Posts

Posted on

RCN-GLP #3 Venntrophy

Visibility is optional

Our drivers headed once again to the beautiful Eifel region in search of cooler temperatures during a Europe-wide heatwave. And they were all but disappointed!

New experiences were the norm for this race weekend, starting with Driver #2’s new responsibility of picking up the mighty #157 E46 and driving it safely to technical inspection (if he was writing this article he would point out that the aircon was not working which made this task particularly difficult with an outside temperature of 30 degrees, but of course he endured this excruciating pain without a single complain).
This was followed with the prompt arrival of a refreshed Driver #1 who, as you may guess, had aircon.

But only a few minutes after our drivers were reunited, disaster struck.
A blood-thirsty maniac in a luxury electric sedan panicked when asked by technical inspection staff to reverse and make way for a recovery vehicle, leading to a multi-euro cents crash (at least for the #157 E46) at astonishing speeds north of 3km/h.

After carefully evaluating the material, physical, and emotional damage, all decided to part ways and carry on with an even more stressful activity… technical inspection!
Gladly, all went well and H2R learned even more about administrative procedures for vehicles in Germany.

Carrying on with novelty and as a way to relax, our drivers practiced for the upcoming event in a front wheel drive car, as one never knows what trick a BMW could decide to pull overnight. A beautiful lap, with aircon, before a well deserved rest at a nearby luxury resort.

The following day did not disappoint. Having lost about 15 degrees in outside temperature overnight our drivers gladly suited up and somehow Driver #2 did not once mention the words “air conditioning” for the whole day.

GLP competitors lined up on a very wet track as the rain continued to fall. Driver #1 was waved off and took on the Green Hell in slippery conditions, avoiding the normal racing line at all cost and navigating through traffic and spun-out cars to reach the end of the out-lap in one piece. All this was achieved during peak windscreen wiper mating season which affected visibility and nerves upon each partial wipe that windscreen wiper #1 delivered

Despite the distraction Driver #1 kept it between the white lines and delivered 3 consecutive ‘Nullrundes’ (confirmation laps with errors below 0.5 tenths of a second!) that were later acclaimed by GLP organisers. A mighty performance worthy of the Expert class, but let’s not get carried away too soon, as this is a team event, and Driver #2’s concentration seemed more affected by the vigorous wiper action than he would admit…

Check out the masterclass in the full event video on Youtube !

Taking over after Driver #1’s exemplary performance, it was time for Driver #2 to get acquainted with the tricky conditions as the rain kept pouring over the track.
Aside from minor wake-up calls the car remained once again between the white lines, as competitors cracked under the pressure of being chased down by the #157 E46 and its triple digit horsepower (116 to be precise).

Can’t park there mate! But hope you’re OK!

Driver #2 disappointingly did not carry on with ‘Nullrundes’, and instead produced confirmation lap errors worthy of a one-way ticket back to Rookie class… Talk about cracking under pressure…
Yet it was not a complete failure as errors remained sufficiently thin to bring H2R to the highest step of the podium in this event!
Obviously, Driver #2 will have to pay for beers and serve hours of unpaid work for the sponsor to regain the team’s trust, but until then it’s all smiles at H2R headquarters !

Big thanks to TherapyLift, to our families, and our friends for supporting the journey, see you next time in June with a brand new windscreen wiper as the previous one is now on marternity leave.

Posted on

RCN-GLP #2 “Did you bring the key” Schloss Augustusburg Brühl

GLP is a competition of pure precision, every meter counts when you aim to complete identical consecutive laps around the Nordschleife. Our long term fans are of course familiar with the concept.

Our team of experienced drivers prepare the weekend with the utmost diligence, reviewing every step, every procedure, every document…

Did I say every detail?

Saved by the kind mechanic who offers a parking space, and a backup key, for the #157 E46 ‘not a keyless‘ 316i, our drivers met at technical inspection on the Friday evening ready for the usual quick and efficient process.

