The wait is over: after a four-month break, fans and participants alike are eager for the action to start again at the Nürburgring. The season opener of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie promises pure excitement. Around 120 cars will take on the Green Hell over a distance of four hours at the 70th ADAC Westfalenfahrt. More than 300 drivers from 29 nations compete with racing cars from 19 different manufacturers – what more could a motorsport heart desire? Tickets for the race are available from 25 euros at VLN.de/tickets. Young people up to and including the age of 14 have free entry. If you can’t be there live, you can follow the entire race day in the livestream at VLN.de.
The Haupt Racing Team will contest its first race outing with the Ford Mustang GT3 on the Nürburgring Nordschleife at the NLS season opener. The two beefy US cars of the team from the Nürburgring business park are extremely strong: Nico Bastian, Arjun Maini, Dennis Olsen and Frank Stippler take turns in the #2 car. The second Mustang will start the race with starting number #6. The line-up consists of Dennis Fetzer, Jusuf Owega, David Schumacher and Dirk Müller. ‘The entire team is really looking forward to our first race weekend with the Ford Mustang GT3,’ says HRT Managing Director Ulrich Fritz. ‘We couldn’t have chosen a better place than our home track for the debut.’
The new BMW M4 GT3 EVO, which is entered by ROWE RACING, will also celebrate its Nordschleife race debut. Augusto Farfus, ‘Jesse Krohn’, Raffaele Marciello and Kelvin van der Linde will start the race on Saturday with car number #98. The BMW M4 GT4 EVO will also compete on the Nordschleife for the first time in the 2025 season in the hands of customer teams. The three influencers ‘Jimmy Broadbent’, Steve Brown and ‘@mgcharoudin’, among others, will contest the entire season together with Manuel Metzger for the BILSTEIN by BLACK FALCON team. ‘I’m really looking forward to experiencing the EVO versions of our BMW M4 GT3 and BMW M4 GT4 in an official race on the world’s toughest racetrack for the first time,’ says Björn Lellmann, Head of Customer Racing at BMW M Motorsport.
After a three-year break, Black Falcon will also be fielding a GT3 car in the Nürburgring endurance series for the first time. Daan Arrow, Gabriele Piana, Ben Bünnagel and Mike Stursberg will take turns in the Porsche 911 GT3 R. The Am quartet will face strong competition from équipe vitesse, JUTA RACING (both Audi R8 LMS) and the Rennazzo Motorsport team led by Thai drift legend Kiki Sak Nana in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2.
The GT3 Pro category will feature both familiar teams and newcomers. Manthey EMA is sending ‘Grello’, the legendary Porsche 911 GT3 R, into the race. Falken Motorsports and Dinamic GT are also relying on the rear-engined sports car from Zuffenhausen. Red Bull Team ABT will also be fielding a Lamborghini Huracán GT3, as will Konrad Motorsport. Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed will bring two Mercedes-AMG GT3s to the Nürburgring and Scherer Sport PHX will field a familiar force with the Audi R8 LMS. Team REALIZE KONDO RACING with Rinaldi will make its debut with a Ferrari 296 GT3.
The GT3 line-up is rounded off by an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 from Walkenhorst Motorsport and a McLaren 720S GT3 EVO from Dörr Motorsport. Both cars will compete in the Pro-Am category.
The champions go their separate ways
The trio of champions for the 2024 season will be going their separate ways from now on. Sven Markert will drive the BMW M240i Racing Cup of Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels with starting number #1, while Toby Goodman will switch to AVIA W&S Motorsport and share the cockpit of the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS with Moritz Oberheim and Philip Miemois. Ranko Mijatovic will contest the 2025 season together with Tobias Wahl and Nick Wüstenhagen in the BMW M4 GT4 from FK Performance Motorsport.
Eight cars have been entered in the BMW 325i Challenge by Goodyear, which is new this year. The well-known NLS teams SRS Team Sorg Rennsport, rent2Drive-racing, Keeevin Sports and Racing, Eifelkind Racing, JS Competition and FK Performance Motorsport will meet NLS returnees Dr Dr Stein Tveten motorsport. Other potential ‘championship classes’ in which full points are awarded with seven or more cars are the VT2-F+4WD, VT2-RWD, SP10, SP8T and the two Cup classes of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring.
Like father, like son
In addition to the aforementioned David Schumacher, filius of ex-Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher, another prominent ‘son’ will be taking part in the 70th ADAC Westfalenfahrt. Giuliano Alesi, whose father Jean celebrated success in Formula 1 and the DTM, will compete for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in a Supra Evo GT4 in the SP8T. Alesi will be in two cars to maximise his track time and the senior driver will certainly not miss the opportunity to keep his fingers crossed for Giuliano at the venue.
Michael Bohrer has a very special race day ahead of him. For the first time, his eight-year-old son Jonas will be racing on the same day and at the same venue. While father Michael will be driving a Hyundai i30N for CSRacing together with Gerrit Holthaus, Jonas will be taking part in the opening race of the 1st NLS Kart Slalom Championship. ‘I’m really looking forward to our very special race premiere together,’ says Michael Bohrer. ‘Jonas grew up at the Nürburgring. The fact that we are now contesting a race day together for the first time is unprecedented. I also took my first steps in motorsport in youth kart slalom and think it’s great that the NLS is offering young drivers this opportunity.’ The kart kids will take to the track on the helipad in the paddock from 09:30. They will start in five age groups with standardised electric karts from Mach1 until 2 pm.
Get your tickets now!
Tickets for the opening race of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie are available for 25 euros (children up to and including 14 years free of charge) at vln.de/tickets and at the box offices. 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 and the starting grid.
Positions on the grid will be determined during qualifying between 08:30 and 10 am. Fans can then experience motorsport with all their senses during the pit walk from 10:20 and the visit to the starting grid from 11:10. The Nürburgring mascot ‘Legend’ and Sully from Monster AG will also be there on Saturday. The race starts at 12 noon.
