Understanding the political situation is a complex undertaking as there are several different parties with different goals involved. The basic facts are:
- VLN and the Russian Nurburgring owner NR Holding staged the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) together
- NR Holding proposed a new structure in spring 2023 with the Automobilclub von Deutschland (AvD) joining the construct
- VLN declined the proposal
- NR Holding then commissioned AvD to stage a new endurance series without VLN involvement, terminating the NLS contracts by the end of 2023
- NR Holding also announced not to grant slots at the Nordschleife to VLN in 2024
- VLN took legal action, scoring a landslide victory in court in September 2023
- In the appeal it has now been ruled VLN to be granted five slots for six races at the Nurburgring in 2024
The main driver for the whole chain of events is a power game between NR Holding and the ADAC, Germany's main automotive club. With ADAC holding about 80 percent of all events at the Eifel venue, the Nurburgring owners haven't used much of their negotiating power since their purchase of the track ten years ago.
Introducing two governing NLS bodies, VLN VV and VLN Sport: The NLS has been organised jointly by NR Holding and VLN Sport via VLN VV. NR Holding held 60 percent of VLN VV, while VLN Sport owned the remaining 40 percent. VLN Sport meanwhile is made up of nine local clubs, six of which are local clubs within the ADAC and three within the DMV, a distinct motorsports association in Germany.
The NLS series is also pivotal for ADAC Nordrhein, the event organiser of the Nurburgring 24 hours, as it relies on data from the NLS races for the BoP. In terms of regulations, the VLN and the ADAC are intertwined as the SP-classes, including the GT3 and GT4 categories SP9 and SP10, are managed by ADAC Nordrhein while the production-based V-classes are run by VLN.
In an effort to improve its negotiating power, NR Holding turned towards AvD, a competing automobile association to the ADAC. Albeit about 15 times smaller, AvD has managed significant achievements in motorsports in the past, serving as the host of the DTM until 2022 and the German Grand Prix.
For AvD, the Nurburgring Endurance racing scene serves as the last opportunity to stay relevant in the sport, having lost the DTM to the ADAC in 2023 and several other significant historic motorsports events like the Jim Clark Revival at the Hockenheimring and the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.
Legal battle between VLN and NR Holding
With AvD becoming the main sponsor of the NLS in 2023 (visible by huge red patch on the drivers' overalls during interviews in 2023), the whole of Nurburgring Endurance racing was set to be transferred into a new legal frame in 2024 with NR Holding receiving 51, AvD 25 and VLN 24 percent of the shares.
The official rationale behind this move, as claimed by AvD and NR Holding has been that, with NLS grids shrinking due to the triple crisis of COVID, the Ukraine war and a recession in Germany, the VLN construct would no longer be financially sustainable. Reducing the shares to a minority 24 percent would free VLN from any financial burden within the new construct.
VLN, however, was having none of it. Mike Jager, chief executive of VLN Sport, told Motorsport.com's sister title Motorsport-Total.com back in summer: "We can't allow being reduced to visitors in our own racing series after organising it successfully for 47 years." The true motive was an attempt by NR Holding to take over endurance racing scene in order to improve their negotiating power against the ADAC, several sources told Motorsport-Total.com in the paddock.
The 51-25-24 construct was dismissed by VLN as the shares of each organising club would have dropped to 2.67 percent under this model. With this proposal being rejected, things started to escalate.
NR Holding terminated all contracts with VLN by the end of 2023, leaving VLN VV fully in the hands of VLN Sport. Instead, AvD was tasked by NR Holding to organise the new Nurburgring Endurance Series (NES) without VLN involvement. Furthermore, NR Holding issued a press release, stating that VLN will not receive any calendar slots at the "Green Hell" racetrack in 2024. NLS without Nordschleife would have been a death sentence for VLN.
However, kicking VLN out of the racetrack boomeranged against NR Holding when VLN took legal action. Before the Nurburgring was sold in 2012, the federal state government of Rhineland-Palatinate issued the so-called Nurburgring-law, which states that the Nurburgring infrastructure must be accessible free of discrimination for racing, tourist drives and development for road-going vehicles.
