Excitement, thrills and perfect weather conditions – the Nürburgring Drift Cup 2026 offered all of this. Under a brilliant blue sky, the drivers shrouded the famous Müllbachschleife in thick tyre smoke one last time this year. At the end of a thrilling weekend, Roene Zwanenburg (PRO) and Janis Spohner (OPEN) triumphed in the day’s class standings, whilst Zwanenburg and Cedric Luyckx claimed the coveted championship titles.
In the PRO class in particular, the composition of the championship podium remained in the balance right up to the very last second. Dylan Mougenot and Niels Visser finished the season level on points, with Visser being awarded second place in the overall standings as he had won one race during the season.
However, it was Roene Zwanenburg who stood at the very top of the podium, having undergone a remarkable development. “We had a few difficulties in the competition last year, but still managed to secure third place overall,” explained the newly crowned champion. “This year, we’ve been continuously improving the car. Yesterday, we were still tinkering with the gearbox until four in the morning to get it ready for the event. The team gave it their all during night shifts to find even more grip. Today, the car was set up absolutely perfectly.”
The road to the PRO title: Zwanenburg dominates in the BMW
Zwanenburg capped off his championship with a magnificent victory at the season finale. In his striking, 650 PS BMW E46, he already demonstrated nerves of steel during qualifying. In the round of the top 32, he comfortably beat Steve Rinsoz before facing Janis Spohner in the round of 16, who had bravely competed in both classes that weekend. Spohner, who was leading the duel, made a mistake in the hairpin and knocked over a cone. In the following run, he made slight contact with Zwanenburg due to an unfavourable angle, which paved the way for the Dutchman to reach the top 8.
There, Zwanenburg benefited from his opponent Gregoire Du Pasquier spinning out, before facing Kenneth Konz and his brutal 1,400 PS Mazda MX5 LSX Turbo in the semi-finals. Whilst Zwanenburg hit his line flawlessly, Konz ended up in the gravel trap on the approach to the roundabout. In the subsequent battle for third place, Konz was ultimately beaten by Hendrickx Kain.
Awaiting him in the grand final was Jan-Eric Seeber, who lined up in his eye-catching ‘sabre-toothed tiger’ wrap. Seeber literally had a tough time against Zwanenburg. After Seeber briefly left the track at the Goodyear bend, clutch failure ultimately forced him to retire early. However, Zwanenburg was not about to send the fans at the Nürburgring into the winter break with a final race lacking in competition. He delivered a spectacular, smoke-filled solo lap with maximum drift angle, which left the crowd in awe.
Seeber, who finished the race despite the technical failure, remained positive nonetheless: “For me, it was the first race this year with the new car,” he summed up contentedly. “It was a great first outing. The fact that we lost the clutch in the final just shows that we still need to do a bit of fine-tuning. However, being named the most exciting driver is a bit of a balm for my soul.”
OPEN class: Spohner’s test run ends in victory
In the OPEN class, Spohner caused a sensation. He hadn’t actually planned to compete in both categories again after the second race of the season, but he decided to take part in the Nürburgring Drift Cup.
“It was the last race of the season and we’d made a lot of changes to the car,” the German explained his decision. “I simply wanted to test the car under competitive conditions one last time before the next season. All in all, it was absolutely the right decision and it was a massive amount of fun.”
On his way to the final, Spohner benefited from his consistency. In the semi-final, Kevin Paefgen engaged in a fierce duel with him. Paefgen produced the best chase run of the weekend in the CLUB category. Nevertheless, Spohner progressed to the final, whilst Paefgen successfully prevailed against Jan Gerrit Toonen in the third-place play-off to secure a place on the podium.
The final between Spohner and his opponent Randy Congedo really put the judges through their paces. Judge Jo Lammens could hardly stay in his seat. In the end, Spohner was declared the winner on the basis of his better lead run, as Tiziano Colpaert explained.
Although the German won the final weekend, the applause for the entire season went to Luyckx in his spectacular BMW 130 “Diesellok”. Although he was forced to retire in the top 16 of the final due to massive technical problems, his points lead was enough to secure the championship title.
“We had too much back pressure in the cylinder head and, to top it all, the gearbox failed as well,” said Luyckx, offering a level-headed analysis of his misfortune on the final day. However, his delight at the overall victory far outweighed this: “I’m over the moon. Ten years ago I dreamed of this; now I’ve been competing in the championship for two years and have clinched the title straight away. It’s a fantastic feeling.”
A positive assessment from the organiser
Organiser Andy Jaenen also gave an extremely positive assessment of the 2026 season: “I’m incredibly satisfied with the standard of driving. We’ve seen some fantastic head-to-head battles. We slightly modified the track layout for the last two rounds, which worked wonderfully and made the show even better. I’m particularly pleased that more and more spectators are finding their way to our events. That shows us we’re on the right track.”
The 2026 Nürburgring Drift Cup is now in the books, but the promoter, Skylimit Events, will not be taking a break. This autumn and winter, Jaenen and his team will be preparing for the 2027 season, in which the legendary Nürburgring will once again be transformed into one of Europe’s most spectacular drift arenas.