For endurance racing fans, there was little opportunity to catch up on sleep in June: within a short period of time, the three legendary 24-hour races at Le Mans, Nürburgring and Spa were on the calendar. A truly mammoth programme that demanded a lot from both fans and drivers.
One of the drivers who took on this challenge was the reigning WEC champion in the LMGT3 class, Joel Sturm. In an exclusive interview with Endurance Archive, he looks back on the days when he got behind the wheel on two consecutive weekends and once again proved his talent. Together with his team, he secured a podium finish in the ‘Green Hell’ and, just a few days later, took pole position in the Gold Cup at Spa. A double success that required not only driving skill but also optimal preparation.
Third place on the Nordschleife
Joel Sturm took to the track at the Nürburgring in the Dinamic GT team’s Porsche 911 GT3 R and delivered an impressive performance together with his teammates Bastian Buus, Matteo Cairoli and Loek Hartog. “Finishing a race like this on the podium, especially when no one expected it, is incredible,” Sturm recalls happily, adding: “The tension in the final minutes gives way to immense joy and relief. At that moment, emotions simply overwhelm everything else and you can only enjoy it.”
Regeneration as the key between races
An endurance race alone is already an enormous physical strain. Competing in two in a row in unusually hot temperatures is a whole different ball game.
“I went into the race knowing that Spa would be more demanding than the Nürburgring. That’s why I paced myself carefully, as I knew that the race would be much more intense with only three drivers.”
In order to be able to give 100 percent again at Spa, he focused on regeneration: “I used the days before the race as best I could to gather my strength and regenerate my body and mind.”
The basis for this was his preparation: “I prepared for the two 24-hour races with intensive training and a lot of simulator work. That was naturally more intensive than before a normal race, but the basic procedure was similar. However, there are also special aspects to consider, such as night training in the simulator and targeted preparation for the limited amount of sleep.”
At both the Nürburgring and Spa, the drivers had to contend with high temperatures during the day and at night. “Hot temperatures are always much more stressful for the drivers in such a long race, as every stint is more strenuous,” explains Sturm.
“Fortunately, we have air conditioning in the Porsche. I usually leave it on all the time, except in exceptional situations such as overtaking manoeuvres or in the last hour of the race when I have to push extremely hard again. If the air conditioning fails, it naturally gets brutally hot in the car – we had that problem at Spa too.”
With his third place at the Nürburgring and pole position at Spa, Joel Sturm has once again proven this summer that he is a specialist in endurance racing who can deliver top performance even under extreme conditions.
Cover photo © Martin.Motorsport, photos 2 & 3 © Porsche Newsroom