Whilst the headlines around this weekend NLS 9 will inevitably, and correctly, focus on the GT3 race debut of Max Verstappen there is another name on the 110-car entry list that will also attract attention.
An understated social media post from Jann Mardenborough this week revealed that the ex-Nissan factory driver and GT Academy winner had quietly passed his ‘Ring permit. He will start this weekend in the #9 HRT Ford Mustang GT3 alongside Dennis Fetzer and Fabio Scherer, one of a pair of Mustangs in the 11 car SP9 (GT3) entry with the NLS8 winning #6 car also listed.
It will be the first return to NLS/VLN competition for Mardenborough since the accident in March 2015 at Flugplatz which saw his Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 get airborne before being catapulted into and over the armco and spectator fencing resulting in the death of a spectator, 49-year-old Andy Gehrmann, and injuries to two others.
The incident led to a range of changes at the circuit including dramatic power reductions, for SP9 cars and the introduction of temporary speed limits at Flugplatz, Schwedenkreuz, Antiniusbuche and Dottinger Hohe. Race officials had determined that advances in GT3 speeds had been allowed to go too far in relation to circuit infrastructure.
Major works were undertaken to both circuit and spectator areas in the wake of the incident which later featured in dramatised (and not entirely historically accurate detail) Gran Turismo movie.
