daimler engines won the first automobile race, which was held on a track between Paris and Rouen. A GetSpeed-Mercedes-AMG GT3 with the starting number #130 is therefore one of the spearheads of the "star drivers". A good choice, as the team was within striking distance of the eventual winners right up to the final stages last year and ultimately took third and fourth place in the race. HRT should be the second top team from Stuttgart on the agenda. The team led by former DTM driver Hubert Haupt showed its potential in the first two NLS races this year when it took pole position. Another Mercedes-AMG GT3 will also be entered by Schnitzelalm Racing.

Small but mighty: the Audi and BMW line-ups
Audi and BMW are represented at the Nürburgring 24 Hours with three GT3s each. The spearhead of the BMW M4 GT3s is likely to be the two cars from Rowe Racing: The 2020 24h winners came close to securing a second overall victory last year as runners-up and will be burning with ambition to accomplish the feat this year. The RMG team will also field a third GT3 BMW. In the Audi camp, the last 24-hour overall victory dates back to 2019: it was the sixth triumph for Phoenix Racing, who could draw level with Manthey (7) with another overall win. The team is relying on two of its tried-and-tested Audi R8 LMS GT3s under the Scherer PHX banner in another attempt to attack the top of the statistics. They have already secured pole position in the first round of the 24h Qualifiers - perhaps a good omen? The Audi faction is complemented by a car from the Juta-Racing team, which relies on a Pro-Am driver line-up. This also applies to the majority of Aston Martin entries. In addition to a Vantage AMR GT3 from PROsport Racing, three cars from Walkenhorst are in the race - including the only "Pro" Aston.

Much more than just splashes of color
The supposedly exotic cars in the GT3 field are real eye-catchers: these certainly include the two Lamborghinis from Abt (Pro) and Konrad Motorsport (Pro-Am). The Abt-Lambo in particular showed strong form in the first races of the season. The team was even on course for victory in the first NLS race and lost the triumph to Manthey in an extremely close photo finish. Glickenhaus Racing also has a firm place in the hearts of many fans: the team led by US American James Glickenhaus will return from the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2024 and will field a beautiful SCG 004c from the sports car manufacturer at the Ring.

The "race within a race" promises extra excitement
The appeal of the 24h Nürburgring is not only due to the exciting battle for overall victory. On the contrary, the character of the endurance classic is defined by the "multiclass racing", in which the GT3 cars also take to the track with some much weaker rivals: 23 different classes are represented this year, guaranteeing a gigantic motorsport spectrum from the front-wheel drive VLN production cars to the 24h Specials and GT3s. Nowhere else in international motorsport are so many classes - and so many starters - involved: over 450 drivers from 36 nations are on the provisional entry list. And there is plenty of music in the battle of the classes. The Cup2 class, for example, in which Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars from the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PETN) will compete, has a strong field. There are also 14 cars entered here, as in the GT4 category. The strongest class of the VLN production cars is the VT2 with rear-wheel drive with ten participants.

Starting on Thursday, it's all about the grid positions
The majority of the field will have three qualifying sessions to determine their grid position: There are already two sessions on Thursday, the second of which runs until 23:30 into the dark. While Q3 on Friday afternoon will be followed by a rest period for most teams before the start of the race on Saturday (16:00), things will then get really exciting for the top teams: Top qualifying (TQ) is scheduled for late Friday afternoon. This individual time trial for pole position is divided into two sections: All teams in the SP9 (GT3) and SP-X classes that have not yet qualified for the decisive TQ2 will battle it out in TQ1 for the five places still up for grabs. Twelve places in the second top qualifying session have already been allocated based on the practice and race results of the previous NLS and qualifying races. So the second round is where it counts: This is where the fastest of the fast compete to take pole in two flying laps on the Nordschleife. This is where the later course of the race can be decided, because those who are further back in the field will find it extremely difficult to move up the field later on. The 24h Nürburgring is probably the only endurance race in the world where the field is not neutralized by a safety car. Only short "Code 60" zones neutralize individual sections of the track in the event of an accident. This means that there are no moments in which accumulated deficits are neutralized - teams have to catch up on their own.

Supporting program promises motorsport until you drop
The supporting program of the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring also promises additional excitement and many, many beautiful and spectacular racing cars. There will be plenty to see on the Nordschleife from 8:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, when the RCN (Rundstrecken-Challenge Nürburgring) will run a performance test, which traditionally sees an extremely large and extremely diverse field of starters on the track. There will also be other sporting decisions on this first day of the event. The Cup and Touring Car Trophy as well as the Touring Car Legends will hold their first races on this day, all of which will be held on the Grand Prix circuit. There will be further races in both series on Friday. The touring car legends, with their focus on former DTM cars, will even add a third race on Saturday afternoon immediately before the starting grid for the 24h. Another special highlight of the weekend is the ADAC 24h-Classic. A gigantic field of 210 historic racing cars from the Youngtimer Trophy and the Historic Championship 81 (HC '81) will compete here. With its three-hour race on Saturday morning, it shortens the waiting time for the 24-hour start in a highly entertaining way.

Countless fan attractions at the gigantic motorsport festival
There will be plenty of motorsport entertainment at the ADAC RAVENOL 24h. And as if that wasn't enough, there will also be a jam-packed fan program starting on Thursday. As befits a real festival, there will be several stages next to the race track, which is the "Main Stage", so to speak. Especially around the start/finish there are great offers for the numerous visitors - last year alone, 235,000 guests were counted over the weekend. The ring°boulevard becomes a promenade where manufacturers, merchandising stores and other exhibitors present themselves. They traditionally attract visitors with a variety of promotions, competitions, autograph sessions and much more. The various paddock areas are also well worth a visit. In addition to the teams, tire manufacturers and racing services, the Grand Prix paddock also features many fan animation offers - from Hyundai and Mercedes-AMG, for example. There are also two important fan hotspots at the heliport and the neighboring "multifunctional area". The RAVENOL Ferris wheel, which can be seen from afar, can be found on the heliport. Around the huge Magic Sky tent roof, there is also the MONSTER action area, a video wall and much more. Right next door there will be a catering mile where hungry fans and others will get their money's worth. Other participants will be accommodated in the Historic Paddock (touring car legends) and in the infield of the Mercedes Arena (24h Classic, Cup and Touring Car Trophy). Of course, the spectator areas around the Nordschleife are also worth a visit, where fans can set up home from the Monday before the race and celebrate a great motorsport festival for a whole week.