Video: On board for a furious VLN lap

This is the first of nine VLN races for 2017. There are usually ten, and if you know that you'll definitely know that they're all held at the Nürburgring. The VLN organisation allows spectactors to view the Nordschleife free of charge, only imposing an entrance fee on the Grand Prix area of the track. But even spectactors at the venue don't get as much of a front row seat as this on board video provides.

Lap one of an endurance event is always a test of patience; the last thing you want to do is take yourself (or anyone else) out so early in a long race. So it proves with Jöns – one of 187 drivers to start the race – staying line astern with the Mercedes-AMG ahead of him, until the long final straight allows him to draw past his opponent.

You can sense the urge to get past for every second of the lap up until that move...