Rundstrecken Challenge Nürburgring

The Rundstrecken Challenge Nürburgring (RCN) (circuit racing challenge Nürburgring), mainly known as Castrol-HAUGG-Cup (CHC) is a motorsport event that is similar to rallying on a closed race circuit. Being run since the early 1960s mainly on the Nürburgring, it is regarded as Germany's oldest touring car racing series.

For many years, the series was sponsored by Castrol and "HAUGG" (a company owned by a race driver, providing car parts like radiators). For 2007, the sponsorship arrangements will be changed, putting less emphasis on these two companies.

The event is officially styled by the FIA/DMSB as a "Leistungsprüfung 200km" ("LP200", performance test over 200 km). This means that the CHC is not a real race for positions among cars that are started at once from a grid (like VLN endurance races), but a time trial, with cars being started one by one, about 5 seconds apart. This reduces the risks of collisions, as there is no need for a racer to defend his or her position.

Most CHC events are held on the Nürburgring, on the 20.832km long "Nordschleife" version, on Saturday afternoon following a Gleichmäßigkeitsprüfung (GLP) run by the same organizers. One or two additional events are held on the Grand Prix track, and also on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps if possible. As season highlight in front of thousands of spectators, the CHC runs on the Thursday before a 24 Hours Nürburgring race, which is a holiday, either Ascension Day or Corpus Christi (feast). The track versions used during that event include various sections of the Grand Prix track. In 2005, the CHC was run on 4 different track versions, three of them at the Nürburgring.

On the Nordschleife, 15 laps of 20.832km have to be run, for 312km overall (longer than an F1 race). The first (warm up) lap, the last (cool down) and two laps in between for a pit stop are not timed, unless a generous maximum time is exceeded. Of the remaining 11 laps, 9 are run at full speed (like a special stage in rallying), with each second counting as one "penalty point". Two laps have to be done at a given time similar to a liaison stage in rallying. If the tolerance of +/- 2 seconds is exceeded, each second counts tenfold, so some discipline and precision is required. In wet conditions, these laps can decide the winners, as they can add a significant amount "penalty points" to the tally.

The entry fee is about 400 Euro. As in rallying, a co-driver can be on board, a quite unique possibility to take a passenger to circuit racing. Also, two drivers can share a drive, which reduces costs for amateurs.

2006 Calendar

For this season, no event on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps could be arranged due to construction work there. On the other hand, the Nordschleife is used 7 times, and the GP track only once. During the 24h race weekend, parts of the GP track are connected to the 20.8km Nordschleife for a 25.3km track.

External links

* [http://www.castrol-haugg-cup.com CHC Rallye-like racing (German only)]
* [http://www.glp1.de GLP Nürburgring Regularity test (German only)]
* [http://www.nuerburgring.de/ Nürburgring Official website (also in English)]