NLS 6 on Saturday ended with a near photo finish. In perfect weather and sweltering summer temperatures that pushed both drivers and cars to their limits, Nico Menzel and Sven Müller celebrated a historic victory in the new Dunlop Porsche 911 GT3 R.
The duo crossed the finish line after 27 laps in the inaugural ADAC Eifel Trophy with a lead of just 0.319 seconds from Jens Klingmann and Robin Frijns in the Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
Third place went to the Pro-Am crew of 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON: Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller, and Dylan Pereira piloted their Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO to the final podium position after a flawless team performance.
For Menzel, it was his fifth NLS victory, while Müller secured his seventh overall win.
In qualifying, Christian Krognes and Mateo Villagomez initially demonstrated their potential in the Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO. With a time of 7:54.452 minutes, Krognes secured pole position for the team.
The Norwegian maintained his lead at the start and entered the first corner in first place. However, during the first pit stop phase, the Aston Martin lost ground and had to let the leading group pull away.
On the very last lap, the Walkenhorst team lost another position when the PROsport racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Adam Christodoulou, Jake Hill, and Kyle Tilley overtook them in t to secure fourth place. The pole-sitters ultimately finished fifth overall.
The overall victory was significantly influenced by the pit strategy in the first third of the race. While most of the top cars stayed out until lap seven, the Dunlop Porsche 911 GT3 R and the Schubert BMW headed for the pits after lap six. This early stop propelled the duo to the front of the field, where Menzel took the lead on lap twelve.
The Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven by Klaus Bachler and Tim Heinemann, was also on course for a podium finish for a considerable time. However, a left rear puncture on lap 21 forced the team to retire the car, allowing Black Falcon to take third place.
In the final laps, Klingmann in his BMW M4 GT3 EVO closed the gap to the leading Porsche with great force, battling through dense traffic and a late Code 60 phase. However, Müller kept his cool in the traffic and defended his lead in the final sprint to the finish line.
After crossing the finish line, there was clear evidence of the effort and emotion involved. Visibly moved, Müller explained regarding the close finish: “I don’t think it could have been any closer. We certainly didn’t expect it to be this tight at the end.” His teammate Menzel added with relief: “My fingernails were completely frayed! My heart sank a bit when a Code 60 came out on the last lap.”
Despite narrowly missing out on victory, Klingmann also drew a positive conclusion: “It was definitely fun. There was a lot going on on the track, and everything was pretty messy out there. But yes, in the end, we finished P2. I think we can still be satisfied.”
When asked about the extreme temperatures, Pereira added: “It was a hot race, but we fought our way through. In the end, we finished P3 overall and P1 in the Pro-Am class. We’re happy!”
Raphael Rennhofer named Driver of the Race
In the Cup 2 class of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring, Raphael Rennhofer attracted attention. Behind the wheel of the #902 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from the LIQUI MOLY by BLACK FALCON team, the young driver delivered a strong performance in the highly competitive one-make series. Due to this strong performance, the ILN, race control, and track announcers jointly named him “Driver of the Race.”
Rennhofer, who finished second in his class together with Ryan Harrison and Leon Wassertheurer, commented enthusiastically on the success: “Yes, that’s super cool! I was very satisfied with my own performance and felt that it was my best race so far on the Nordschleife. The fact that the officials noticed that too makes me proud.”
Meanwhile, the class victory in the Cup 2 category went to Nico Bastian and Martin Rump in the Mühlner Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
There was a nail-biting finish in the BMW M240i Racing Cup and a change at the top of the standings
Besides the GT3 cars, at the top of the overall standings, the BMW M240i Racing Cup class offered even more excitement right up to the finish line.
In a nail-biting finish, Sven Markert, Edoardo Bugane, Tim Lukas Müller, and Yannick Fübrich, driving #651 for the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels, ultimately prevailed.
After more than four hours of hard work on the Nordschleife, the class winners were separated from their closest pursuers by a mere 1.028 seconds. Aiden Mulready, Joshua Hislop, and James Breakell, driving #667, put on a furious display, but after 23 laps, they were narrowly beaten by the experienced Adrenalin quartet in the final sprint.
This outcome had a dramatic impact on the championship standings at the start of the second half of the season: Before the race weekend, Bugane, Fübrich, and Markert were tied for first place with the Smyrlis duo of Oskar Sandberg and Alexander Fielenbach. While the Adrenalin team secured the maximum points with their class victory and took a solo first place with 60 points, their rivals experienced a dramatic turn of events. Following an accident in the Schwalbenschwanz section of the track, Sandberg was forced to retire his Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS.
Next up is the NLS season highlight, the KW 6h ADAC Ruhr-Pokal race with 50% more race duration and concurrently more points for the championship.