With the sun still shining over the Eifel region, our drivers discussed what to do after the inspection, including the possibility of going for ‘Tourist’ laps, or alternatively going to celebrate Driver #1’s birthday while working on their tan.

None of those things happened…

Due to the aforementioned ‘detail’, arrival at the tech inspection was greeted by a waiting line worthy of a H2R fan signing session, which shattered all hopes of going for Touristenfahrten, and forced our drivers to consume the birthday presents of Driver #1 instead, under the moonlight.

Back to racing now! Having once again passed technical inspection with flying colors, drivers headed to the track with victory in mind for this first event in the Advanced category. This year, Advanced drivers collect penalty points for every 0.05 seconds difference in their confirmation laps (if you still do not know what a confirmation lap is, then I’m afraid you have to start reading these posts from the beginning!).

Ideal conditions and ideal driving, with strict tire squeal scrutiny, respect of the (many) code 60’s and yellow zones, only a little bit of mayonnaise spilling from Driver #2’s sandwich in the glove-box, and minimal provisional penalties meant that our drivers were confident to achieve a good result in this event.

Dreams could have been destroyed by a pee break, as the team exceeded the maximum in-lap / pit stop / out-lap time by 21 seconds. Luckily, RCN-GLP organizers realized that they would have to return too many trophies if this rule was applied, and decided to remove this requirement altogether, bringing H2R drivers great relief, just like the pee break.

All these event ended well, as the team finished P2 in the Advanced class, and P6 overall!
A brilliant result with only 2.7 penalty points (for those who follow and actually read, that means a little more than 5 tenth of a second of cumulative error over 6 confirmation laps!).

To watch the magic in action, go and watch the complete onboard video here (pee break not included).

The season is still long, and as H2R is still aiming for the top position in the Advanced class this is an ideal start! Stay tuned for the next events, and take a look at the company that makes all of this possible, our dear and generous sponsor: TherapyLift

In the meantime, and to prepare for the season ahead, H2R continued its virtual road to success by achieving 3rd place in the iRacing Nürburgring 24h race! Congratulations to all the drivers involved who kept going through the many hurdles and delivered a consistent and clean drive to reach the podium!

Posted on

H2R is back! … home

After a winter break that felt like an eternity, the fan’s favorite #157 is back for the 2026 RCN-GLP season aiming to top the rankings in the Advanced class

While no racing took place since October, the team stayed busy all winter long with intense preparation for the upcoming season. H2R drivers kept improving their strategic thinking and driving abilities in the treacherous Mabutts Valley of ‘RV There Yet?’, but also kept a focus on track time with a trip to Zandvoort, although they later reported that they were bored due to the limited amount of corners per lap.

2025 was concluded with the happiest addition to the H2R team headcount, and no, this time it isn’t a BMW, but rather a Driver #1.1 !

Well actually, there was also another BMW added to Driver #1’s collection, but that’s not the point.

All these exciting events bring us to 2026.

Having survived a winter in Berlin, the mighty E46 316i decided to behave like a true race car and demanded its budget reflect that status. Gladly and thanks to the generosity of H2R’s sponsor, Therapy Lift, the car was restored to its 2025 glory, although it may have appeared that critical components had failed and had to be compensated by driver talent all along.

Locked and loaded, the team headed to the first event of the season, GLP #1 Bergischer Schmied. After a couple of practice laps in Touristenfahrten and wrapping up the last transponder and electronics setup on the car, the drivers enjoyed a light meal in Adenau’s Pinocchio pizzeria.

Fate struck the team and the entire paddock the following morning, as snow started to fall heavily during driver’s briefing. Despite waiting for conditions to improve the race was eventually called off due to the risk of avalanche, leaving all drivers disappointed but even more eager to return in April with hopes of better conditions!

Posted on

It’s a wrap!

After an intense season in the Rookie class, H2R claimed the highest step of the podium in overall season ranking.

The battle went on to the last event where H2R outperformed the title contenders, resulting in a thin but decisive lead in total points scored this season.

A performance that was rewarded with a festive and well-geared award ceremony where H2R was glad to welcome its closest fans and sponsor representatives for a few drinks and delicious food in the (appropriately named) Bitburger event center.

