n the event reception held on May 14 in Koln, the participant vehicles were lined up along the Rhein River. The photo is of last years winning machine and this years title contender, the Manthey Racing Porche 911GT3 RSR.

One of the highlights of the 24h Nurburgring race, is that many famous drivers are participants. Standing in the forefront in this photo, is the former F1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who showed up after some blank after his successful bouts in DTM racing. He will be challenging the 24Hour race in a hybrid supersport, the Gumpert Apollo.

In continuation from last year, Gran Turismo will again be the main sponsor supporting the 36th Nurburgring 24 Hour Race, the worlds largest touring car event held in Nurburgring, Germany from May 22 to 25, 2008.

The Nurburgring 24H race is one of the most popular touring car events in Europe, with a history beginning in 1970. The event is a most grueling experience, joining the world’s toughest circuit, the Nurburgring North Course (recently famous for the time trial by the NISSAN GT-R) to the grand prix course, and driven for a straight 24 hours. But because of the variety of participant cars and friendly organization, it is still called the "Greatest grass roots race in the world".
Again this year, 280 cars will be gathering from around the world with almost 1000 drivers participating. And to watch this spectacular event, 200 thousand or more spectators will be filling the sides of the approximately 20 kilometer course, and it will be broadcast throughout Europe.

The Japanese contingent who have been participating regularly in recent years is also present this time around. Out of these, the Lexus LF-A is a prototype vehicle before its actual release and is already the talk of the town. Racing battles fought between popular cars such as the Imprezza, Fairlady Z, and Civic Type R, as well as the battles between the worlds fastest GT machines such as Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin and other will be something you won’t want to miss.

Gran Turismo will be covering this event in detail, and will be providing the footage as original content for Gran Turismo TV at a later date. We will also have an on-location report in gran-turismo.com, so please stay tuned!

Official site of the Nurburgring 24H Race (German language, English site available)

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