Falken bounces back to win NLS9 in dramatic Nürburgring conditions
Falken Motorsports secured a commanding one-two finish at the 66th ADAC ACAS Cup (NLS9) on Sunday, with Tim Heinemann and Morris Schuring taking overall victory in their Porsche 911 GT3 R from pole position. The sister car of Nico Menzel and Flynt Schuring completed the team's double success, while Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller, and Dylan Pereira rounded out an all-Porsche podium in the #48 LOSCH Motorsport by Black Falcon entry, securing the SP9 Pro-Am class win despite a turbulent race.
Qualifying proved fiercely competitive, with pole-sitter Heinemann setting what he described as a "perfect lap." The top four cars were separated by just 0.460 seconds, with Tobias Müller trailing by a mere 0.020 seconds. Chaos erupted at the flying start in the AMG Arena when Ugo de Wilde's Schubert BMW attempted to pass Menzel on the inside; contact forced Menzel to open his line, and the BMW was subsequently hit and dropped back, eventually crashing out on lap eight at Brünnchen.
As rain fell across the Eifel, the race became a strategic and physical ordeal. Müller endured a particularly dramatic afternoon: he missed a Code 60 board and rear-ended Thomas Schönfeld's VW Golf GTI, earning a drive-through penalty and a bent rim. Later, he spun on the wet track at the ultra-fast Mut-Kurve (Courage Corner) but miraculously caught the car without touching the track limits. "The spin, the drive-through penalty, and so on—I think we can be incredibly proud to be standing on the overall podium here," Müller said at the finish. By the final laps, the circuit had become treacherous; Tim Heinemann reported aquaplaning in every corner and straight, describing conditions as worse than anything he had previously experienced. Nico Menzel likened the closing stages to "driving a speedboat."
Moritz Oberheim (#962 AVIA W&S Motorsport) was named Driver of the Day after a triumphant comeback: forced to sit out Saturday following a practice accident, he claimed pole position and a lights-to-flag victory in the CUP 3 class on Sunday. In the championship battle, the race proved pivotal: the Adrenalin trio of Edoardo Bugane, Yannick Fübrich, and Sven Markert—the season leaders—retired their BMW M240i with a technical failure, scoring no points for the first time this year. Alexander Fielenbach and Oskar Sandberg capitalized by finishing second in CUP3, closing the gap to the leaders to just four points.
In the 2026 Production Car Trophy, Piet-Jan Ooms and Ionuc Catalin Timis (Toyota Supra, SRS Team Sorg Rennsport) took sole possession of the lead in the VT2-RWD class after winning Sunday's race ahead of the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels BMW 330i, establishing a four-point advantage heading into the season finale. The NLS championship will be decided on October 10, 2026, at the 2nd NLS Sportwarte-Trophy (4h). Tickets start at 25 euros, with free admission for children up to age 14, available at VLN.de/tickets or at the box office on race day.