NES Cancels Nordschleife Race After Marshal Withdrawals

The Nürburgring Endurance Series (NES) has confirmed the cancelation of its first four-hour race on the eve of the event as the result of a “concerted withdrawal” of 80 marshals.

The upstart series, which is part of split schedule with the NLS as the result of a court ruling in January, was due to host its first Nordschleife racing event this weekend.

However, organizers confirmed in a statement issued on Friday that the race will not take place after a significant number of marshals pulled out of the event at late notice.

The statement reads: “During the preparations, the NES organisation had received sufficient commitments from marshals and participants so that nothing stood in the way of running the four-hour race on Saturday, 4 May.

“While the test sessions were still in progress, 80 marshals cancelled their participation within a very short period of time on Friday at lunchtime.

“Although the majority of the marshals would have been available to work around the 24.358 kilometres long track configuration of Nordschleife and sprint circuit and a reserve of marshals was also available, the cancellation meant that the total number of remaining marshals was not sufficient to safeguard the race track in accordance with the requirements.”

The cancelation marks the latest setback for NES, which is yet to host a race after its first attempt with a pair of 90-minute contests on the Nürburgring’s Grand Prix circuit also fell through in March.

“The actions of individual players have considerably hindered us and our supporters and have led to commitments that had already been made being cancelled,” said NES managing director Ralph-Gerald Schlueter.

“The cancellation of the NES race is bitter and frustrating. We were well prepared to stage the race but we are powerless in the face of these cancellations by the marshals.

“We particularly regret this development for all the teams, drivers and participants who were looking forward to a good day of racing with us.

“We would like to expressly thank all the numerous marshals who are unwaveringly willing to work at the NES.”

An entry list for the event shows that NES had attracted 15 entries for the race, headlined by a six-car GT3 pack.

As previously confirmed, Walkenhorst Motorsport was due to field a three-car Aston Martin effort with a Pro car headlined by factory drivers David Pittard (who would have replaced Christian Krognes) and Nicki Thiim.

They were joined by an additional Aston Martin from PROsport Racing, while Dinamic GT and Herberth Motorsport were due to each field a single Porsche 911 GT3 R.