It’s truly amazing what sim racing can do to bring hopeful virtual racers into the real world of motorsport in this day and age. This weekend, Team Redline e-sports outfit founder and winner of iRacing’s 2024 Nürburgring 24 Hours, Max Verstappen, will make his race debut at the Green Hell this weekend.
The remarkable rise from sim racer to real-world ‘Ring will see him compete in a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport run by the Lionspeed GP team during the NLS series’ double-header of four-hour races at the weekend.
You may recall Verstappen took to the Nurburgring to test a Ferrari 296 GT3 earlier this year under the guise of Franz Hermann, which may lead you to wonder why he’s competing in a slower class of car for his debut. Well, the 27-year-old Dutchman needs a Nordschleife A-permit before he can compete in a GT3 car, requiring him to have two classified race finishes at the ‘Ring.
Which is where a strange loophole in the rules opens up. It’s perfectly fine for Verstappen to run stints in both 718s run by Lionspeed in one race, allowing him to claim two classifications in one four-hour race. Various outlets have reported this to be a likely possibility.
He wouldn’t be competing against himself, though, thanks to the NLS’ complex classifications. One of Lionspeed’s GT4s runs in the SP7 category, and the other in Cup 3. We’ll leave you to Google that for more info because, frankly, we don’t understand the nuances either.
Verstappen during his day job
So, are we about to see the sim racing legend go on to dominate like never before? Unlikely, to be honest. Because of his B-permit, his car will need to be restricted to a weight-to-power ratio of 4.2kg per hp, well below the GT4’s regular spec of 3.5kg per hp.
Once he’s done at the ‘Ring this weekend, Verstappen will be returning to his day job as a humble competitor in something called Formula 1, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix taking place next weekend. He’s presumably quite good at that, given he’s apparently a four-time world champion.
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