VW won at the Nürburgring in '24, but it nearly didn't happen: here's the story behind the attempt

Last year saw Max Kruse Racing’s Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport achieve an impressive class win at the Nürburgring 24-hour race, but if it wasn’t for Volkswagen test driver – and former ‘Ring front-drive lap record holder – Benjamin ‘Benny’ Leuchter, it might not have happened at all.

Back in 2019, Benny was poised to race in the World Touring Car Cup. The car was ready, testing had suggested it was more than ready, and Benny was ready – and then Volkswagen cancelled its TCR programme, shifting its focus towards electrification instead. It was a tough pill for Benny to swallow.

“From the very first test we saw that it was crazy fast, we had a car that felt competitive, that we could possibly fight for the world title, and then it was taken away from me, through no fault of my own. It was very emotional for me,” he said.

Despite the setback, Benny stayed on as an ambassador and development driver for Volkswagen, with the car given to Volkswagen Classic in 2021 at the end of its motorsport activities, where it sat gathering dust.

“It was not nice to see it parked there,” said Benny. “So, beginning of last year, I said, ’50 years of Golf, we have to make a good celebration for the car, let’s do the 24-hour race’. It was a crazy idea, there were a few weeks of talks, I wasn’t getting an answer, I was always on the phone, 'hey, can we go, can we go', and all of sudden they say, 'take the car and go'.”

But it wasn’t quite plug and play. The car, which shares around 60 per cent of the standard parts from the production Golf GTI Clubsport, had originally been built for sprint racing and needed to be completely reworked to handle the demands of endurance racing, a task Benny and his team achieved in an astonishing two weeks.

“And then we came here, no testing, no practice, nothing, straight into qualifying, smashed the lap record for TCR cars on the Nordschleife. Put it on pole, win the race, up against much stronger cars like the BMW M4, Porsche 718 Cayman, Toyota Supra. It was very nice to see that machine being raced.”

Though last year’s race was cut short after seven hours due to fog, it finished 43^rd overall with 44 laps completed, but notably won its ‘AT3’ alternative fuel class.

This year, the team is hoping to go even better, and this is the striking new livery it’ll be wearing as it tears around the Green Hell. It pays tribute to 50 years of the Golf GTI – in case you hadn’t guessed – with its race number (76) denoting the year it made its market introduction.

And to give Max Kruse Racing the best chance of success, the team will be running a second identical car too, with Fabian Vettel, younger brother of former F1 superstar and all-round good guy Seb, one of the team drivers. So what can we expect this year?

“The dream would be a double victory,” said Benny, “but it’s a very competitive class this year. So for me, the first goal is to finish the race, and then we’ll see where we are. But of course, as a racing driver, you would like to fight for victory.”