The season finale of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie will make history in more ways than one. The traditional Nordschleife championship concludes its 2024 racing season unusually late on November 16.Nevertheless, a varied field of participants is preparing to take on the Green Hell once again this year. The focus is also on the championship decision. Can the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels turn the tide once again? Or will the championship leaders from AVIA W&S Motorsport close the deal and clinch the first championship title for Porsche in the NLS? Tickets are availableat vln.de/tickets. Those staying at home can follow the action around the Nürburgring in the livestream at vln.de/live.
The provisional list of participants includes 85 entries for the 56th ADAC Barbarossa Prize. “We are very satisfied with the quality of the field. There are great cars in the field and we will experience an exciting race,” says NLS Sports Director Christian Vormann. “Quantitatively, of course, the entry result does not meet our expectations. But that was clear to us after we were allocated this late date.”
What Vormann describes as “great vehicles” makes the hearts of motorsport fans beat faster. Dörr Motorsport is finally bringing a McLaren back to the Nordschleife after ten years. Ben Dörr shares the cockpit of his 720S GT3 EVO, in which he made his DTM debut this year, with Marvin Kirchhöfer. PROsport-Racing is entering an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 with a Pro line-up for the first time. Marek Böckmann, Nico Bastian and Adam Christodoulou will take turns at the wheel of the British super sports car. For the first time, Up2Race will field an Audi R8 LMS GT3 for Pierre Lemmerz and Philippe Charlaix. The racing team, in whose BMW M240i Racing ex-Formula 1 star Timo Glock obtained his Nordschleife license, is happy to take on the new challenge.
Looking ahead to next year, ‘Grello’ returns to the Nordschleife once again. The Porsche 911 GT3 R from Manthey Racing will be driven by Ayhancan Güven and Morris Schuring. This is the first race with a GT3 car on the Nordschleife for the Dutchman, who is only 19 years old. “When I was asked if I wanted to drive ‘Grello’, I didn’t have to think about it for a second. This is really something special,” says Schuring. With a win, he could follow in his father’s footsteps. In 2015, Gerwin Schuring won the season finale, which was shortened due to fog, in a Porsche Cup car. “Of course, it would be fantastic if I could deliver a good performance there too and continue the tradition,” says Morris Schuring.
The Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf will also be on the grid once again to cover a few more kilometers on the Nordschleife at the end of the year. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 has a strong line-up with the two performance drivers Lucas Auer and Mikaël Grenier. Scherer Sport PHX can also lay claim to this fact. Frank Stippler and Markus Winkelhock will take turns in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO 2. The final Nordschleife race with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 will be contested by the ADVAN x HRT team. Dennis Fetzer, Finn Wiebelhaus and Salman Owega will reach for the stars one last time before the team from the Nürburgring business park switches to the Ford Mustang GT3 next year.
Championship showdown
In addition to the battle for the last victory of the year, the focus is also on the championship decision. Following the misfortune of championship leaders Joshua Bednarski, Lucas Daugaard and Moritz Oberheim, who were unable to compete in the AVIA W&S Motorsport Porsche Cayman after an accident during testing on Friday, the decision will now be made at the finale. “After winning the title in the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring, our aim is now also to clinch the NLS championship,” says team boss Patrick Wagner. With their fifth victory in the seventh race, Sven Markert, Ranko Mijatovic and Toby Goodman in the BMW M240i Racing of Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels kept their title chances open. “Of course, it would be incredibly nice if we actually managed to defend the title in the final race,” says team boss Matthias Unger. “However, we still don’t have it in our own hands and have to wait and see what the competition does.”
The match ball is in AVIA’s court. The trio currently have 90 points. Adrenalin can make up the remaining 15 points with another win. If they succeed, Markert, Mijatovic and Goodman would draw level. The number of wins will then decide the championship. In this case, Bednarski, Daugaard and Oberheim would also have to win their class in order to be at the top according to the rules that apply in the event of a tie.
Tickets are available for 22 euros (children up to 14 years free of charge) at vln.de/tickets and at the box office. These tickets will take you to the open grandstands on the Grand Prix circuit, the exclusive spectator areas Brünnchen and Pflanzgarten, the paddock, the pit lane, the starting grid and the ring°werk motorsport experience museum. Positions on the grid will be determined between 08:30 and 10 am. Fans can then experience motorsport up close during the pit walk from 10:20 and the visit to the starting grid from 11:10.
