Dream start for AMG Team Apex Racing at the DNLS season opener

The season opener of the Digital Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie was a feast for every motorsport fan. In the RAVENOL 3h race, Alejandro Sánchez and Elias Seppänen in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of AMG Team Apex were just 0.27 seconds ahead in the end. Last year’s champion Norbi Kiss and Felix Quirmbach from BS+COMPETITION had to settle for second place. In third place, Sami-Matti Trogen and Vasilios Beletsiotis of AMG Team Williams completed the one-two-three for Mercedes-AMG. Apex Racing was able to celebrate twice, as victory in the SP10 also went to the virtual racing team from Great Britain. Drivers from SCHERER eSPORT finished on top in Cup 2 and SP3.

In qualifying, Alexey Nesov secured first place on the grid in the Porsche 911 GT3 R of Pole Promotion Esports with René Rast. However, because he did not adhere to the specified speed on the last few metres before the start, race control handed down a penalty.

The two AMG teams took the lead and fought a thrilling duel for victory over long stretches of the race. ‘In the end, we had a bit more pace in some sections,’ said Sánchez. ‘We were able to capitalise on that and ultimately clinch victory.’ Reigning ADAC GT Masters champion Seppänen, who completed the first stint as the real driver, added: ‘I had a good start and was able to capitalise when the Porsche received the penalty. We managed to save fuel in the early stages so that we didn’t have to make an additional stop at the end. It got really tight at the end, but Alejandro had it well under control. That was a perfect race.’

After 24 laps, pole-sitter Nesov and Constantin Tscharf finished fifth behind the best-placed BMW M4 GT3 of the MAHLE RACING TEAM. Sixth place went to the Ferrari 296 GT3 of Impulse Racing by GTÜ. The two Ford Mustang GT3s from M&J Downforce finished seventh and eighth.

The Cup 2 class of the Porsche Esports Endurance Trophy Nürburgring was also fiercely contested. As in the previous year, the two Porsches from SCHERER eSPORT were the measure of all things in the Manthey one-make cup. Raphael Rennhofer and William Chadwick took first place ahead of last year’s champions Luca Alpert and Julian Reimer. Luca Kita and Luis Beilicke rounded off Apex Racing’s good team result in third place. ‘After narrowly missing out on the title last season, winning the season opener today was a dream start to the new season,’ said Rennhofer. ‘The field is extremely strong again this year. It was very difficult to hold your own, especially in the first stint, because you can’t pull out a gap with the slipstream.’ Chadwick analyses the secret of success: ‘We managed to make the best use of the tyres and fuel.’ Michael Lerchbacher and Christopher Wolfgruber, who drove the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to tenth place in the class under the Austrian Simracers banner, scored maximum points in the newly created Am driver classification of the PEETN.

The decision in the GT4 SP10 class was only made in the final metres. On the penultimate lap, Aaron Wazquezz and Maxence Godinho moved into the lead. On the final lap, they managed to pull out a small gap that the pursuers were unable to close. The DNLS champions from Season 5, Corentin Guinez and Marvin Strehl, took second place in the Mercedes-AMG GT4 from SimRC ahead of Lucas U. Müller and Benedikt Hitz in the BMW M4 GT4 from Falken Simracing. ‘A fantastic start,’ said a delighted Wazquezz. ‘We had a good qualifying session and were very happy with our race pace. We also managed to stay out of trouble. In the end, we were able to secure first place despite a small problem at the last pit stop.’

The Renault Clio’s maiden victory in SP3 went to Sven Winter and Michael Teisch from SCHERER eSPORT. The duo prevailed against Leon Harhoff and Lean Weigel from Smillaesports x Entropy and Christopher Limprecht and Merlin Marc Wolf from Wollf Motorsport Simracing. ‘It was great fun today,’ said Teisch. ‘We were a bit unlucky because we took a hit on the first lap and our steering wheel has been askew ever since. Fortunately, this didn’t affect the pace.’ The big challenge in the smallest DNLS class – as in multiclass racing in the real NLS – is to read the traffic as well as possible and still concentrate on your race. Teisch explains: ‘It’s always exciting when a D-train of Cup Porsches or something like that flies past you. You have to drive carefully, but not too much, in order to remain predictable for the lapping driver. That’s not easy with the Clio, because there’s a lot of full throttle on the Nordschleife and you must never let the slipstream slip away, especially in a direct duel in the class.’

The second round of the Digital Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie is scheduled for 1 February 2025.