But the NLS has multiple classes, from low-powered entries similar to the Golf GTI I used to race all the way up to GT3s, plus an exhibition class called SPX for stuff that doesn’t quite fit in elsewhere. It’s this latter class that the M3 Touring 24H will enter, being driven by Jens Klingmann, Ugo de Wilde, and two American BMW factory drivers, Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen.
“A project like the BMW M3 Touring 24H has never existed at BMW M Motorsport before,” said Andreas Roos, head of BMW M Motorsport. “Many thanks to everyone who put their heart and soul into this unique car and brought it to life. I am thrilled—and at the same time, I am certain that our fans, who are never closer to us than at our second home on the Nürburgring, will be just as excited. I promise all fans a great show and look forward to an event of superlatives.”
Any 24-hour race is hard, and a 24-hour race at one of the world’s most challenging racetracks is so much harder. But regardless of where the M3 Touring 24H finishes, it will find itself among a very select group of racing station wagons. The most famous, as some of you may be shouting at your screens, was the Volvo 850 Estate that Volvo UK entered into the British Touring Car Championship in 1994.
