Having completed the lengthy process to earn their racing certification, the pair hope to secure rides in the upcoming ADAC RAVENOL 24 Hours of Nürburgring
NÜRBURGRING, Germany (May 14, 2025) – PT Autosport drivers Alex Sedgwick and Henry Drury have been cleared to race in the 2025 ADAC RAVENOL 24 Hours of Nürburgring, having completed the extensive certification process at the legendary track known as “The Green Hell.”
The goal of PT Autosport is to provide drivers the kind of opportunities they would not otherwise have available to them, in order to further their racing careers. When team management offered Sedgwick (the team’s head of driver development and logistics, competing in the 2025 GT World Challenge America series) and Drury (winner of the team’s inaugural Aspiring Driver Shootout and the 2024 Toyota GR Cup series rookie of the year) the chance to earn their DMSB Permit Nordschleife Grade A and B on the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife – the 12.9-mile behemoth famously called “the Green Hell” by Jackie Stewart – the pair jumped at the chance.
Drury and Sedgwick first completed the process for a “Permit B” which requires online study and in-person driving. Then, they competed in a pair of four-hour Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) races that secured the vaunted “Permit A” that allows them to compete in the 53rd edition of the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring in June.
“Because of what the Nürburgring is, to race in the 24-hour race in a reasonably powerful car like a Porsche Cup car, a GT3, or a GT4, you have to have a specific permit,” explains Sedgwick. “It’s an involved process but Henry and I were able to skip the first part because we have international racing licenses. The permit course starts online, learning about some of the unique rules and procedures at the Nürburgring, including the fact that because of the size of the track, they don’t use safety cars. Once you get that down, you have to pass a test that takes you through all kinds of different scenarios that you could find yourself in on track.
“Once you’re there in person, there is classroom time and a track walk/bus tour,” continued Sedgwick. “And then finally, it was time to get on track. We did some lead/follow, and then we went on an eight-lap run – which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s an hour and a half or so stint. It really does replicate race conditions, in that you’re basically in test day traffic, with the GT3 cars on track with you – 118 cars in total, in 22 different classes, eight cars in our class. We were in the Permit B cars, which are a lower powered car than the GT3s. Henry drove a BMW M240i Cup car and I drove a Porsche Cayman.”
The race permit requires that drivers compete in a minimum of two NLS races (formerly the VLN series), finish at least 20% of the race while showing that they are safe and consistent, and able to handle traffic with no incidents or penalties. In April Sedgwick and Drury competed in the first of two races in a BMW M240i alongside German sports car racer Torben Berger.
The NLS series brings together a multitude of approaches to racing, an aspect that Sedgwick and Drury found quite familiar – and with a familiar result, as the trio earned a podium finish.
“The series features everything from factory Porsches down to a guy and his friends that show up with a car and trailer,” said Sedgwick. “It’s a pretty wild race weekend in that respect, with regular teams and drivers that compete while also a couple of the permit drivers like us spread across a bunch of different cars and classes. It was a crazy race – it started out wet, then we went to dry tires at the end of lap one for the rest of my stint, which was also a good experience. We each passed cars with no real idea of where we were in the standings. I think we finished 56th or 57th overall, and we finished P2 in class.”
Drury and Sedgwick headed back to Nürburgring last week for the second NLS race weekend, duplicating their race one effort with another P2, alongside John van der Sanden – earning their racing permits and a wealth of experience. The team qualified second in class, with Sedgwick taking them to P1 in his stint – despite losing radio transmission to the team, which meant he had to manage pacing, yellow zones and stint length on his own. Van der Sanden had his stint, then Drury brought it home P2.
“It was an incredible experience,” said Drury. “It’s a funny track in that it’s absolutely epic, but utterly terrifying at the same time! Aside from the first NLS weekend, it’s been seven months since I last raced, so I had to shake off a few cobwebs – and what an amazing place to do that. The Up2Race team were brilliant all weekend, giving us a great car which allowed me and Alex to get up to speed quickly and fight for the win from the green flag. We got a bit unlucky in the end and had to settle for P2, but two podiums from two races at the Nürburgring is a great start to our Nürburgring careers!
“It was also a great introduction to the European racing world, having grown up in Europe but never raced there it was interesting to compare the European racing scene and how it operates to North American racing,” continued Drury. “To be able to do my first endurance race and build experience with driver changes, multi class racing, all of that, it was great. I learned a ton.”
As for the future, what does the PT Autosport team hope to happen next?
“Fingers crossed that this opens up some possibilities,” said Sedgwick. “It does build on what I can do with Porsche and what Henry can do with Toyota. Both marques have sizable GT presences at Nürburgring and across GT racing so it’s a good place to be.”
“Like Alex said, this was about opening new doors and starting new relationships,” said Drury. “Everyone wants to do the 24 because it’s one of those pipe dream races with so much history, so it’s a great opportunity for both of us to get a foot in the door and see what might be possible in the future. The bottom line is, this was a great learning opportunity, and a way for both of us to get out in front of manufacturers.”
PT Autosport would like to thank our Partners for their continued support:
Momentum Brewery, founded in NY in 2023, is at the forefront of premium craft brewing for non-alcoholic beer, with their groundbreaking German-engineered “Genius Yeast” process naturally limiting alcohol content to below 0.5% ABV while preserving the authentic craft beer experience. The brewery will debut Race Brew, a new 0.0% ABV beer, in July.
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STEM Racing USA & Canada was developed to introduce students to STEM subjects in the most engaging way possible – through the creation of a miniature F1 car – STEM RACING (Formerly F1 in Schools) is an educational project designed for teachers, informed by engineers, and endorsed by F1. PT Autosport will provide travel assistance for the second and third place finishers in the National Championship to help the teams attend this season’s Aramco STEM Racing World Finals.
New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) is a 500-acre multi-purpose event and entertainment destination located in Millville, NJ. The park includes two world-class road courses, Thunderbolt and Lightning Raceway, two motorsports country club membership programs for cars and motorcycles, and one of the top outdoor karting complexes in the U.S. – Tempest Raceway. PT Autosport is proud to support NJMP’s Drivers Club, with specialized driver training programs and coaching.
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About PT Autosport — Discover Unique Talent. Develop Champions.
PT Autosport is dedicated to providing merit-based motorsport industry opportunities for diverse individuals with high integrity, grit, and coach-ability, achieved through a development program for young aspiring drivers, engineers, mechanics, and other professionals. The first step of this process is applying for the annual Aspiring Driver Shootout, in which aspiring drivers aged 18-23 can compete for a team racing partnership with the team.
A rigorous evaluation process of applicants determines the final competitors for the driver shootout. The winner earns financial support of up to $250,000 ($50,000 guaranteed) to pursue their racing career. The review process also provides the team the chance to identify unique talent for other roles in motorsport, including race engineers, mechanics, and professionals.
PT Autosport is building a community that fosters the development of young talent to find a place where they can make an impact in the motorsport community as a career.
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