The Nürburgring 24 Hours is arguably the most challenging endurance race in the world. The difficulty of the 15.7-mile Nürburgring is undisputed. When you add in the other elements of the race, that seems impossible. In recent years, unpredictable weather conditions have brought about all forms of rain, from rain and hail to snow and hail. Drivers must also share a narrow strip of pavement with more than 130 other vehicles. Even so, no motorist can expect an empty KTM to hit their road in flames.
During the sixth hour of the race, a KTM X-Bow pulled off the track at Aremberg. Fire is spewing out the back. As the fire spread, the driver, Felix von der Laden, opened the hatch of the X-Bow but failed to get out of the burning vehicle. When Von der Laden finally climbed out, the wheelchair rolled down the hill toward Fuchsröhre. The fiery X-Bow rolled down the sidewalk before crashing into the fence on the right. The car then raced across the tracks violently and crashed into the Armco fence on the opposite side.
Felix von der Laden described how it played out in an interview:
“Getting close to Schwedenkreuz, I had no power, the gas pressure dropped and that’s when I saw the fire in the rear view camera,” he said. “Then I tried to stop as quickly as possible. At the Aremberg interior latch, I activated the fire extinguisher on the train and stayed in the cockpit for as long as I could because I wanted to hit the brakes. When that didn’t work and there was more and more smoke in the cockpit, I had to get out. The car did not have a handbrake so it rolled. There’s nothing stopping it. “
Retiring early after a 24-hour race is never a good feeling. However, letting your car crash catastrophically and catch on fire is at least a memorable way to get out early.
