iRacing – VLN is back!

After a long winter wait for all the fans of this series, the VLN, now called Nurburgring Endurance Championship returns to iRacing. For those of you who still don’t know, the VLN (look for the German acronym for a good laugh) is an annual endurance championship that takes place at the prestigious and respected Nürburgring Nordschleife (23 km track together with the F1 circuit), nicknamed by Jackie Stewart himself as the Green Hell.

The calendar is made up of 9 races of 4 hours each and one 6-hour race.

Overview

The iRacing Nürburgring Endurance Series will feature a series of 9 endurance races – each 4-6 hours long – on the combined Nürburgring VLN circuit. Drivers may participate solo or with a team.

For 2022, we have adjusted where the grid will line up so as to let all 5 classes get rolling before the green. The starting grid will be back near the Gantry. We have also added a third time slot on Saturday to give additional opportunities to race.

Cars/Classes & BOP

GT3 Class:

BMW M4 GT3: +15 kg, -1.5% Power

Mercedes AMG GT3

GT4 Class:

Porsche Cayman GT4

Aston Martin Vantage GT4: +10 kg

CUP Class: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992)

TCR Class:

Audi RS 3 LMS

Hyundai Elantra N TC: +10 kg

MX5 Class: Global Mazda MX-5 Cup

Race Specifications

Race Length: 4-6 Hours

Team Racing: Enabled but not required

Weather: Dynamic

Timeslots:

Saturday: 17:30 GMT

Sunday:  1:00 GMT & 13:00 GMT

Qualifying Attached: Yes

Practice: 10 min

Qualifying: 30 min

Penalties: Stop and Go =50 Inc and every 20 after

Schedule

Notes:

What is this series?: This series is essentially a grassroots series that is the backbone of the actual races that take place on the Nordschleife when it isn’t in use for public hot lapping. The series is made up of several motorsports clubs (part of either ADAC or DMV) which each host a 1-off event, totaling nine events throughout the year, and there is a ton of crossover with the Nurburgring 24 (Think Bathurst 12 Hour and Supercars Connection). The series has been run since 1977, and has a primarily German-based driver pool (Hence the use of each of our German brands). The series is pretty all encompassing when it comes to cars, with the 2009 year having 30 classes of cars, though much of the notable cars are from a Touring, GT3, or GT4 background. However, production cars are also allowed, thus creating the grassroots connection, with support from everything from Clio’s to BMW M Series cars.