VLN scored a landslide victory in court in September 2023, gaining the right of full access to the track on eight occasions for a reasonable fee. With this ruling the tables turned completely. What started as a fight for survival for VLN became a fight for NR Holding's business case.
The appeal was partially successful for NR Holding as VLN could only hold on to five of the eight slots. However, for NR Holding this turned out to be a pyrrhic victory as the ruling severely weakened its position in negotiating power towards any customer. The Nordschleife has been declared an essential facility, similar to railroad or energy infrastructure for which specific laws apply.
It has to be added, though, that this trial was a speedy trial only valid for 2024, with the main proceedings set to take years over several instances.
Serious doubts looming over NES
With NLS (which might rename itself back to VLN as it was until 2019) having secured an immediate future in September, AvD's chairman Lutz Leif Linden told Motorsport-Total.com that NES is still going to take place in 2024. In the new construct, NR Holding is no longer an active part. Instead AvD bears the full risk, holding 76 percent of the NES with further 24 percent belonging to another major player, who adds yet another dimension.
Introducing Ralph-Gerald Schluter, chief executive of VLN Sport until November 2022. Schluter, who raced in the VLN himself in the 1980s, became a somewhat ambiguous figure over his stint as chairman. He successfully led the VLN through the pandemic with creative ideas to stage races and excellent financial results, and also successfully transformed the body from oHG (general partnership) to GmbH & Co. KG (Ltd.) under German law.
Within the paddock however, his leadership style was not appreciated by everyone. After the inaugural Nurburgring 12 hours in September 2022 discontent inside the paddock about the whole leadership structure grew. In November 2022, four leading figures including Schluter resigned from VLN Sport with Jager taking over Schluter's position.
Just four months later, Schluter was announced as CEO of the later failed 51-25-24 body. In the new 76-24 model for NES, Schluter is again present, holding a minority stake of 24 percent via the BS Motorsport GmbH & Co. KG, which serves as a placeholder for the clubs that would organize NES.
However, serious doubts have arisen about the viability of NES since its inception. Various sources in the paddock questioned the AvD's ability to organise a series at the Nordschleife from the beginning. Lutz Leif Linden slammed this as false rumors deliberately spread by certain sources, stating that there are several clubs within the AvD interested in staging races.
But up to this day AvD has failed to display any concept for the NES 2024 beyond the announcement in July 2023, leading to further doubts about the series. The team association ILN, representing a significant number of teams in Nordschleife endurance racing, gave up its neutral stance within the NLS-NES spat in December 2023 to fully focus on NLS in 2024.
Asked by Motorsport-Total.com about the delays, Linden pointed towards the still ongoing legal procedures in which the AvD is not directly involved. Publishing regulations could lead to a copy-paste-situation. It has to be mentioned that VLN also has not published any regulations for 2024 so far for the same reason. However, unlike with AvD, there are currently no doubts about VLN's capabilities to organise a racing series at the Nurburgring.
NES also has to deal with a grassroots-movement "Pro NLS" calling for a boycott of NES that involves several marshal organizations at the Nurburgring. With 400 to 500 marshals needed for each race, they hold significant negotiating power. Furthermore, NES hasn't presented a race director to this day.
Even if NES will stage races in 2024 the number of entries is set to be miniscule. However, NES only needs to lure about 10 to 20 percent of participants away from NLS to push VLN into financial troubles. Furthermore, the ongoing legal battle with NR Holding is set to drain VLN's financial resources even more. This, however, could push VLN straight into ADAC's arms.
All in all, everything could set the stage for further backfire for NR Holding, which is now fighting a battle for its own business case. If the ADAC comes to the VLN's rescue, the exact opposite of what NR Holding was trying to achieve in the first place would happen - the ADAC would be stronger than ever.
No matter, what it is about, the biggest loser in all are the teams on whose backs this battle is fought on. Several teams have voiced their concerns towards Motorsport-Total.com about missing planning certainty for 2024. The damage has already been done.
