Hyundai Elantra N dominated the 2021 Nürburgring 24 Hours with a win in its class

At this year’s gruelling and somewhat chaotic Nürburgring 24 Hours, Hyundai Motorsport fielded three cars in the race, a Hyundai Elantra N TCR, a Hyundai i30 N TCR, and a near-production Hyundai i20. The pair of TCR cars dominated the TCR class and finished in the top two.

The Elantra N TCR shared by Marc Basseng, Manuel Lauck, and Moritz Oestreich took pole position ahead of the i30 N TCR which consisted of Luca Engstler, Hendrick Still, and Jean-Karl Vernay.

Throughout the race, the weather kept changing as a downpour forced many teams to be wiped out over the deteriorating conditions. At the sixth-hour mark, the race had to be stopped as fog descended on the famous 25 km Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit known also as the Green Hell.

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After 14 hours, the race resumed and the pair of Hyundais lost their leading positions, only for the moment. With a great strategy and a performance advantage, Hyundai managed to regain its lead in class and finished the competition in 35th and 36th overall.

Meanwhile, the near-production i20 N finished the race 97th overall. The team, which consisted of Marc Ehret, Kai Jordan, Markus Lungstrass, and Guido Naumann, showed the strong performance and reliability of what was essentially a close representation of the road-going hot hatch.

Finishing what is one of the most gruelling endurance races in the world in the most famous and dangerous race circuit is an achievement indeed. Hyundai’s 1-2 victories in its class are proof that there is a new letter that the motorsports world should notice and it comes right after BMW’s M.

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That being said, the Elantra N TCR is far different from the actual Elantra N that was unveiled yesterday. Hyundai’s newest hot sedan is packed with plenty of performance (280 PS/392 Nm), and best of all, it comes with a good ol’ 6-speed manual gearbox. Who says manuals are irrelevant these days?

Also read: Priced from RM 117k in Korea, 2021 Hyundai Elantra N debuts with 6MT, 280 PS/392 Nm