“Max joining in is unbelievable. He’s a true racer. It’s crazy that he’s just like, “Yeah, I won the last F1 race and in between, I’m just racing the Cayman. I do not care at all, I’m doing my permit.’
“It’s just incredible. He’s a racer. He doesn’t care about all the side effects. He just wants to drive cars. I love Max doing it without complaining, ‘I’m a world champion’. He just does it. He knows that’s the rule, and he wants to race. And it really proves that he is crazy about driving cars.
“The Nürburgring is always something special. You can’t compare it with any other series. The vibe is completely different. It’s the longest permanent track and by far the best track on Earth. I think 90% of the drivers say the same, and obviously also Max wants to join in for that reason.”
For both Verstappen and Menzel, the NLS races are primarily a chance to build up to the big event: the Nürburgring 24 Hours which takes place next year in May. The shorter events help teams and drivers drill for the gruelling twice-round-the-clock classic, while offering a useful form guide for fans.
Menzel’s Falken squad has won four races this year in the 911 GT3, helped by a tyre development programme that has honed its rubber for this particular car on this particular circuit.
Falken Porsche 911s have won half of all NLS races this year
Falken
In total, Porsche 911 drivers have taken seven of the eight GT3 victories this year — “It’s the brand for the ‘Ring”, says Menzel — but Verstappen faces a greater foe in Saturday’s race: the traffic.
Just 11 cars on the grid of 110 are in the fastest SP9 class, so Verstappen will be faced with lapping an endless line of slower cars driven by a range of drivers from full professionals to novices; a situation where his relative inexperience will be put to the test.
“The mix of professional and not professional is just so special,” says Menzel. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a four-time F1 world champion or the butcher from nearby who wants to drive with a small car, we’re racing in the same series and on the same track. It’s fantastic for the amateur drivers to be in one race with Max Verstappen.
“You would never push 100% on the Nordschleife. One mistake and you’re in the wall”
“Winning is a zero-mistake job: it’s about traffic management — risk management. There is sometimes a speed difference of 150km/h [93mph].
“You would never push 100% on the Nordschleife as you would on a GP track. One mistake and you’re in the wall: there is no space for mistakes.
“The Nordschleife is all about flow, reading the cars: you know where you’re not 100% sure if a driver will make space for you to pass. It’s about experience.
“At some point you get the initial feeling of where it is the best to overtake someone in a way that you and the other car does not lose a lot of time. Every single lap is different because there’s always traffic, so you can never do the same as you did before. It’s all about being an instinctive driver and adapting to the given situation.”
One wrong decision in the rain can cost a driver several minutes
Falken
It’s not just traffic that can make one lap different to the next on the Eifel Mountains circuit, says Menzel. Rain can fall on one section, while another part is bone dry, and the different asphalts offer varying levels of grip as the race progresses.
“If it rains in one part, which tyre are you going to use?” says Menzel. “You can lose 20 or 30sec a lap, or even minutes if you make the wrong tyre choice. That’s something very spicy.”
