20/05/2024
NURBURGRING 24 HOUR
Velocity SimLab, partnered with Team Slo(Motion), set there sights on the hardest race of the year being the Nurburgring 24HR. Featuring an incredible 176 corners winding up and down mountain ranges, and being 22.5kms long, the Nurburgring 24HR is a test of stamina and concentration for every driver. Boasting an International line up of Felix Lieb (Germany), Ajay Marston (UK), Mark Schmieding (USA), Matty Gerrard (NZ) and Doug Gowans (Australia) the team started in P41 out of 53 entries in what turned out to be a very close field. There was only 5 seconds separating pole position to the teams starting position of 41st. Considering each lap is over 8 minutes long, this was a great effort by Felix. After an early spin due to contact from the rear, the team had to allow the entire field to pass before safely being able to rejoin the track. Felix, Ajay and Mark worked hard through the first 12hrs of the race, running fast and consistent laps, to come back through the field and be running in P23 at the halfway point. Mark as always showed consistent clean driving. Handing the car over to Matt and Doug to do the bulk of the second half of the race, the boys set about consolidating the positions gained. On the final lap of Doug's frist stint, he had a spin at high speed but was able to keep it off the wall with minimal time lost and no damage to the car, showing how quickly this track can bite you. Gaining and losing positions as fuel strategy started to play a part, the boys continued to drive consistently and run their own race. Faster co-drivers from other teams started to make their presence known and the boys found themselves hovering around P24 but holding their own. Coming into 4hr's left, and after running 4 alternating stints each, Matt and Doug were happy to hand the car back to Ajay for a double stint.
With the track temp now at 40c, Ajay had his work cut out for him. In typical fashion though, Ajay showcased his driving skills and started to set fast lap after fast lap. This added an extra 46 second buffer to the car behind providing Matt and Doug some extra breathing room coming into their final stint each. Matt saved his best for last and put in an impressive final stint, handing the car over to Doug still in P23, to finish the race. Maintaining the gap to the car behind, Doug drove a smooth last stint and picked up a position due to an incident with a car in front. Although very tight on fuel, the team crossed the line in P22, which is a very nice result given the depth of drivers in the field.
Here are some driver stats from the event.
Felix Lieb:
Fastest Lap 8:18.631
Average Lap Time: 8:29.954
28 laps driven = 630 kms
Mark Schmieding:
Fastest Lap 8:21.393
Average Lap Time: 8:29.430
28 laps driven = 630 kms
Mathew Gerrard:
Fastest Lap: 8:23.780
Average Lap Time: 826.995
35 Laps Driven = 787.5 Kms
Ajay Marston:
Fastest Lap: 8.17.675
Average lap Time: 8:26.083
42 Laps Driven = 945 Kms
Doug Gowans:
Fastest Lap Time: 8.22.119
Average lap Time: 8:26.808
Laps Driven 35 = 787.5 Kms
A Huge congrats to the boys for finishing this epic event and bringing the car back to us in one piece. Looking forward to the next big endurance event.
We would like to thank all our partners and supporters.
Velocitysimlab
iRacing
