NLS

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.

Nico Menzel and Sven Müller claimed a dramatic victory in the sixth round of the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, crossing the finish line in their new Dunlop Porsche 911 GT3 R with a margin of just 0.319 seconds after 4 hours 9 minutes 46.280 seconds. The pair's triumph marked Menzel's fifth NLS career win and Müller's seventh overall, decided in a tense final sprint under midsummer heat that tested both drivers and machinery on the Nordschleife. Jens Klingmann and Robin Frijns in the Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO finished second after 27 laps, while the Pro-Am entry of Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller and Dylan Pereira in a Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO from 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON secured third place. The result was shaped by early pit stop strategy: both the winning Porsche and second-placed BMW made their first stops on lap six, while most rivals stayed out until lap seven, allowing the pair to establish control. A rear-left puncture for the Falken Motorsports Porsche of Klaus Bachler and Tim Heinemann on lap 21 eliminated another podium contender, handing third to Black Falcon. In the BMW M240i Racing Cup class, Sven Markert, Edoardo Bugane, Tim Lukas Müller and Yannick Fübrich won by 1.028 seconds in car 651 for Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels, taking sole leadership of the championship with 60 points. Their rivals Oskar Sandberg and Alexander Fielenbach crashed on the Schwalbenschwanz section and retired early, allowing the Adrenalin crew to break a points tie at the season's halfway mark. Raphael Rennhofer was named Driver of the Race for his performance in the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring Cup 2 class, finishing second in car 902 for Team LIQUI MOLY by BLACK FALCON alongside Ryan Harrison and Leon Wassertheurer. Class honours went to Nico Bastian and Martin Rump in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from Mühlner Motorsport. The NLS Youth Kart Slalom Championship held its second round in the paddock, with class winners including Leonie Heiermann (K1), Luise Schwarz (K2), Jeremy Port (K3), Leo Pawelczyk (K4), Tim Schneider (K5) and Francis Rittinger (K6). The next event, the KW 6h ADAC Ruhr Cup, is scheduled for 1 August with 50 per cent increased race duration and additional championship points available.

A fatal accident involving seven competitors brought an early end to the first race of the ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers on 18 April 2026. Race control suspended the event immediately following the multi-vehicle collision to facilitate recovery and emergency response operations. Juha Miettinen, driving a BMW 325i (#121), was fatally injured in the incident. Despite prompt extraction from the vehicle and immediate medical intervention at the circuit's Medical Centre, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. Six other drivers involved in the accident were transported to the Medical Centre and surrounding hospitals for precautionary assessment. None of the remaining injured competitors are reported to be in life-threatening condition. Race control confirmed that the first qualifying race will not resume on Saturday evening. A minute's silence will be observed during the grid formation for Sunday's race, scheduled for 13:00, in tribute to Miettinen.

Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen made his debut in the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie at the 58th ADAC Barbarossa Prize, piloting a Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon. The trio crossed the line first after four hours of racing, with Verstappen having set pole position that morning with a lap time of 7:51.751 minutes around the Grand Prix circuit and Nordschleife. Around 25,000 spectators attended the event to witness the historic moment. However, the victory was short-lived. During post-race technical scrutineering approximately two hours after the podium ceremony, officials discovered that the team had used seven sets of tyres instead of the permitted six. The stewards issued a disqualification, handing the win to Jordan Pepper and Dan Harper in the BMW M4 GT3 from ROWE RACING, who had started seventh on the grid and worked their way forward through strategic pit work. Despite the disqualification, Verstappen's qualifying performance remained impressive. He secured pole ahead of Christopher Haase in the Scherer Sport PHX Audi (7:53.725 mins) and the eventual-winning ROWE RACING BMW. The race itself proved competitive from the start, with Haase pressuring Verstappen into the first lap before taking the lead. Pepper acknowledged the significance of Verstappen's participation: "Having Max competing here is great for the sport. He's an absolute professional who pushes us all. The attention he brings to the Nordschleife is a win for us all." Falken Motorsport secured third place in the GT3 class with their Porsche 911 GT3 R, while 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON inherited the final podium spot and won the PRO-AM classification. In the CUP3 class, Smyrlis Racing dominated a record-breaking field of 17 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS entries, with Oskar Sandberg and Alexander Fielenbach taking victory and Sandberg named Driver of the Race. PROsport racing GmbH won the SP10 GT4 class with their Mercedes-AMG GT4, while SRS Team Sorg Rennsport triumphed in VT2-RWD with a Toyota Supra driven by Piet-Jan Ooms, Ionuc Catalin Timis and Thomas Fleming. Verstappen expressed enthusiasm for future appearances at the circuit: "For me, the Nordschleife is one of the craziest tracks in the world. I definitely want to drive here as often as possible." The third round of the NLS takes place on 11 April with the 57th Adenauer ADAC Circuit Trophy over the classic four-hour distance.