NLS

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.

Schubert Motorsport claimed a dramatic victory in the 65th ADAC Reinoldus Endurance Race at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, the eighth round of the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie. Drivers Jens Klingmann, Jordan Pepper, and Ugo de Wilde crossed the finish line in their BMW M4 GT3 EVO after 27 laps with a margin of just 0.308 seconds over the Porsche 911 GT3 R of Falken Motorsports, piloted by Tim Heinemann and Morris Schuring. Third place went to Max Kruse Racing, with Dominik Fugel, Marcel Fugel, and Benjamin Leuchter in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II—a historic result as the first AT-category GT3 car to secure an overall podium finish in the series, and notably the first to achieve this running on E20 fuel. Qualifying saw the field tightly bunched, with the top twelve separated by ten seconds. Gamota Racing took pole position through Antal Zsigo, Moritz Kranz, and David Jahn with a lap time of 7:53.343 minutes. Team Dunlop Motorsport recovered from an early-session collision that dropped them from eighth to eleventh on the grid, ultimately finishing fifth overall. The race featured multiple lead changes driven by differing pit-stop strategies. Pepper seized the lead from the pole-sitters immediately after the start, and the Schubert and Gamota BMWs engaged in a fierce battle including a daring overtake at Schwedenkreuz. The Max Kruse Racing Audi led at times by extending its first and third stints. Schubert reclaimed the lead on lap 24 and held it through the final laps despite relentless pressure from Heinemann and Schuring. Klingmann reflected on the victory: "That was truly motorsport at its finest—exactly what we drivers want and what the fans want to see. At NLS6, we lost by two-tenths of a second; today, we won." Elsewhere on the card, BLACK FALCON Team EAE recovered from an early collision to win the SP9 Am class, while 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON—with Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller, and Dylan Pereira—took the SP9 Pro-Am class. In the BMW M2 class, Ranko Mijatovic of Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport won by 0.352 seconds. The championship battle remained tight: Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels (Edoardo Bugane, Yannick Fübrich, Sven Markert) and Smyrlis Racing (Alexander Fielenbach, Oskar Sandberg) both secured maximum points, leaving the title race unchanged. The series continues immediately with the 66th ADAC ACAS Cup on Sunday, with qualifying at 08:30 and the four-hour race starting at 12:00. Tickets cost €25 per day (free for children up to 14) and include access to grandstands, paddock, pit lane, and spectator areas. Live coverage is available via VLN.de from 08:15.

The ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie (NLS) has released its provisional calendar for 2027, marking a landmark year for European club endurance racing. The eight-race schedule coincides with two major anniversaries: the 50th year of the NLS itself and the 100th anniversary of the Nürburgring circuit. Early publication of the dates is intended to provide teams, drivers, and partners with planning certainty ahead of the milestone season. VLN Managing Director Mike Jäger commented: "Half a century of endurance racing on the Nordschleife is a historic milestone of which we are extremely proud—especially since we get to celebrate this anniversary alongside the Nürburgring's centenary. Since its inception in 1977, the series has retained its unique character on this iconic circuit while continuously evolving." The 2027 NLS season will run from March through October, with races scheduled on 20 March, 17 April, 3 July, 7 August, 11–12 September (double-header), 25 September, and 9 October. The 7 August round will be contested over six hours. The 2026 season has already demonstrated strong audience engagement, with the series recording 23.99 million livestream viewers and nearly 214 million video views across social media platforms through the first seven races. The official YouTube channel has attracted more than 180,000 subscribers.

The ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie reaches its climax this weekend with a back-to-back double-header on the Nordschleife. Races eight and nine—the 65th ADAC Reinoldus Endurance Race on Saturday and the 66th ADAC ACAS Cup on Sunday—will each run for four hours, with both starting at 12:00 p.m. The format means every point counts in the championship battle, as this season's standings carry no dropped results. Spectators can attend for 25 euros per day (free for children up to age 14), with tickets available at VLN.de/tickets. A free livestream will be broadcast on VLN.de from 8:15 a.m. both days. The entry list comprises 136 vehicles from 14 manufacturers, with 26 genuine contenders for overall victory across the SP9 GT3 class and AT 1 alternative-fuel category. The grid features seven brands in the premier class: Porsche, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-AMG, Aston Martin, Ford, and Lamborghini. Notable entries include Schubert Motorsport's BMW M4 GT3 EVO, the Haupt Racing Team's Ford Mustang GT3, Team KCMG's Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Le Mans winner Kamui Kobayashi, and Max Kruse Racing's three Audi R8 LMS GT3s in the AT 1 class. Dutch driver Loek Hartog, who recently gained international recognition for rescuing rival Ollie Millroy from a burning car during a China GT race in Shanghai, will compete for Dinamic GT in the No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 R alongside Danish driver Michael Klitgaard Christensen. In the overall championship standings, the trio of Edoardo Bugane, Yannick Fübrich, and Sven Markert lead with 79 points, having won every race in their BMW M240i Racing Cup class. Alexander Fielenbach and Oskar Sandberg sit second with 64 points in their Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS, while the PROsport trio of Anton Abée, Yannik Himmels, and Jörg Viebahn hold third with 56 points. In the NLS Speed Trophy, Schubert Motorsport commands a 121-point lead ahead of 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON (75 points) and Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol (60 points). The Junior Trophy sees Raphael Rennhofer (Team LIQUI MOLY by BLACK FALCON, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) leading with 55 points, with Santiago Baztarrica positioned as the main challenger at 40 points. Qualifying sessions run from 08:30 to 10:00 on both mornings, followed by pit walks at 10:20 a.m. and grid walks at 11:10 a.m. Those unable to attend can follow proceedings via the official livestream or "Radio Nürburgring" on rpr1.de and the RPR1 app.

The KW 6h ADAC Ruhr-Pokal-Rennen, round seven of the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Endurance Series, took place on August 1, 2026, under ideal summer conditions at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL claimed overall victory after 41 laps, with Schubert Motorsport finishing second and Team 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON rounding out the podium in third. The race was defined by the remarkable return of Estonian driver Ralf Aron, who made his competitive comeback roughly five months after a serious accident at the Bathurst 12 Hour. Aron and teammate Luca Stolz delivered a flawless performance in the No. 80 Mercedes-AMG GT3, with Aron securing pole position in qualifying with a time of 7:51.506 minutes. Stolz, celebrating his 31st birthday, described the victory as the perfect gift: "It was a fantastic race for us—we had so much fun. Six hours of action in perfect Eifel weather; I've still got a huge grin on my face. It really is the best birthday present. We had a completely flawless day, and the car didn't even get a scratch." Aron was equally emotional about his return to the podium: "This makes the comeback complete, and I'm overjoyed. I hadn't even dared to dream of this beforehand." Schubert Motorsport finished 39.480 seconds adrift in the No. 77 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, with Jens Klingmann, Ugo de Wilde, and Tim Tramnitz—making his Nordschleife GT3 debut—combining for a strong drive. Klingmann praised the opposition: "Luca was a formidable opponent. The Mercedes crew was extremely fast right from qualifying and truly earned today's victory." Third place went to the No. 48 Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO of LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON, driven by Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller, and Dylan Pereira, who also won the SP9 PRO-AM class. In the one-make cup classes, Team BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN dominated the CUP2 category with Alexander Hardt, Benjamin Hites, and Benjamin Koslowski in their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The CUP3 class (Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring) saw Oskar Sandberg and Alexander Fielenbach secure their fourth victory of the season in the Smyrlis Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS, despite receiving a drive-through penalty for a jump start earlier in the race. A special moment came when Porsche brand ambassadors Timo Bernhard and Jörg Bergmeister gave a farewell outing to the final mid-engine Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS built in Zuffenhausen, completing 37 flawless laps and finishing fourth in the SP10 class. In the championship standings, Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels (Edoardo Bugane, Yannick Fübrich, Sven Markert) extended their lead with a perfect 79.00 points after winning their class in every race contested so far. The series resumes with a double-header on September 12–13, 2026, featuring rounds NLS8 and NLS9.

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.