Mercedes-AMG customer team Landgraf won the final NLS race of the season on the Nordschleife yesterday. The team’s #48 AMG GT3 of Lucas Auer and Mikael Grenier finished 32 seconds clear of the ‘Grello’ #911 Manthey EMA Porsche driven by Ayhancan Güven and Morris Schuring.
It was a dominant performance from the #84 crew, who won from pole with a dream run to claim the first NLS win for the team and both drivers.
“This was a very clean race for us from qualifying to the race finish,” said Grenier.
“My first stint was a bit tricky in traffic and I had some trouble keeping the pace because I acted cautiously. In the end, we had a perfect strategy, that was the cornerstone of our victory today.”
It wasn’t a win to end the year, but WEC LMGT3 standout Schuring was nevertheless delighted with his first performance aboard the iconic #911 Porsche.
“I am very satisfied with my first race with the legendary Porsche 911 GT3 R ‘Grello’. At the end, I was a bit unlucky with a Code 60 phase, in which, unlike Mikaël, I lost time because he still got through before the flags were shown. Otherwise, it might have been exciting again,” he said.
Behind, PROsport Racing made it three makes in the top three. Its #17 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 claimed third, crossing the line under two minutes back from the winning car after four hours of racing.
Nico Bastian, who shared the car with Marek Böckmann and Adam Christodoulou, was also happy after scoring a second NLS podium finish in a row.
“It’s fantastic to finish the season in third place. Especially for the team, this is very important with a view for the coming season.
“And the guys from PROsport did a lot of work after the last races were not quite optimal. The victory also goes to the crew.”
Just off the podium, the #6 Team Advan X HRT Mercedes finished fourth as the only other SP9 Pro car in the top 10 overall. The Cup2-winning Porsche from AVIA W&S Motorsport took fifth after 28 tours of the circuit.
It was a tight finish in the class, as the #103 Porsche from Black Falcon crossed the line just 0.252 behind at the end.
Elsewhere, Adrenalin Motorsport, which operates a number of cars in multiple classes, claimed the overall NLS title.
Its #650 BMW of Sven Markert, Ranko Mijatovic and Toby Goodman – which competes in the M240i class – claimed the honours with a sixth class victory in eight races.
It was far from a stroll in the park, though. The team’s mechanics had to rush to prepare the car in time for the race after an incident in practice caused by ABS problems.
Had they failed to do so, the title would have gone the way of AVIA W&S drivers Josh Bednarski, Lucas Daugaard and Moritz Oberheim, who finished equal on 90 points but lost out on countback.
“After our failure at NLS3, we had almost written off the championship,” Goodman reflected. “The fact that we are now still at the top shows that you must never give up and must always keep fighting, even if the situation seems impossible.”
In addition to the championship title, Toby Goodman also won the NLS Junior Trophy. In his debut year, the 22-year-old Briton prevailed against Daugaard.
Prior to the race weekend, testing on the Nordschleife for the NLS runners was also notable. It provided a first look at the Haupt Racing Team as a Ford Mustang GT3 customer (below).
The team gathered plenty of data, but didn’t race.
The 2025 NLS season is set to get underway on March 22nd, with the first of nine races scheduled across the year.
Images courtesy of Frozenspeed & NLS
