The Nürburgring 24 hour race took place from Thursday, 19th of June to Sunday the 22nd at the German Nürburgring circuit. "Rise After Falling", a movie documenting the battles fought by Gran Turismo series producer Kazunori Yamauchi and Schulze Motorsports team-mates, has been released.

Kazunori Yamauchi entered the race again this year as a driver for Schulze Motorsports in the SP9 GT3 category, which is also the class contributing for the overall victory. The car is the same Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 as last year (Car #24), but with completely revised settings from the ground up, providing an entirely new challenge.

Unfortunately, an accident befell on the team almost immediately: during the first qualifier on the 19th, at the exit of an ultra high-speed corner 13 km into the Nordschleife, Yamauchi crashed into a lower class car that blocked his driving line. The car was heavily damaged in the front and lost its right front wheel, with Yamauchi carried to the hospital by an ambulance. Yamauchi fortunately did not suffer any serious injuries, but the damage to the machine was hopelessly severe.

The car was returned to the tent in the paddocks and despite the disastrous conditions of the vehicle, the team's will to race had not wavered even for a second. The team's adamant will to not giving up was inspiring, and support from other teams came in the form of technical help and spare parts: the task that seemed impossible at first became possible. 21 hours from the accident, just 15 minutes before the final qualifier, the engine breathed fire again and the car went on to participate in the final race the following day, successfully completing the 24 hour race. Not only that, the team also marked 14th place overall (11th in class), the highest ranking they ever achieved, above even other powerful customer racing teams.

The video "Rise After Falling" tells the story of the team from the crash in qualifying to the last moments of the race. You can read more about the event on the "Pit Stop" blog article accessible from the Related Link below, where you can watch this movie and also read a recollection of events as seen through the eyes of Yamauchi himself.