KEY POINTS:
Some would say Dr Greg Taylor and his mates are suckers for punishment. Why would you travel halfway around the world to spend a day and a night howling around an old German racetrack?
The simple answer is Dr Taylor and his Kiwi Team Nurburgring want to win
a hat-trick of class titles in the 24 Hours Nurburgring endurance race this weekend.
"It's a pretty exciting place to be and the team's come together well - it's exciting," said Dr Taylor. "We sort of stand back and think about it - it's the sort of opportunity not many people get in their lives and to be able to do it on a yearly basis is a fabulous privilege really.
"Now we are kind of established, we've been there, we know people and they know us and they make us very welcome."
KTN is fielding two identical Honda Civic Type-R cars and driving duties will be shared among Dr Taylor, Brian McGovern, Tim Martin, Ali Taylor, Michael Eden, Stu Owers, Lewis Scott and Mark Corbett.
The 36th running of the event is around 25km of the toughest and most demanding purpose-built racing track in the world and the course includes the famous northern loop of Nordschleife.
The track is steeped in history where such greats as Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart all rose to the challenge and ruled the circuit.
The Nurburgring also demands huge respect and has witnessed some of the worst crashes and deaths in motor racing history - Nikki Lauda was scarred for life, and Peter Collins and John Taylor died in crashes.
But none of this has deterred the 285 cars vying for the 220 starts available, among them Dr Taylor's KTN cars 240 and 241.
"Qualifying isn't too much of a concern for us," said Dr Taylor. "Keeping the cars intact is the most important. The weather's not looking too good as it's likely there'll be rain and thunderstorms and stuff so it's going to be quite challenging."
As well as finishing first and second in the Group N class last year, the cars finished 60th and 68th overall.
"Realistically, if everything holds together we should be able to get one of the cars in the 50s and the other in the 60s this year," said Dr Taylor. "That's about as fast as these things will go. Eventually you hit the brick wall in terms of trying to get them to go faster. But this place is so challenging that just finishing has to be at the top of your mind."
There is another doctor taking part this weekend as part of a Porsche GT3 team also tackling the "Green Hell". Dr Bruce Stewart is teaming up with Scott O'Donnell, Lindsay O'Donnell and Allan Dipple and their aim, like most, is to finish.
NURBURGRING FACTS
-250,000 spectators turn up to watch.
-A lap takes between nine and 11 minutes depending on the class.
-There are 40 right-hand bends and 33 left-hand bends.
-Previous Kiwi winners include Denny Hulme, Chris Amon and Aaron Slight.
-Parts of the circuit have remained unchanged since it was constructed in 1927.
-Well-known parts of the circuit include the Karussell and the long Dottinger Hohe straight.
-It's one of the largest motoring events with more than 1000 drivers, 700 cars (includes support races for the 24 hour event) and 2000 support crew.