The Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) has presented its provisional calendar for the coming year: The championship, formerly known as the VLN, is planning nine race days over eight weekends. Two 6-hour sessions on September 10th and 11th form a new 12-hour race. This is how the NLS calendar should run in 2022.
After almost two seasons full of deprivation, Nordschleife fans can look forward to a full racing year 2022 with plenty of action on site. The Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) will hold eight races from the end of March to the end of October next year. If, like this year, a run cannot take place due to the weather, November 5th is already available as an alternative date.
In the first three races, the well-known big set-up run over the 24.358-kilometer combination of Grand Prix circuit short connection and Nordschleife takes place on Friday from morning to evening. The same applies to the new 12-hour race. On the four other dates, the short connection will be used on Friday mornings, and then the complete NLS variant in the afternoon.
New highlight: 12-hour race
The concept of the double header, originally born out of the Corona emergency - with one race each on Saturday and Sunday - will be continued in the form of the 12-hour race in the future. On September 10th and 11th, one section will be driven over six hours, the first of which, according to the organizers, will last until dusk. However, both sections are counted as a whole race – parc fermé regulations apply at night.
"We would like to use the break on Saturday evening to celebrate together with teams, fans and sponsors. There should also be the opportunity for camping at the Nürburgring," says Christian Stephani, Managing Director of VLN VV GmbH & Co. KG. If everything goes as planned, there will be another big fan festival in addition to the 24-hour race. The season highlight, which does not take place as part of the NLS, will take place from May 26th to 29th, 2022.
Regarding the start on Sunday, Stephani already gave some insights at NLS7: "We will actually keep the distances. How do we do that? There will be a single start from the pit lane." This is to avoid teams losing hard-won leads like in other series with similar concepts. "Everyone drives on the track under code 60. When everyone is back out, the race is released." If the plan works out, the fans will be offered a lot of spectacle in the coming year.
Provisional NLS dates for 2022:
25-26/03/2022 – NLS1
08-09/04/2022 – NLS2
22-23/04/2022 – NLS3
2020-2020NLS4
08-09/07/2022 – NLS5 (6h race)
09-11/09/2022 – NLS6 (12h race)
07-08/10/2022 – NLS7
21-22/10/2022 – NLS8
