After concerted withdrawal of 80 marshals: NES forced to cancel race

An apparently concerted withdrawal by groups of marshals and individual marshals has led to the premature cancellation of the four-hour race of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NES). 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.

Next to motorsport, victims of the marshals’ cancellations primarily are the teams and drivers who had travelled to NES.02, some from the USA, Canada, Japan and from all over Europe. For many teams and drivers, it was not just about preparation for the classic 24-hour race, which takes place in four weeks’ time, but for some drivers it was even about their eligibility to compete in the 24-hour race.

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