While this victory only marks the beginning of H2R’s journey towards the Grail of motorsports that is the 24h of Nürburgring, it shows the team’s dedication and relentless quest for improvement in this highly competitive environment.

Preparation for next year has already started as our drivers and team get ready to tackle the challenge in the Advanced class, seeking more trophies to ensure the newly-acquired shelves serve their true purpose.

In the meantime, H2R wishes all its fans, sponsors and closed ones a warm and festive holiday season

Auf Wiedersehen!

Posted on

RCN-GLP #7 – Klingentrophy

Finishing the season in style, and in P1!

This last event of the 2025 season had it all: uncertain weather, performance anxiety, technical inspection-fueled nervous breakdown, and last minute strategy discussions for which 3 combined Masters degrees did not seem to be enough.

It was with (too) much confidence that the drivers pulled into the dedicated pit box of the Nürburgring Grand-Prix track for technical inspection. The emotional roller coaster of the early season inspections still had a couple of corners and loops in stock for H2R as the marshal pointed out an inconsistency between the car’s document and the wheels that were mounted onto it.

Panic transformed Driver #1’s face in this all-too-familiar situation (it would have transformed Driver #2’s face as well, but there is still a long way to go with Duolingo for this to happen)…
Fortunately, this reaction was enough to satisfy the marshal’s sadistic appetite, as he eventually advised to have the documents adjusted and cleared the Mighty E46 316i for takeoff.

One of the many hurdles had been overcome, but it was now time to step into the unknown, for this last event took place exclusively on the (tiny) 5.148km Grand Prix track layout.
This also meant that instead of 1 “set lap” followed by 3 consecutive “confirm laps”, the challenge was now based on blocks of 3 laps counting as the “set lap”.
These then had to be confirmed by 4 blocks of 3 “confirm laps” by Driver #1, and “only” 3 blocks for Driver #2 who saw this as an ultimate attempt to stop him from turning the Michelin Pilot Sport tyres into slicks.

The drivers’ briefing that followed echoed the hours of preparation and meticulous planning that took place behind the scenes in H2R’s secret headquarters, a Teamspeak server hosted in an undisclosed location and password protected to ensure the confidentiality of what would be a winning strategy.
But haunting thoughts started to invade the drivers’ minds, would this be enough? Would there be enough time to compute the holy deltas? How should those 3 laps be handled in terms of pace…?

This triggered a last minute discussion (which in all fairness should have been the core focus of Teamspeak calls, rather than computing all the possible ways in which H2R could finish the season in P1). It quickly became clear that Driver #2 lacked the basic Maths skills required to drive this operation, as he attempted to convince the team to include a 0-sum operation in the calculations (yes, apparently if you add a number to a total and then substract it from that total, you might as well do nothing at all!).
Fortunately, the great minds at H1R came up with a modus operandi and the discussion came to a close. Good that Driver #2 brought sandwiches to compensate for this embarrassing contribution.

Eager to impress the VIP guest representative from their sponsor Therapy Lift, both drivers sat in silence waiting for the traditionally delayed start, ironically announced with the waving of the German flag.

Following the rather chaotic event (although miraculously there were no actual incidents), the drivers regained the pits where the sponsors over-delivered again and greeted them with refreshments and sandwiches while waiting for the results.

It was announced at the start of this article, but once again, H2R made P1 in class, and with that, managed to steal victory in the Rookie class for the season overall by a very thin margin! Congratulations to all other participants who fought hard throughout the season, without suspecting that the drivers who celebrated a P10 trophy in the first event as if it was a World Title would become their Nemesis.

The most hardcore fans will have noticed already, but in an attempt to spread confusion among the competition and diversify risk, Driver #1 was impersonated by our dear TherapyLift sponsor representative to collect the trophy for this event!

As the season results ceremony approaches, it is time to reflect on all the great achievements of this year. The off-season will be a busy one, but H2R will continue to focus on delivering results for its sponsors, its fans, and the family and friends that supported the team during this amazing journey!

