Aron Confirmed for Racing Return in NLS7

Ralf Aron will make his return to racing in this weekend’s NLS7 following the injuries he sustained in his huge crash during this year’s Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour.

The Estonian driver will drive the No. 80 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo alongside Luca Stolz in Sunday’s six-hour ADAC Ruhr-Pokal-Rennen.

It will mark his first race outing since the Intercontinental GT Challenge season opener in February, when he suffered two fractured vertebra after slamming into the stationary Porsche 911 GT3 R of Johannes Zelger approaching Forrest’s Elbow.

After a period of recovery, Aron has partaken in multiple tests at the wheel of the AMG GT3 in preparation for his return to competition.

“From a physical standpoint, I am fit again,” Aron told Sportscar365 in an exclusive interview. “The recovery has been really good. I have been working hard with rehab in the gym and swimming, all sorts of stuff, so I feel really good now.

“It has been five months since the accident, but the official green light from the doctors [to resume driving] was more or less three months after the accident.

“I did a test with the AMG at Immendingen [test track] at the end of May, and it went well. I also flew to Zhuhai in China for a couple of extra days of testing in a low-pressure environment, where I could get back into it step-by-step.

“With an accident like that, there is some kind of pain that carried on a little further. But now I can happily say that I have no pain at all and I am fully ready to be back.”

Aron is no stranger to competition on the Nordschleife, having contested last year’s Nürburgring 24 with the GetSpeed team alongside other selected NLS appearances.

“I actually expressed a desire to race in the NLS as soon as possible because I didn’t want to miss a whole year of racing on the Nordschleife,” he explained.

“There was an opportunity with Winward, and I am really happy that it worked out, as the team obviously proved earlier in the year what it can do there.

“It’s a fantastic professional environment to make my comeback on a circuit I love.”

While NLS7 is Aron’s only confirmed race appearance for now, he suggested that further outings in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the European Le Mans Series could be on the cards for later in the year.

The 28-year-old was originally due to contest the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup for the full season with the HRT-run Grupo Prom Racing Team, where his place for the opening three rounds of the year has been taken by Colin Caresani.