24hrs not enough of a challenge how about the 1971 Nurburgring 96hrs ????

[Marina door handles]

I have a bit of a soft spot for endurance racing but had never heard of this event until yesterday. I was flicking through an old car magazine and came across this line "its driver began to hanker after longer races and foreign climes - like the 1967 86-hour Marathon de la Route at the Nurburgring to be precise". Hang the what? So I did a bit of digging well Googling.....

The Marathon de la Route started off  as the old cross continent road races (that I had heard of) one version was the Liege- Rome Liege but in 1965  it was was deemed to be too dangerous to continue on public roads so the event was moved to the Nurburgring.

To give the drivers a bit of a challenge and to make it feel like you were actually driving somewhere the organisers used both the infamous green hell and also the sudschleife. It started off as an 86 hour event allowing just 2 drivers per car and  a maximum1 minute pit stop! After a couple of years they increased that to a generous three drivers per car.  Apparently it was never well publicised and went out with a bang in 71 with a whopping 96 hour race. Porsche were pretty successful at this and they liked the event because entering the race was at the time a lot cheaper than hiring the Ring to go testing! 

Among the winners were some well know names including one Red Bull annoyance Helmut Marko, I hate him even more now! 

Anyone else not aware of this or have I been living under a rock?

 

 

[New POD]

How can you have a maximum 1 minute pit stop. What if you need to fix something, add fuel or change tyres? 

[Marina door handles]

Don't ask me its what I have read, I wasn't there at the time I was born in 75! I believe if you stop longer than 1 minute you lose a lap, considering how few cars would actually finish a race losing a lap or two was not much of a big deal.

[Talbot]

@chaseracerhere's a plan for the 2CV endurance racing.  How many engines do you think we'd lose?

[MiniMinorMk3]

  On 04/05/2023 at 08:42, Marina door handles said:

It started off as an 86 hour event allowing just 2 drivers per car and  a maximum1 minute pit stop! 

 

 

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Not sure where you got that 1 minute rule from as it appears it was a 15 minute limit.

1970 Nürburgring 84 hours (touringcarracing.net)

  Quote

Consistent lap times are important because there is a clause which insists that cars must complete at least the same number of laps during the last 12 hours as they did in the initial 12 hours. Automatic disqualification is the penalty for not fulfilling this request; exclusion is also invoked for stopping in the pits for more than 15 minutes. Drivers who also happen to be ace mechanics can save their team by working in an area opposite the pits, so long as they can complete a lap in under 24m (30m during the first four hours), commencing when they start work on the car - the fastest lap times are just below 13 minutes, so any major work is out.

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And here's a shot of the Mini driven by John Handley, Alec Poole and Julien Vernaeve

[HMC]

@Marina door handles Ive got a soft spot for endurance racing too. I  have to hold my hand up also as i had no idea this existed. My personal obsession is le mans and anything on the 1960-70s sportscar / prototype calendar. I would have loved to be around then, with relatively easy access to the pits and paddock.