Photo credits: Tatjana Schmidt

Posted on

Did you know ?

H2R also stands for “Holiday 2 the Ring” !

During some well deserved time off between exhausting RC-GLP weekends the H2R team drivers took their <private trackcars/ex-daily drivers, although the E91 is further along the track-car transformation than the E90> to the Nordschleife to experience the most terrifying thing that the iconic track has to offer: Touristenfahrten.

Ironically taking place at the same time as a daily commute, this melting-pot of performance cars and beat-up rolling coffins was the perfect place to practice driving on the North Loop in what could one day be H2R’s official racing car, the mighty E90 325i. [send money here to see it happen]

Navigating through the variety of cars and the even higher variety of driver skills was not the key challenge on the first visit of the week (second visit for driver #1 who took it on himself to go the day before to make sure all 157 corners were still there).
Driving on a wet track with 100hp more than the #157 316i was the key challenge here! Using their experience and hours of iRacing practice to find dry patches of tarmac on the counter-intuitive wet line and only occasionally “YOLO”-ing a few corners, both drivers made it out unscathed to witness the night fall onto the Eifel region.

The following day was back to boring sunny conditions, and somehow 5 times more cars on track, as if most drivers were scared to get their semi-slicks wet!
This second day still delivered valuable lessons, it quickly became obvious that the E46 316i is the weapon of choice for RCN-GLP due to its ability to match minimum lap times almost perfectly, requiring only a handful of seconds at a standstill to meet the series time requirements. On the other hand the mighty E91 325i driven by driver #1 would need to be fitted with a bed to at least offer the option of taking a nap during the 5 minutes it would have to stay stationary each lap.

All in all an enjoyable set of Touristenfahrten sessions, lots of learning for both drivers and a chance to drive the interesting part of the track before our last RCN-GLP event at… The Nürburgring Grand Prix track. Enjoy the pictures!

Posted on

RCN-GLP #6 – Erftquellenpreis

Let’s cut to the chase, H2R made P1 in class!

While consistency seemed set to P10 early in the season, the team has now found the way to reach the highest step of the podium for the second time in a row despite difficult weather conditions at the beginning of the event on Sunday morning.

Fans stormed to the track the previous day to witness the efficiency with which H2R underwent documents and technical checks for the #157 E46 316i, or maybe was it to watch Max Verstappen racing in NLS? Nobody knows.

Regardless, all administrative tasks were completed in a record 18 minutes, coincidentally the same duration as the maximum allowed lap time for this latest RCN-GLP event which was took place on the VLN setup, i.e. including a portion of the Nürburgring Grand Prix track.

Car #157 could now drive past the thousands of admirers and fans displaying its shiny new “Technik 6” sticker

Having all safety features of the vehicle inspected and cleared by technical marshals was comforting when it came to face the wet and foggy track that greeted H2R drivers on Sunday morning.

After a 1h delay the flag was waived and drivers were released onto the track, mainly under yellow flags given the poor visibility and the slippery track surface.

Driver #1 went on to brilliantly and consistently drive the #157 car around the wet track as the fog started to clear out, setting and confirming his laps with the slightest of deviations. Aside from a slight peak in heart rate due to a sudden lack of grip in Adenau (i.e. one of the few places where a concrete wall replaces the usual armco barriers) it was all fast and smooth.

As driver #2 took over the fog had cleared entirely and the sun was shining again above the Eifel.
Once again, aside from a minor tyre squeal in Eschbach and navigating a couple of code 60’s it was a smooth and consistent drive to bring the car home with a focus on maintaining the smallest possible deviations between “set lap” and “confirmation laps” at the finish line.

All these efforts and consistency paid off as the team secured P1 in the Rookie class and P7 of 91 overall !

However it soon appeared that P1 had to be shared with another team that not only scored the same amount of penalty points, but did so in the exact same laps as H2R !

