NLS·30 July
Nordschleife 6-hour race: GT3 debuts and emotional comebacks
The KW 6-hour ADAC Ruhr Cup race on 1 August will serve as a pivotal moment in the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie season. Held on the legendary Nordschleife, the event doubles the racing duration of the series' regular 4-hour contests, promising an action-packed day with varied tactical challenges. The entry list reflects the breadth of the series, spanning newly launched GT3 projects, veteran comebacks, and grassroots racing stories. Tickets start at €25, with free admission for children up to 14 years old, available via VLN.de/tickets. A free live stream will be broadcast from 08:15 on VLN.de, with the race commencing at noon. A specially commissioned Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport will headline the weekend as a tribute to the marque's GT4 customer racing heritage. Designed in collaboration between Porsche's Heritage and Museum teams, Weissach motorsport specialists, and Team 75 Motorsport, the car marks the final mid-engined GT4 racer built in Zuffenhausen. Its livery echoes the futuristic architecture of the Porsche Museum. The machine will be piloted by two Nordschleife icons: Timo Bernhard, who has claimed 10 NLS overall victories, and Jörg Bergmeister, a two-time series winner. This marks the first time the pair will share a GT4 cockpit together. In contrast, the Honda Civic Type R entry of Mark Giesbrecht, Frank Kuhlmann, and Michael Flehmer embodies the series' grassroots character. Flehmer boasts 42 class victories and the 2014 NLS overall title; Giesbrecht and Kuhlmann each have 26 class wins. The trio's participation represents an unexpected return after scheduling conflicts forced them to postpone their planned DHLM campaign. "After half a season of inactivity, we simply couldn't sit still any longer," Giesbrecht explained. "If all goes well, we'll add another one or two races to our schedule this season." Ralf Aron, the 28-year-old Estonian Mercedes-AMG Performance driver, will make an emotional racing comeback five months after suffering two fractured vertebrae in a crash at the Bathurst 12 Hour in February. Competing in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL, Aron will share the car with Luca Stolz, the newly crowned 24 Hours of the Nürburgring winner, who celebrates his 31st birthday during the race weekend. "After rehab and intensive training, everything felt just right again from the very first moment during the tests in May," Aron said. The GT3 field continues to expand as the season intensifies. ERA Motorsport, an IMSA-competing American outfit, makes its Nordschleife debut with a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO fielding Kyle Tilley, Adam Christodoulou, and Jake Hill in the SP9 Pro-Am class. Dörr Motorsport returns with a McLaren 720S GT3 driven by brothers Ben and Phil Dörr alongside Nordschleife veteran Volker Strycek. FK Performance Motorsport, the reigning NLS overall champions, enter their first GT3 race with a BMW M4 GT3 Evo crewed by BMW works driver Dan Harper, Leyton Fourie, Maxime Oosten, and Pavel Lefterov. Joos Sportwagentechnik commits to a long-term GT3 programme, fielding a Porsche 911 GT3 R for team owner Michael Joos, veteran Fidel Leib, and Marco Lamsouguer across the remaining four NLS rounds. up2race makes its series debut with a gold-liveried Porsche 911 GT3 R—nicknamed 'Goldy'—in the SP9 Pro-Am class, with DTM driver and former sim racer Tim Heinemann sharing the cockpit with former footballer Oleksii Kikireshko. Team Four Motors fields an international trio in their Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport: Australian WEC driver and Le Mans class winner Yasser Shahin, reigning Porsche Junior Marcus Amand from France, and Enzo Trulli, son of former Formula 1 driver Jarno Trulli. All three are pursuing their DMSB Nordschleife A permit in the Bioconcept racer, the highest authorisation level for future top-class competition. Qualifying runs from 08:30 to 10:00 on Saturday morning, followed by pit and grid walks at 10:20 and 11:10 respectively. The race begins at 12:00. Live coverage is available via VLN.de from 08:15 and via Radio Nürburgring on rpr1.de and the RPR1 app.