The Green Hell showed its demanding side during the seventh round of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie: rain in qualifying, a drying track during the race, a heavy shower in the final third, and a dry surface again at the end. Julien Andlauer and Joel Sturm in the Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R coped best with these tricky conditions. After 27 laps on the 24.358-kilometer combination of the short layout and the Nordschleife, the duo crossed the line 1:26.737 minutes ahead of their teammates. Tim Heinemann and GT3 debutant Benny Leuchter celebrated second place. Completing the podium were Mustafa Mehmet Kaya, Mike Stursberg, and Tobias Müller in the Porsche 911 GT3 R of BLACK FALCON Team EAE. Plenty of attention was also drawn by four-time Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen, who drove the Lionspeed GP Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS to complete the required laps for his DMSB Permit Nordschleife, level A.
From the start, Andlauer and Sturm set the pace. After securing pole position in qualifying, they led every single lap. “It’s always been a dream of mine to race the Falken Porsche on the Nordschleife. To win right away makes it fantastic,” said Sturm. “A perfect start to the weekend.” Leuchter also celebrated his premiere in the Falken Porsche: “You can’t ask for more than to stand on the podium in my very first GT3 race,” the experienced driver said with a smile. Praise came from teammate Heinemann: “What an incredible day. I’m really proud of our two rookies in the team. They delivered an outstanding performance.”
Eleven years and 21 days after his last podium, Stursberg returned to the rostrum. Back then, he shared the Haribo Porsche with Norbert Siedler and Uwe Alzen to finish second. “It feels great to finally be back on the podium,” he said. “And this success was the perfect belated birthday gift for Mehmet, who celebrated just a few days ago.” In addition to third place overall, the Black Falcon trio also secured victory in the Am class of GT3 (SP9). Müller had even more reason to celebrate: in the Cup 2 class of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PETN), he clinched another class win. “I’m honestly speechless. What an incredible day,” he said. For this extraordinary performance, the Euskirchen-based driver was named “Driver of the Race.” The award is presented by the ILN (Interessengemeinschaft Langstrecke Nürburgring) and decided jointly by the NLS race director, Dirk Adorf (Drivers’ Association), and the track commentators.
Fourth place overall meant victory in the Pro-Am category for Christian Krognes, Mateo Villagomez, and Anders Buchardt. Fifth place went to Car Collection Motorsport, making their first Nordschleife appearance of the year. Artur Goroyan and Alex Fontana piloted the Porsche 911 GT3 in Armenian colors. Kiki Sak Nana, Christoph Breuer, and “Dieter Schmidtmann” finished seventh in the Renazzo Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo II.
Max Verstappen completes DMSB Permit Nordschleife
Max Verstappen’s entry in the NLS created an international buzz. For the first time since starting his Formula 1 career, the Dutchman competed in a race outside the premier class. The reason was simple: Verstappen is such a huge fan of the Nordschleife that he used NLS7 to complete the DMSB Permit Nordschleife in category A. He succeeded at the first attempt. In a detuned Cayman from the PETN, he drove 14 laps – meeting the required minimum. The day before, he had completed his DPN training course, which made him eligible to start NLS7 in the “small car.” “I’m happy everything went smoothly and that I got my Nordschleife permit,” said Verstappen. “I really enjoyed it, but that’s always the case here. It was good to experience a race with traffic, both with faster and slower cars. There was also a Code 60 phase, double yellows, and a normal yellow flag. I drove in wet, dry, and mixed conditions. I gained experience in where the grip is and where it isn’t, and I went through a start procedure. It was really valuable to collect more experience on this track.”
Runner-up Leuchter congratulated Verstappen on obtaining his Nordschleife permit: “Fantastic to have such an extraordinary driver here in the Green Hell,” said Leuchter. “I met Max once on track today, and I hope we’ll meet again in the future. I think as a pure racer he must have loved today’s race – Nordschleife in the rain is just the absolute highlight!”
Mijatovic and Wüstenhagen defend championship lead
After seven races, Ranko Mijatovic and Nick Wüstenhagen now sit alone at the top of the standings. The FK Performance Motorsport duo scored their seventh class victory in seven races. Sven Markert, Kevin Wambach, and Adrian Rziczny, who were tied for first in the standings before the race, failed to finish for the first time this year and dropped back to third place in the championship. Moving up to second were Tim Scheerbarth and Arne Hoffmeister, whose second place in Cup 2 of the PETN was enough to climb the table.