MINI is Racing at the Nurburgring 24 Hours And Here’s How You Can Watch

DimON · May 19, 2023

Last year we checked-off something major from our bucket-list in attending the mythical Nurburgring 24 Hours. While the race lived up to the epic expectations, it also featuring the coolest MINI race car potentially ever – Bulldog Racing’s JCW GP. This year Bulldog Racing will not only be fielding that car but a manual MINI JCW driven by none other than the grandson of John Cooper, Charlie Cooper. Here’s how you can watch.

Why the Nurburgring 24 Hours is the Best Race In the World

That’s a heady claim given how many incredible motorsport events there are globally. But the N24 is as much a race as a festival dedicated to cars, culture and the insanity of German race fans. The paddock and the cars were impressive but seeing the crowd and the culture that has built up around this race was unlike anything in the world. Photos and words barely do it justice.

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We’ve driven the track before but to see a race of this magnitude and fans this crazy was unlike any other race we’ve ever experienced. The German fans creativity with camp sites was something we had heard about but still were shocked by. The engineering that went into some of the buildouts were wild and the experience was electric – especially into the night. It was all made even better by how welcoming the entire crowd was.

The race will be broadcast on Youtube via the ADAC channel. It’s available with both German and English commentary with specific videos on the channel recapping portions of the race.

The Bulldog Racing Line-up

Bulldog Racing, MINI’s racing partner for all things Nurburgring has been gearing up for a this year’s 24 Hours of the Nürburgring with two entries. Expanding from last year’s single entry, the team is once again field a GP-like JCW. However new for this year is a manual transmission JCW co-driven by none other than Charlie Cooper, John Cooper’s grandson.

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Fresh off their impressive performances in the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) and RCN, Bulldog Racing is a new manual transmission JCW entry (#126) in the VT2-FWD class. But that’s not all – the beloved red MINI John Cooper Works #112, a fan favorite from last year’s 50th anniversary 24-hour race, has been given a thorough upgrade during the winter break in Nürburg and will be back in action in the SP3T class.

Charlie Cooper (GBR), grandson of John Cooper – the inventor of the iconic Mini Cooper in 1961 – makes his 24-hour race debut. Charlie has already completed two NLS races in 2023 and successfully qualified for his DMSB Permit Nordschleife, so he’s more than ready for the challenge. Look for the rest of the driver line-up and technical details of the race cars set to be announced at a later date.