The rules and regulations state that in the event of an equal score, whichever team received its penalty last is awarded P1, unfortunately as stated above, all deviations happened on the exact same laps and with the same order of magnitude.
Congratulations to the co-P1 team!

The team is now getting ready for the last event of the season which will take place on the Nürburgring Grand Prix track.

Many thanks to H2R sponsors and all the friends and family that support this amazing experience, see you on October 24th for more heroic E46 316i racing.

Posted on

RCN-GLP #5 Rhein-Ruhr

0,1/0,0/0,0/0,1/0,0/0,0

No, this isn’t binary code…

These are H2R’s #157 penalty points in RCN-GLP #5, depicting a total of 0,2 seconds difference between reference and confirmation laps overall !

Hard work finally paid off and the team reached the highest step of the podium in the Rookie category!

But that’s not all! Not only did H2R win in the Rookie class, the team would also obtained a better score than the winner of the Advanced class for this event!
This result translated in a P9 (out of 96) overall, enough to consolidate P2 in the season standings and to put a bright smile on the driver’s faces.

The team and the car behaved all too well for this 5th event, so much that there is little to write (and complain) about ! Still, this top result did not come effortlessly.

After witnessing the total vanishing of rear brake pads in the previous event, Driver #1 transformed into Mechanic #1 for a brief moment and restored car #157 to its former “brakes all around” glory.
This meant technical inspection went smoothly, aside from the unusual request to “open the boot” which uncovered enough equipment to swap the engine altogether and was greeted with “please close this before anyone else sees it” from the (kind) technical inspector.

After an all-too-familiar start of the day at 6:00am the following morning, the team was given a proper welcome by the Eifel region on their way to the track, as if nature wanted to give H2R a glimpse of its beauty during a 24h race…

Once both drivers regained their concentration following this obscene display of natural sexiness, it was time to hit the track!
Corner after corner the car behaved flawlessly, and despite a self-inflicted scare on fuel usage, all laps driven were enjoyed to the maximum by both drivers.

All good things must come to an end, and it was with high expectations that the team waited for the results…Which, if you read above, did not disappoint!

Once again H2R is immensely grateful to its sponsors, TherapyLift, ABCO, and an undisclosed philanthropist.
The team is looking forward to further rewarding their trust by continuing to fight for the top step of the podium and for “bombastic” results according to RCN-GLP’s committee.

More details on the event are available on RCN-GLP’s newspost, which comes with car #157 as featured photo!

Posted on

RCN-GLP #4 – Bergischer Schmied

Who needs brakes on a race track ? Definitely not the #157 car…

After a well deserved summer break, and an even more deserved brake service (which happened to take place in the wilderness of Nurburgring 24h camping site), our drivers and the precious E46 316i came back to the Nurburgring for another regularity challenge on the combined VLN layout.

Confidence was high, both for technical and document checks (where H2R team’s administrative readiness was celebrated by the organisers) and for the event itself.
Car #157 was not only given a premium brake change, it also received intimate scrubbing ahead of the event to shine in its brightest colors.

After receiving the honorary “Technik” sticker for the 4th consecutive time, it was time to hit the road under perfect sunny conditions.
Accuracy in the regularity of confirmation laps was dramatically improved with the help of a more precise GPS/time delta application, but also with the help of hours of simulator training (half of which were spent reversing to the start point in order to practice the ultimate kilometer from the waiting spot on Döttinger Höhe until the finish line).


As per tradition, driver #1 took the start and drove to perfection while navigating through traffic, using his experience of Dutch highways to overtake Rookie drivers as if they were caravans on their way to the South of France…

What followed was an exemplary drive and regularity, despite the GPS device sometimes misbehaving as the car approached the finish line. Driver #1 set a lap time of 15:17.220 which was confirmed with gaps of 0.2, 0.7 and 0.9 seconds in the next laps, a performance worthy of the “Advanced” class!

<insert smug face here>

After a quick glance at the fuel gauge our drivers decided not to add any fuel in the pits, once again proving the ecological prowess of the 316i having barely used half its fuel despite being pushed to the limit for 6 consecutive 25km laps.

