With the 55th ADAC Barbarossapreis on 23 September, the Nürburgring Endurance Series enters the home straight of the 2023 season. The focus of the eighth race of the year is the decision that will be taken in the final standings of the long-established Nordschleife championship. A number of other topics underline the dramatic action. Thrilling motorsport in the Green Hell is guaranteed. Tickets for the 4h Race are available from 20 Euros (children under 14 free) at VLN.de/tickets.
The 24-hour winners are back! After the magnificent success of Frikadelli Racing at the Eifel marathon, the Ferrari 296 GT3 of the team around Klaus Abbelen has been granted the honour to be in the limelight at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello from now on. Since Frikadelli Racing could already secure the Am title in the CUP2 classification of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring at NLS7, the preparation for the coming year starts now at an early stage. David Pittard and Nick Catsburg will drive the brand-new Italian super sports car at NLS8, which already had its roll-out during the test and set-up session before the 12h Nürburgring at the beginning of September.
Due to their great results – Pittard won the 24h Race as well as the ROWE 6h ADAC Ruhr Cup Race in the Falken Porsche – the duo are automatically the favourites. They will be up against a number of teams who have also been successful at the Nürburgring in 2023, most notably four-time season winners Christian Krognes and Jakub ‘Kuba’ Giermaziak in the Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3. With three pole positions, Vincent Kolb and Frank Stippler in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II from Scherer Sport PHX are also always among the illustrious group of candidates for victory. From the NLS8 participants, Schnitzelalm Racing (Mercedes-AMG GT3), PROsport Racing (Aston Martin Vantage GT3) and Dörr Motorsport (Aston Martin Vantage GT3) have achieved podium finishes so far this season.
A Brazilian enters new territory: Felipe Nasr
With Felipe Nasr, a former Formula 1 driver is getting ready to tackle the Green Hell at the Barbarossapreis. The Brazilian raced for Sauber in the top class in 2015 and 2016 and is currently a Porsche works driver in the Porsche 963 LMDh hybrid prototype. His competes in the North American IMSA sports car championship. It is not known whether his participation at the Nordschleife was inspired by Sebastian Vettel, David Coulthard & Co. who made the legendary Nordschleife shake with F1 cars at the Red Bull Formula Nürburgring at the beginning of September. In fact, Nasr is contesting a real race – alongside the twins Alesia and Jacqueline Kreutzpointner – in the 718 Porsche Cayman GT4 CS from Four Motors Bioconcept-Car (#420) in order to obtain the DMSB Permit A for the Nordschleife.
Tobias Jung and a view beyond the horizon
At NLS 8, Tobias Jung wants to demonstrate that he not only knows how to handle Opel vehicles. On the Nordschleife, the team from Bornheim won the hearts of the fans with the Calibra and Astra models. Now follows the first race with a Cupra Leon in the class VT3. Tobias Jung himself and Michael Eichhorn take turns at the wheel. The racing team is also entering an Opel Astra in the TCR class, driven by none other than Carlos Antunes Tavares, the CEO of the Stellantis Group, which owns the Opel, Citroën, Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler brands, among others. At the side of the Portuguese who lives in France, the Senior Vice President of Stellantis Motorsport, Jean-Marc Finot, will be behind the wheel. In the TCR class, the duo will be up against Møller Bil Motorsport with the Audi RS3 LMS, Halder Motorsport with the Honda FK7 TCR and Patryk Krupinski from Luxembourg, who will be contesting a sort of home game in the Cupra TCR of the organising MSC Sinzig.
A true showdown: Who will be champion and when?
The championship in the Nürburgring Endurance Series will only be decided in the last two races. Daniel Zils, Oskar Sandberg and Philipp Leisen in the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Motec BMW 330i have collected the maximum points in the first seven races: seven class victories in VT2-R+4WD. Nevertheless, the trio cannot sit back and relax, because Heiko Eichenberg, Fabio Grosse and Patrik Grütter, who drive a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS in Cup 3, are close on their heels. Five class wins and two second places mean that they are currently still eight points behind. With two more class wins, the three drivers of SRS Team Sorg Rennsport could catch up, because at the end of the season, only the best seven results will be included in the overall standings. Both teams would then be equal on points. In this case, four different rules apply and the decision becomes complicated.
Rule number one considers the respective number of finish positions against each other. Since both teams would have seven wins in the counted races, they would still be tied. Next, the position of the last race used for making up the classification is compared – there, too, both would have one win. Rule number three takes into account the points from the two dropped results. For race eight this means that with a win, Sorg can delay the championship decision until the final. If they do not succeed, Adrenalin will have a virtually uncatchable lead in the standings – regardless of the result. If both teams win their class at NLS8, a third place in the final will be enough for Adrenalin to take the title.
A historical plot twist is not impossible
By the way, the situation would get really curious if Sorg won both races and Adrenalin came second twice in the remaining races. Then rule number four would come into force: the consideration of the practice results. The better average of the qualifying results leads to the title. But here, too, there is a tie – after seven of nine races, the average of each team is 2.14. Should this continue until the finale, there would be two champion teams for the first time in the history of the Nürburgring Endurance Series.
In the medienkraftwerk Junior Trophy 2023, Nico Otto, who competes in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entered by Max Kruse Racing in Cup 2, is currently in the lead of the standings. The team of championship leaders, Adrenalin Motorsport, leads the NIMEX Team Trophy in four classes.
A scenario that guarantees entertainment for the whole family
The 55th ADAC Barbarossapreis will run over the usual distance of four hours. The positions on the starting grid will be determined in the qualifying between 08:30 and 10 am. At the ‘NLS-Pitwalk presented by PITWALK – das Motorsportmagazin’ from 10:20 a.m. and the visit to the starting grid from 11:10 a.m., the fans will experience motorsport with all their senses. The race will start at 12 noon. The entire race day will be broadcasted live on VLN.de. Between practice and the race, a corso for a good cause will take place on the Nordschleife. The Benefiz Corso e.V. is collecting donations for the track safety marshals. The big party for the marshals, which is organised by the VLN in the paddock after the race, is also organised for the tireless volunteers around the Nürburgring, without whom motor sport would be impossible.
