Niepenberg and Hagen claim first RCN class win at Nürburgring

Maya Niepenberg of Etzbach and Marco Hagen of Aachen claimed their first Rundstrecken Challenge (RCN) class win at the seventh round of Germany's premier club racing series, held at the Nürburgring. The pair, aged 32 and 41 respectively, drove the Theisen-run Opel Astra OPC #649 to victory in the R3 category over a 16-lap distance totalling 389.73 km.

Hagen started the race and set the tone with a strong opening stint. "I had a good start, learned from small mistakes in the last race, and had some luck in traffic," Hagen said. "After winning a sim-racing title a few days ago, I've noticed that some weeks everything just clicks. I'm very happy about this first RCN win and grateful to Team Theisen." Niepenberg took over at the halfway point and maintained the lead through to the finish. "The car performed brilliantly and the sunny weather was perfect," she reflected. "The Grand-Prix layout is still quite new to me, but I felt comfortable on the Nordschleife. It's a shame our teammates had such bad luck."

The race saw early drama in the R3 class. Ralf Kraus and Nils Steinberg led from the start in the #48 Astra, with Kraus setting the day's fastest lap at 11:00.2. However, the car suffered a sudden loss of power in the ninth lap and was retired. Tobias Kracht and Simon Overmann then moved to the front in the #50 Astra, with Kracht impressing on his first outing for Team Theisen with a 11:06.2 lap. Overmann's stint ended in disappointment when he completed an extra lap and the car was disqualified. "I got confused with the tear-off sheets—my first mistake in four years of RCN," Overmann said. "I'm very sorry for Tobi, who was driving brilliantly."

A fourth Theisen entry, the #46 Astra of Jürgen Neuhoff and Jan Eisenburger, retired in the second lap with an alternator failure.

In the supporting Gleichmäßigkeitsprüfung (GLP) precision driving event, Junior Max Neuhoff and instructor Manuel Streser achieved their best result to date in another Theisen Astra OPC.

The RCN season concludes on 24 October with the traditional three-hour endurance race, where all four Theisen Opel Astra OPCs are expected to return to competition.