Unlike the manufactured spectacles and imagined plot lines of adversity peddled by Formula One’s American owners and especially their de facto advertising agency, Netflix, the intrigue behind this year’s Nürburgring 24 proved that for sheer real-world emotive magnetism, the truth trumps fiction every time.
Not only on 21 May did the local fan favourite, Frikadelli Racing, seize their first-ever crown at what is arguably GT racing’s most torturous but hallowed trial, but they also did so by risking unfamiliarity after ceding their regular Stuttgart-born steed earlier this year in favour of Maranello’s freshly-reared GT3 contender.
Starting from the second row, the drivers of the #30 Ferrari 296 GT3 – David Pittard, Earl Bamber, Nicky Catsburg and Felipe Fernández Laser – for the next 24 hours withstood the pressure of