Nico Otto and Timo Hochwind took their Max Kruse Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport to the first overall win for an alternative-fuel vehicle at the NLS Light race on Saturday.
The new-for-2025 initiative, a race without the NLS’s usual top-class GT cars designed to promote more grassroots entries, also saw the first overall win for the Volkswagen brand in the 49-year history of the ADAC Nürburgring Endurance Series. And with pole position claimed by the Golf as well, the team took the first-ever pole and win from any car with an automatic gearbox in the Series!
Father-and-son duo Philipp and Richard Gresek celebrated second place in the BMW M4 GT4 of Plusline Motorsport. Kazuto Kotaka and Miki Koyama completed the podium, driving the Toyota Supra GT4 of Toyo Tires with Ring Racing to third place.
The race saw 56 entries, 53 starters and 41 finishers across the range of regular NLS Touring car and production car classes.
“Congratulations to Max Kruse Racing and Volkswagen on the first victory for an alternative-fuel vehicle,” said NLS Sports Director Christian Vormann, praising the winners. The Duisburg-based racing team powers its four-cylinder turbo engine with E20 gasoline fuel from Shell.
“This is an important signal, not only for the ADAC Nürburgring Endurance Series, but for all of grassroots racing. As a platform for sustainable development, we will continue to drive this important topic forward and expand it in a targeted manner.”
The final phase of the four-hour race was thrilling. For long stretches, pole-sitters Benjamin Leuchter and Heiko Hammel looked like sure winners. However, 15 minutes before the finish, the onboard power supply failed, and the transmission would no longer shift.
The victory went to their teammates at Max Kruse Racing, who had conserved fuel throughout the entire race and thus managed one fewer stop.
“I still can’t quite believe it,” said Hochwind, who drove the final stint. “Many thanks to Volkswagen and the entire team. The car was perfect today, and everything worked perfectly. It’s a shame the sister car retired.”
Otto added: “We tried to save fuel and drive safely the whole time. Nevertheless, we were always within striking distance of the leaders. In the end, this strategy paid off. It’s an incredible feeling to be at the front in a Golf.”
The Plusline BMW was able to hold its own against Leuchter in the first stint. Philipp Gresek even took the lead for a lap before the final pit stop. Over the remainder of the race, however, the duo had no chance against the fast Golfs, but consistently held their own in the podium positions.
“It’s a real shame for Max Kruse Racing that one of the cars in the lead retired,” said the junior driver.
“We ourselves experienced a race with ups and downs. But the class win and second place overall is simply fantastic.” His father, Richard, added: “An indescribable feeling. A superb day with a superb mood – it couldn’t be better.”
The battle for third place was also only decided in the final minutes of the race. Carrie Schreiner and Janina Schall in the BMW M4 GT4 of GITI Tire Motorsport by WS Racing undershot the minimum pit stop time. This was penalised by race control with a penalty of 35+11 seconds. Despite the penalty, the Japanese team were happy with third place.
The all-female team under the aegis of WS Racing nevertheless achieved its best result of the season with fourth.
Fabian Pirrone, Jan Ullrich, and Ulf Steffens ensured that the racing team led by Matthias Möller had even more reason to celebrate at the end, as they celebrated their first-ever class victory in the BMW M240i Racing Cup class. The trio benefited from the bad luck of Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels, Timis Ionuc, Will Hunt, and Michelangelo Coazzi. The final driver initially took the lead on the Döttinger Höhe, but then braked too hard in the final chicane and hit the barriers.
The victory in the Cup 3 class of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring went to Schmickler Performance powered by Ravenol. Stefan Schmickler and Horst Baumann prevailed against the as Best Racing duo of Kim Berwanger and Christian Kohlhaas.
VLN CEO Mike Jäger said: “We saw many happy and satisfied faces at the NLS Light premiere – at our barbecue with the teams in the paddock on Friday evening and on race day. This is a very good basis for further developing this format.
“Of course, we would have liked a few more participants, but those who took part got their money’s worth, as did the spectators, who enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere between practice and the race in the pit lane and around the Nordschleife. Personally, I was very pleased that so many families with children were there again.”
