Europe's major carmakers began a continuous endurance contest on Monday, driving a rotating fleet of prototypes around the Berlin ring road in a bid to outpace Chinese rivals. The Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs confirmed that the event will run without interruption until one manufacturer's vehicle remains on the circuit.
Under the rules, each company must hand over a new model to the track every sixty minutes, and any firm that fails to do so is removed from the grid and assigned a shuttle route to the Brandenburg border. Tents have been erected along the verge for the drivers, and a canteen serving bratwurst now runs around the clock beside the Tiergarten exit.
Traffic authorities have closed four lanes of the ring road to ordinary commuters, who have been redirected through the Spandau district on foot. A spokesperson for the ministry described the arrangement as «a fair test of what a European car can do when it is no longer allowed to rest».
Shop owners along the route say the contest has changed daily life completely. A bakery in Charlottenburg has begun opening at three in the morning to serve the mechanics, and a local school has rescheduled all lessons to fit the pit-stop timetable. Officials say the competition will be reviewed once the first car finally stops, which they expect to happen sometime next week.