This weekend, for the first time in almost a decade, the Nurburgring will be blessed with the presence of gamers taking on the famous and arduous 24-hour race.
Sim racing YouTuber, Gran Turismo World Series co-host, and GTPlanet member Jimmy Broadbent will be taking the wheel of a special, GT4-aligned category BMW M4 in the race as his own real-world motorsport career continues its upwards tick.
Jimmy is probably best known for his engaging sim racing streams across multiple titles on different platforms, as well as being one of the faces and voices of the GTWS live event broadcasts from around the world. Over the last couple of years though he’s been transferring his virtual skills to the real thing.
For those who’ve not followed him, Jimmy made his real-world debut in 2021 in a Praga R1, a 400hp supercar from the little-known Czech brand. That led to a seat in a one-make series where, in 2022, he won the championship alongside his professional co-driver Gordie Mutch.
Following that success, Broadbent became part of a “streamer” crew driving a Bilstein-sponsored, Black Falcon-prepared BMW 330i in the latter stages of the 2023 Nurburgring Endurance Series (NLS) with fellow Gran Turismo streamer Steve Brown and Nurburgring streamer Misha Charoudin. The team has upgraded to an M4 GT4 for this season, and now includes N24 winner Manuel Metzger as a pro driver.
Preparations for the 2024 N24 have been mixed. Last month the team took class victory in a four-hour race, with Brown taking the lead in the closing stages as he passed W Series regular Beitske Visser, but they’ll enter this weekend’s race a man down.
That’s as a result of Brown being sanctioned by the stewards for after mistakenly speeding under a blanket 60km/h limit imposed for safety (known as a “Code 60”), clocking more than twice that. Unfortunately this one error has the maximum possible consequences, with Brown being disqualified and having his Nurburgring licence revoked. The car must also serve a 90-second stop-and-go penalty after the first lap of the race.
While this might put the team on the back foot it’s unlikely to dampen spirits too much. You can watch the race through the live stream below, and join with the GTPlanet community watching the race live in our forums.
The action gets underway at 4pm local time — 1400 UTC — on Saturday June 1, running twice round the clock to the same time on Sunday June 2.
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