Dumbreck steps down

One of the fixtures of the Nurburgring 24 Hours will disappear this year. Peter Dumbreck at the wheel of a Falken-livered GT car has become as much a part of the event as drunken fans and foul weather, but the Scot has decided to step down from driving duties in 2021.

Dumbreck has been part of the Falken Motorsports line-up at the enduro on the Nurburgring Nordschleife every year since 2007, driving a range of Nissan, Porsche and BMW machinery. His best result came with a third overall in 2015 at the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3-R shared with Wolf Henzler, Martin Ragginger and Alexandre Imperatori.

Dumbreck, 47, will move into an ambassadorial and advisory role with the Falken tyre brand. He explained that he has made the decision in conjunction with the team to step back from driving duties for multiple reasons.

“Last year’s race [rescheduled from May to September as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic] was a cold and rainy one: we couldn’t get our tyres switched on in the conditions and it turned into a pretty dismal event for us,” he said. “I’ve maybe lost my mojo for the race a little bit.”

Age was also a factor, he explained:

“I’m at least 15 years older than the next oldest driver in our car, and there are drivers in their early twenties coming into the race every year.”

Dumbreck has stressed that he hasn’t made the decision to retire from the cockpit. “I’m not ready to pull the plug entirely and stop driving altogether,” he said. “We’ll see what the future brings: I might end up racing again, I might not.”