SP9 debutants Max Verstappen and Christopher Lulham dominated NLS9 this afternoon as they claimed Ferrari’s first Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie victory in over eight years.
Four-time F1 World Champion Verstappen, piloting the #31 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, took the lead at Turn 1 from third on the grid and continuously pulled away during his opening double-stint.
The Dutchman handed over to Lulham with a 65-second lead over the #6 Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3. Despite finding himself on the wrong side of multiple sets of Code 60s, the Briton held on to win by 24.496 seconds.
It is Ferrari’s third NLS victory, and its first since June 2017.
Haupt Racing Team successfully backed up the Mustang’s maiden NLS victory with a pair of podium finishes, as the #9 Mustang GT3 of Fabian Scherer, Dennis Fetzer and Nordschleife-returnee Jann Mardenborough headed home the #6 effort of Frank Stippler and Patrick Kolb.
On the opening lap, Stippler charged from 11th to second, a position the #6 Mustang GT3 would hold until the final hour. Fetzer, on his in-lap, passed Kolb on the Döttinger Höhe with 53 minutes to go, and Mardenborough emerged from the final pit cycle 28 seconds clear of his teammate.
Fourth overall went to the #22 Max Kruse Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, which became the first GT3 car to race on the Nordschleife using sustainable fuel. A charging Benjamin Leuchter almost claimed a place on the overall podium on the final lap, finishing only 0.517 seconds behind Kolb.
SP9 Pro-Am winner Walkenhorst Motorsport was fifth overall with its #34 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, which Christian Krognes qualified on pole position by 2.119 seconds after setting an 8:06.057 on his final flying lap.
Krognes shared the front row of the grid with his only Pro-Am rival, the #8 Juta Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3, which fell out of contention in the opening half of the race after requiring front-end repairs.
Mühlner Motorsport claimed CUP2 honours in sixth overall, with its #921 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup defeating the #948 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON entry by over a minute.
SP9 Am victory, in eighth overall, went to the #786 Renazzo Motorsport Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, ahead of the #21 Ferrari of Klaus Abbelen. 65-year-old Abbelen completed the four-hour race solo, a feat he failed to achieve during his planned retirement race two weeks ago.
The #54 Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) of Joel Sturm and Bastian Buus entered this weekend as one of the favourites, but mechanical woes saw them miss the start. The Italian squad joined the race late and finished 93rd overall, having made multiple unscheduled pit stops.
The final round of the 2025 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie will take place on 11th October.
Image courtesy of Ferrari
