GOTTSACKER: ‘Permit A’ Acquired!

Last time that I checked in with Sportscar365, I covered a lot of the differences in the NLS Nürburgring Series and the typical racing we do in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.

After some success in NLS3, Mason, Michael, and I discovered another difference! We finished P4 in the VT2 class in NLS3, and we were rewarded with a trip to the podium to get our trophy.

All finishers in the top 33 percent of their class in the NLS get a trophy and that was one of our accomplishments for the weekend!

The second accomplishment that we made was to obtain our third classified finish in the top 75 percent of our class and Mason and I completed our required 24 laps.

These two items mean that we’re able to file with the DMSB using our race results and lap charts to obtain a permit A for the Nürburgring.

Permit A means that you can basically race any and all cars up to GT3 at the “Green Hell.”

We spent our day after NLS3 collecting our documents and submitting them within the online system for DMSB.

I want to thank Marcus Willhardt with Hyundai Driving Experience (HDX) and Klaus Völker with Ring Racing for all of their guidance, help, and support throughout this process of qualification.

It can be a bit overwhelming as its all in German, but these guys really set us up for success in our NLS races. HDX has some really cool experiences like winter driving and I’m hoping we get the invite for one of those!

Looking ahead, we’re taking a few days off to explore in Cologne. We checked out the Cologne Cathedral and had a Kolsch beer as that is the local flavor here.

The weather is pretty good this week compared with our previous trips, so its going to be nice doing some things outside and getting some work outs in.

We will move towards Frankfurt for the end of the week to do some media activities at Hyundai Motorsport in Alzenau. This is the facility where the WRC programs are based and Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing builds our Elantra N TCR cars.

Speaking of TCR, we will make our start in the Nürburgring 24 Qualifying races with Target Competition and Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing in an Elantra N TCR this weekend.

It is going to be great to take the experience we’ve gained in the VT2 car and apply it to a platform that we’re all super comfortable with.

We hope that the speed of the TCR in comparison to the GT3 and GT4 cars will make the race craft and traffic a bit more manageable going forward.

We also have Kyle Compton, Nate Smola, and Cruz Juarez from our Bryan Herta Autosport team to assist us in the next two events. It will be great to have some familiar faces with us as we tackle 24 hours around this place!

I’ll check back next week after our first race in the TCR car and let you know what else we’ve learned! Danke schön!