Nürburgring, May 27th.
The annual 1,000-kilometre sports car race organised by the ADAC on the Nürburgring never fails to produce a large entry, for the organisation and the circuit can accommodate an almost limitless number and variety of cars. This year's event was open to Prototype sports cars, GT cars and Group 2 saloons and the 44 laps of the Nürburgring is a challenge in itself, without the actual competition of racing for an outright win or a class win. When the weather is bad in the Eifel mountains it can be really bad, and when it is good it is superb. This year it was superb throughout practice and the race and the Nürburgring was in fine form with thousands of people camping in the surrounding countryside and alongside the 22.8-kilometre circuit.
Although the days of the thinly-disguised Grand Prix car masquerading as a sports car are once again numbered, with proposals for a more "production based" concept to take over (until it gets out of control, as always happens), there were the makings of one of the best Manufacturer confrontations for some time. Two-car teams came from Ferrari, Matra-Simca and Alfa-Romeo for an outright win, with teams from Porsche, Ford and BMW ready to profit from any weakness among the giants.
