Filippi, Gottsacker, Hagler and Lewis Finish Second in Legendary 24-Hour Race
By John Oreovicz
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – International study programs for American students are almost as old as education itself. But the curriculum doesn’t usually include a Hyundai Elantra N TCR racing car and 24 consecutive hours around one of the most challenging circuits in the world.
That was the unique foreign study program conceived by Hyundai USA, Hyundai Motorsport GmbH and Bryan Herta Autosport to create an entry in the 51st running of the Nurburgring 24-hour race for BHA drivers Michael Lewis, Taylor Hagler, Mason Filippi and Harry Gottsacker, who regularly compete in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
The four American racers, ages 23 to 32, spent the majority of the last three months commuting to and from Germany as they completed the intense on-track training program required to obtain the special license needed to compete in the NLS (Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie, or Nurburgring Endurance Series). The crowning event is a 24-hour endurance race at the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife – the 15.77-mile, 170-turn road course winding through the Eiffel Mountains that hosted the German Grand Prix from the 1930s through 1976.
While the Nordschleife is no longer considered a suitable venue for Formula 1, the majestic old circuit has continued to run major sports car races. And thanks to video games and racetrack and car simulators, a whole new generation of fans and racers have been captivated by the track Jackie Stewart memorably named the “Green Hell,” paying homage to the bucolic scenery and difficult circuit.
“Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to take an E30-generation BMW DTM (Touring) car and just rip it around the Ring,” enthused Filippi, 25. “That was my dream. Now that I’m racing, that place is absolutely gnarly. It’s the most amazing place on earth.”
The payoff for all those hours spent on airplanes came for Filippi and his teammates this past weekend, as the American quartet drove the No. 831 Elantra N TCR to a second-place finish in the TCR class in the Nurburgring 24h, completing a 1-2 sweep for Hyundai Motorsport N and Target Competition. The No. 830 Hyundai shared by Mikel Azcona, Marc Basseng and Nurburgring specialist Manuel Lauck claimed the class victory.
HYUNDAI finishes 1st and 2nd at Nürburgring! HYUNDAI team USA finishes 2nd in their first Nürburgring 24!!! Amazing effort! Congrats @HMSGOfficial Target Competition and @Hyundai! #hyundaiperformance pic.twitter.com/RkMli2o2Nh
— Bryan Herta Autosport (@BHA) May 21, 2023
Lewis, the senior member of the group at 32 and a three-time Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR champion, had the honor of qualifying the No. 831 car. He improved his personal best by a whopping 11 seconds and barely missed cracking the 9-minute barrier with a 9:00.29 to place second to Lauck’s 8:56.37. But the No. 830 was penalized five grid spots for incident responsibility, elevating the Americans to pole position.
They maintained honor in the race, running second or third throughout, before finally crossing the line in second, just one lap behind the No. 830, which completed 147 laps.
Even with all the training tools at an incoming driver’s disposal, the difficulty of learning a track as unique and vexing as the Nordschleife cannot be overstated. In addition to a dizzying array of corners, many of which are blind, feature significant elevation change or look the same on entry to others, the venerable old circuit is extremely narrow by modern standards. Throw in frequent inclement weather and middle-of-nowhere levels of darkness, and the challenge is real.
“Just like homework at school, you have to practice for the test and the test is the Nurburgring,” said Lewis. “Insane amount of simulator time and watching onboards – months of that. For the last year or so, anytime I had some free time, I was doing Nurburgring laps. Once you get it into your head, you can start to get some references or markers for turning or brake points and gears.
“The Nurburgring presents all the hardest things about motorsport, all the time,” he continued. “At every track you’ll have traffic, but then sometimes, you have clean laps. Every track has one hard corner, but generally, you get a lot of reps at it and you’ll be good. All those hard things at every track, whatever it is – mental, physical, line, traffic – at that track, it’s every lap and every corner.”
The BHA drivers had the advantage of tackling the daunting project together. There has always been strong camaraderie among the team, but this kind of competitive adventure brought the participating drivers even closer. And it’s providing priceless international racing experience and exposure.
“It’s my first 24-hour race, and in fact, my first-ever race longer than eight hours,” noted Hagler, the two-time defending Michelin Pilot Challenge champion with Lewis. “I’m really excited to experience all that and figure it all out because that’s the ladder I want to take at some point.
“I know European drivers are usually a little more aggressive than we are here, so I’m learning a lot from that,” Hagler added. “The intensity of the track and the technicality of the track makes these tracks seem a little easier, so I’m excited to see how the rest of the IMSA season goes after doing this 24-hour race.”
The shared belief among the BHA group is that they all came away from the Nurburgring experience as better racers.
“It was cool to just really challenge yourself – the driving aspects, the travel aspects – you really push yourself to the limit,” said Filippi, who with co-driver Mark Wilkins leads the TCR standings after three Michelin Pilot Challenge races. “It’s such a sensational place, and I feel it’s made me even more aware as a driver because there are so many things going on at the same time, and you have to be so ‘on it’ at all times.
“Definitely once in a lifetime, and I’m so thankful Hyundai and Bryan Herta Autosport gave us this opportunity,” he added. “They worked so hard behind the scenes to make it happen, squeezing it all in this timeframe with the way the IMSA schedule works. I’ve always loved watching racing there, and I told my family that being able to drive and race there, with those teams in that atmosphere, really made me appreciate racing even more.”
The TCR class returns to Michelin Pilot Challenge action June 22-24 in the Watkins Glen International 120.