As driver #2 took the wheel most participants were stuck at the fuel pump, allowing for an out lap with barely any other car in sight.
Internal competition between the drivers of the #157 car meant driver #2 was yet again under pressure to keep his seat for the following season, and after setting a 15:10.360 lap time, driver #2 confirmed it with a 0.1s gap

<insert even more smug face here>

Yet driver #2 still had 2 confirmation laps to deliver, and although investigations did not uncover any evidence of tampering from driver #1, problems started… Some say the mighty 316i decided that a bit of extra challenge was required.

Upon arrival in the waiting zone ahead of the 2nd confirmation lap, drivers heard a slightly unusual noise, similar to the delicate roar of Godzilla. This later turned out to come from the rear brakes, or what was left of them despite being brand new at the start of the event.

This meant that driver #2 had to carry on, hoping that track marshals would not wave the meatball flag of death, all of this while avoiding to hit the brakes as much as possible.
… There is no feeling like driving over Schwedenkreuz at 160km/h, and hoping the car will slow down in the next corner 150m further!

This slight hiccup seemed to have taken a toll on driver #2’s concentration as he obliterated any chances at a top 5 in class with gaps of 1.1 and 1.2 seconds on his next confirmation laps

<insert sad face here>

Nevertheless car #157 ended up 9th in class out of 49 participants, and while a 7th place was initially announced in preliminary results, a decision from the organisation committee to dismiss the 45mns pitstop-time rule meant that 2 teams that were initially disqualified pushed H2R down to 9th.

A net improvement on past results in spite of everything, and a bright smile on both driver’s faces as they collected their trophy.

On to the next event with even better preparation, and a sophisticated NASA GPS tracker to reach top 5 in class!

H2R is grateful to all its sponsors and the people that support the team throughout this journey

Posted on

RCN-GLP #3 Schloss Augustusburg Brühl

June 2025 was not marked by consistency for H2R but rather by a rollercoaster of results and emotions.

The team barely had time to recover from a brilliant but sleepless performance in the iRacing Nurburgring 24h when it was time to put on the the real helmets for more RCN-GLP track action.

Considerate of H2R’s schedule, RCN-GLP’s organisation committee planned this third event on the Saturday afternoon as opposed to previous events that started at 8:00AM.

This meant technical inspection was carried out in the morning leading to the event. Eager to avoid the thrills of previous inspections, H2R engaged in a logistical challenge to get the mighty #157 E46 316i through TÜV to officially register the wheels and tyres, hence protecting society at large from the 5mm of tyre overhang.

This meant a great deal to the drivers who had carefully practicted their smug face (see picture above) for technical inspection with the dear hope that they would meet the inspectors who bullied and belittled the #157 so far.

It was nothing like in their dreams… Technical inspection happened with as much scrutiny as a pat-down on a hot day and the #157 was granted its technical inspection sticker without remarks!

What followed was essentially an air-conditioning contest as the 100+ cars took to the track with the traditional slight delay that characterizes RCN-GLP.

Driver #1 delivered a brilliant stint, fighting his way through traffic and practicing “pass on the curb” with Rookie cars to teach them the ways of the North Loop, scaring Porsche GT3s out of his way and above all, maintaining enough RPMs to keep the airco nice and cool.

After a short break and a quick chat with the motorsport equivalent of Yoda (salutations to Christopher from Motorsport Akademie), Driver #2 took over and drove the following laps without too much tyre squeal to show Driver #1 that he deserves to be extended for another season. Yet Driver #2 still has room for improvement, particularly with keeping the revs below 3000RPM when pulling away from the parking space on Döttinger Höhe.

Unfortunately the accumulation of heat and dizziness from the height of the 3rd step of the iRacing podium meant the team could not consistently deliver another P10 in class, and had to settle for P14 this time.

Needless to say H2R will be back stronger than ever in August to continue delivering top-tier performance and consolidate their top 5 position in the overall RCN-GLP 2025 Rookie rankings!

In memory of those 4 trophies that weren’t collected by their owners