Misha Charoudin is widely known as the Nürburgring legend. With 2.13 million subscribers on YouTube, almost everyone who is into motorsport has heard about him. But the love for cars, content creation and the track all started somewhere.

He will also compete in the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring for BLACK FALCON Team Fanatec in the AT2 class, driving the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car for the first time after having driven the BMW M4 GT4 EVO the year before.

From a Birthday Gift to a Career on the Nürburgring

For the Russian-born driver, the love for cars began at the age of five. “I got a model car from my dad on my birthday and a Lego petrol station.” Charoudin started playing with it and building it, and the passion also came from video games and movies. “I played Need for Speed and watched Fast & Furious movies.”

But that his passion for cars and making content would one day become his job is something he never expected. “Until I was twenty, I never had the idea I could make it this far.”

When the 36‑year‑old content creator moved to the Netherlands, living in Helmond, and later moved near the iconic Nürburgring eleven years ago to start making videos on the track, he never did it for the money. “In the beginning years I never tried that, I just did it because it was fun. Also because people watching and sharing my content liked it. It started on YouTube 15 years ago and turned out to be quite a success.” Only in recent years did it become something he could make a living from. “The last five years it became my job.”

He bought his first race car in 2011. “It was a Subaru Impreza, but after I bought that car the passion became a bit crazy.” When he got the car, he immediately had an idea in mind. “I booked a racing course at TT Assen. The car had 300 horsepower, so for me it was useful to really learn how to drive it. After that, the modding started.”

Misha pushed the car to its limits on track with the goal of making it faster and faster. “Fast forward two years later, I had one of the fastest Subarus in the world on track with 705 hp and 864 Nm, which is still quite unique today.”

The current Black Falcon driver admits he wasn’t one of the fastest, but the car certainly was when he drove at a competitive level. “In European championships I became second, but I had to lower the amount of participation because I lacked money and time. In the end I had to sell the car in parts.” But something unique might happen. “A few days ago I got the offer to buy my first race car back.”

Once ‘Just a Track’, Now a Lifelong Nürburgring Obsession

His love for the iconic track wasn’t there straight away when he lived in Helmond. “I lived one and a half hours away from the track. At that time for me it was just an old circuit in the forest. Zandvoort and Assen were already good enough for me.”

But that changed when a friend called him in 2014 to help a company at the Nürburgring with promotion and social media work. “When I got the offer, I accepted it because I thought it suited me. It was a good challenge and I could do my own thing.” From that moment on, the addiction to the track slowly came. “I started driving alongside people in the passenger seat, later I drove myself.” From 2017 onwards, the addiction truly started.

The Cup Car Challenge: Fast Starts and a Brutal Nürburgring 24 Hours Finish

Last year Misha drove the Nürburgring 24 Hours in the BMW M4 GT4 EVO. This year he is ready to attack the endurance race in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the AT2 class. “The car is a lot faster, but actually in terms of horsepower it’s quite similar. The main difference is the weight, the Porsche is 203 kilos lighter.”

Driving the Porsche was a challenge at first. “This car has a lot of aero at the back but not at the front. You have to do a lot of trail braking, and the balance and the way of driving it was a real task at first.” The Porsche driver first tested the car in Portimão in February this year before going to the Ring. “I spun around ten times in two days.”

Despite that, he and the rest of the Black Falcon team quickly got the hang of it. With two NLS wins this year in the AT2 class, it has been anything but a bad start for the team, which also includes Jimmy Broadbent, Steve Brown and Manuel Metzger. “If you look at our results and lap times, I can say we had a good start. Also, it was always personally a dream to drive this car; a real Cup car. The goal for this race is to win.”

That didn’t quite happen. The team looked strong, leading their class, but after a crash by Steve Brown during the night stint in Wehrseifen, the team had to retire early due to too much damage to the chassis.