May Juha Miettinen‘s name be for a blessing
No one races on the Nürburgring Nordschliefe without knowing its reputation. It’s a dangerous place. That probably only adds to its allure for racing drivers, and that’s why it has such strict licensing and qualifying requirements and mandates so much track time before admitting drivers to its most competitive races, primarily the 24-hour GT race. But the NLS is also — still, if to a diminishing extent — a holdout for the original spirit of road racing: that anyone who dares to show up with competitive equipment deserves a chance to earn their starting spot. This tension sometimes results in tragedy, but that is the tragic tension of motor racing itself.
That tension allows enthusiasts like 66-year-old Juha Miettinen to race the Nordschliefe, and it also puts them in situations such as the one in which he found himself, when (it is suspected) fluids dropped by another car caused a seven-car pile-up at Klostertal, and Miettinen — driving the #121 BMW 325i — lost his life.
Miettinen was a serious enthusiast of sports car racing in general and the Nürburgring in particular, having competed multiple times in the N24 and other events there since 2018, always in a BMW 325i. He loved this place, as all his fellow competitors do, whether they were Formula 1 world champions or devoted amateurs like he was.
The first day’s 24H Qualifiers race was red-flagged for the accident and not resumed. A minute of silence in memory of Miettinen was observed during the formation lap for the following day’s race, which was won by the #16 Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8 LMS GT3, driven by Christopher Haase, Alexander Sims, and Ben Green. The #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Max Verstappen and Lucas Auer charged to the front early under Verstappen’s command, but mysterious front splitter damage sidelined them in the garage and took them out of contention. Verstappen insists he didn’t hit anything.
The racing goes on, but this year’s N24 will be raced in Miettinen‘s memory. I hope to see many tributes to him at the race.