The twice-around-the-clock enduro at the Nurburgring Nordschleife has been pushed back from 11-12 May to 1-2 June after the WEC and Formula E scheduled races at Spa-Francorchamps and Berlin for the same weekend.
Scheduling the WEC's Spa 6 Hours for the same weekend was a decisive factor for the Nurburgring 24's change of date. With the GT3 cars that forms the top class at the Nurburgring eligible in WEC from 2024, many works drivers would likely have been ruled out of one or the other.
"We didn't want to impose that on our participants or the endurance fans," said Nurbugring 24 Hours race director Walter Hornung.
"Since the organisers of [the music festival] Rock am Ring and also the Nurburgring have been very flexible, we were able to make the postponement possible."
Hornung was critical of the FIA series for instigating the clash, stating that the date of the 24-hour race had been known for a long time.
"Especially since we know how complex the coordination with other series and individual events in GT3 racing is, we have already announced dates up until 2028 inclusive for the 24-hour race at the Nurburgring back in 2021," he said.
"Of course, all the relevant players knew that, so that scheduling overlaps in the international calendar are avoided and collisions with other major events at the same venue are prevented.
"We are all the more happy that Rock am Ring and the Nurburgring are joining us in taking on the short-term logistical and technical challenge of having two completely different events, each with tens of thousands of spectators, take place back-to-back."
Thank you to all the organizers! You have made a lot of drivers and teams happy with this! Bring on N24 2024 💥🤝 https://t.co/FKOwkaPinG
— Kelvin van der Linde (@KelvinvdLinde) June 23, 2023
There are still two weeks between the 24-hour race at the Nurburgring and next year's edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours.
The postponement means there should now be enough space in the calendar to accommodate three rounds of the Nurburgring Endurance Series (NLS) plus the qualifying race for the 24 Hours. The latter usually take place four weeks before the main race, but a new date for the qualifying race has not yet been communicated for 2024.
The last time the Nurburgring 24 was postponed was in 2020 amid the COVID 19 pandemic, when it was staged in September.
