Two cars to enter the N24 Qualifiers
Our preparations for the 50th running of the Nürburgring 24 Hours begins this weekend (May 7-8) as our team enters two cars into the N24 Qualifiers.
The qualifiers will present our teams with a new challenge, as a pair of three-hour contests replace the previous single six-hour race – one on Saturday at dusk, and the other on Sunday. For this double header event, one Elantra N TCR will be driven by 2021 class victors Marc Basseng and Manuel Lauck, while an i30 N TCR will be piloted by Moritz Oestreich and Antti Buri.
“Success at the Nürburgring 24 Hours has been an important target for our Customer Racing department since the beginning of our TCR project,” said our Deputy Team Principal Julien. “We have competitive all-round packages in the Elantra N TCR and i30 N TCR, and a great driver line-up to step into both.”
Preparing for success
To help us defend our 1-2 in class from 2021, our crews will be also boosted by the addition of a Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing driver in each car for the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Mikel Azcona will complete the Elantra N TCR line-up, while Jean-Karl Vernay returns for a second successive year in the i30 N TCR.
While we were forced to postpone the competitive start of the project earlier this year when the four-hour NLS2 race was cancelled, the loss of track time has not had an impact on our preparations for the main event. The extra time in the workshop has been spent on further readying the cars for competition.
With our cars prepared and our drivers confirmed, we are confident of defending our class wins in the Qualifiers, as well as the 24 Hours, to add to our already successful record on this tough circuit.
“We know that any race, let alone an endurance race on the Nordschleife, is a challenge with many unknowns that we cannot avoid,” added Julien. “Our ultimate aim for this year is obviously to defend our title, and we have all the people in place to be able to achieve this, and add further the amazing record our TCR cars have in this event.”
