That’s right, I ain’t joking. I’m not sure whether I should be proud of a German institution pushing boundaries like this, or absolutely horrified. But here’s the nitty-gritty of how it’s gonna work, as per the article published today on the official NLS website (link at bottom).
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Just owning a racing license (of any level, even Super, ask Max Verstappen) doesn’t let you hit the Nordschleife during an NLS (VLN) race. We all must do something called the Driving Permit Nordschleife, which comes in two flavours, B or A.
To get your Permit B, it was normally acquired by racing 15 laps in RCN (two races in a two-driver car, or one race driving solo) OR, as Max Verstappen did, by completing a specialist Nordschleife Permit course. The reasons are various, but the simple distillation is that it prepares you for multi-class racing with huge speed differentials and very specialist rules applicable only to the Nordschleife (Yellows, Double Yellows, Code 60s and how to overtake safety cars, because we do that here!).
BUT NOW the Digital NLS, a pay-to-enter Digital version of the NLS championship can be your springboard to your Permit B as well!
If you’re an FIA Int-D license holder, and you complete 3 out of the 4 official DNLS races on iRacing without penalties, you can then apply for your Permit B.
In addition, back in the real-world, the lap-requirement for the RCN route has also been halved. So now completing just one stint in RCN without penalties will qualify you for racing in NLS too.
Ultimately, all this is great news for local teams who would love to arrest the dwindling entry numbers we’ve seen into VLN (ahem, NLS, I mean) that we’ve seen over the last 15 years.
If you want to talk more, you can even get in touch with me, as my day job is working at just such a local Nurburgring NLS and RCN team, putting my own past experience as an NLS class champion and DMSB Permit Instructor to work with Jacos-Paddock.com.
(SOURCE NLS.DE)