SPACER race

A new seat insert technology from Germany that offers a significant improvement in driver comfort and safety

-  NICK BAILEY

Ask a driver for a list of the most unforgiving racetracks and it’s pretty certain the Nordschleife will feature pretty highly.

Challenging and merciless, even at low speed, it’s a track that can leave a car and driver feeling a little tender. But despite a trip into the Eifel region’s most infamous string of Armco, Nürburgring veteran, Peter Dumbreck, was ready for action the next day, despite leaving the track at 260km/h.

The 2020 edition was Dumbreck’s 17th outing at a track where he has done hundreds of laps but, underlining the unique challenge that brings his Falken team back year after year, Dumbreck’s night qualifying was cut short by a crash.

‘Coming down Fuchsröhre, a very fast section, I was chasing the similar KCMG car,’ says the Scot, who was driving the latest specification Porsche 991.2 GT3 R. ’Suddenly, in front of me, I could see it going sideways, and instantly it was the same for me. The track conditions changed in a flash, and I became a passenger at 260km/h before hitting the wall quite a bit further up the track.’

Dumbreck later described it as ‘a big impact’, and damage to the car was substantial, but he was left feeling no after effects the next morning, and attributes that to a new seating system the Sven Schnabl-run team was using, which he feels made a significant contribution toward protecting him.