Schubert Motorsport has won the third round of the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. In a 4-hour race characterised by tactical manoeuvres and impressive comebacks, Marco Wittmann, Philipp Eng and Robin Frijns in the BMW M4 GT3 EVO prevailed against the assembled GT3 field in glorious weather, securing the Schubert team’s fourth overall NLS victory. The podium was completed by Ayhancan Güven and Matt Campbell for Team Manthey in second place, and Dennis Olsen, Frédéric Vervisch, Christopher Mies and Vincent Kolb in the Ford Mustang GT3 from HRT Ford Racing in third.
Qualifying for the 57th Adenauer ADAC Circuit Trophy was initially dominated by Mercedes-AMG, with David Pittard securing pole position for Team KCMG with a time of 7:52.393 minutes. The eventual winners also lined up on the front row. The third-fastest time was set by Daniel Vazquez-Garcia, Fidel Leib and Michele di Martino in the Audi R8 GT3 EVO II for Team KKraemer Racing. However, the trio were unable to start due to a problem. Antal Zsigo, Moritz Kranz and David Jahn took fourth place in the BMW M4 GT3 EVO from Gamota Racing. Güven and Campbell in the Manthey Porsche had bad luck in qualifying with Code 60 phases and had to settle for 16th on the grid.
The race began with a thrilling battle at the start, with Pittard initially holding the lead for KCMG, whilst behind him the Konrad Motorsport drivers Patricija Stalidzane, Christian Engelhart and Pavel Lefterov spectacularly moved up to second place. The Gamota BMW also initially overtook its brand-mate from Schubert Motorsport, who dropped back to fourth place. Over the four-hour distance, a strategic chess match unfolded, with Schubert gaining the upper hand through flawless pit stops and a consistent pace. Meanwhile, Güven and Campbell ploughed through the field for Manthey, making up position after position until they finally crossed the line in second place. The Ford quartet secured the third podium spot. Fourth place went to the pole-sitters Kamui Kobayashi, Jesse Krohn, Edoardo Liberati and David Pittard. An interesting detail: in the end, the quartet were almost exactly 85 seconds off the lead – the penalty the team incurred for a speed infringement during a Code 60 phase.
Winner Eng was thrilled with the race: “I never go into a race with the firm expectation that we’ll win. Of course, you hope for it and wish it for the whole team, but today we didn’t necessarily have victory on our radar. Although the GT3 field was a bit smaller in numbers, the quality of the competition was extremely high. The fact that we were able to win straight away here in my first Nordschleife outing in almost two years is just absolutely brilliant and was great fun.” Third-placed Mies was also satisfied: “It was just lovely to be back here, and it was great fun – especially with this weather and all the fans lining the track. After a two-year break from the Nordschleife, I was doing my first laps, so you have to find your feet again first. A lot has changed. It was all a bit unfamiliar to me at first, but it worked out very well in the end. I’m really happy: my last race up here ended with victory in the 24-hour race, and the fact that my first outing since then has been rewarded with a podium straight away makes me very satisfied.”
Güven reflected in particular on the comeback: “I think it was a good race. We had a bit of bad luck with Code 60 phases in qualifying this morning. But in the end, we put in a good performance, combined with a good strategy. Together with Matt, we’re a strong line-up and we worked our way up the field. Overtaking isn’t always that easy; at times I had to wait 20 kilometres for the next opportunity, but for me the top priority was to keep the car intact and gather data.”
A particular highlight was the performance of Gamota Racing, who not only finished sixth overall but also comfortably won the SP9 PRO-AM class. Moritz Kranz was named Driver of the Race by the ILN Drivers’ Association, the race organisers and the commentators for his exceptional performance during the first stint. “I wasn’t expecting it at all,” he said. “When the phone rang and my team-mate said it was Dirk Adorf, I wondered what I’d done wrong. That makes me all the more delighted to receive this special award.”
Sorg triumphs amid drama in Cup 2
Away from the battle for the overall title, the one-make cup classes in particular delivered their usual thrilling motorsport, which has a significant impact on the standings at the top of the table. In Cup 2 (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup), the SRS Team Sorg Rennsport underlined its ambitions: Patrik Grütter and Fabio Grosse celebrated a narrow victory and, with an impressive pace, fought their way up to tenth place overall in the field. For long stretches, Tim Scheerbarth and Joshua Bednarski had led the class in the Mühlner Porsche, before they were forced to retire two laps from the end following a collision through no fault of their own.
Eight drivers at the top of the standings
In Cup 3 (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS), Team Smyrlis Racing came out on top. The duo of Oskar Sandberg and Alexander Fielenbach prevailed in a closely fought battle and maintained their perfect record with another class victory. The pair now lead the series’ overall standings with a perfect haul of 30 points. Edoardo Bugane, Sven Markert, Tim Lukas Müller and Yannick Fübrich (Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels), as well as Piet-Jan Ooms and Ionuc Catalin Timis (SRS Team Sorg Rennsport), are also in first place with the maximum number of points.
Racing debut for a unique car: the HWA EVO.R
Particular attention was also focused on the two spectacular HWA EVO.Rs in the SP-X class. The trio of Luca Ludwig, Jamie Green and Lance David Arnold (#62) brought the car home in 18th place overall after a solid performance. The sister car, bearing start number 61, was less fortunate: for Evald Holstad, Christian Gebhardt and Sebastian Asch, the race ended prematurely due to a technical failure. Nevertheless, the prototype-like cars provided an exciting glimpse of the technical diversity at the Nürburgring.
Full throttle into the future: First round of action for the junior karters
The season opener of the NLS Youth Karting Championship in the Historic Paddock was all about the next generation of motorsport talent. Across the six age groups, Leonie Heiermann (K1, MSC Altenbach), Ben Heiermann (K2, MSC Altenbach), Maxim Wagner (K3, MSF Steinfeld), Matteo Strauß (K4), Florian Rauhe (K5, MSC Adenau) and Florian Rehmann (K6, AMC Birkenfeld) the coveted victories on the circuit. The closing prize-giving ceremony in the Nürburgring Media Centre provided a fitting end to a successful day of racing for the talented youngsters born between 2005 and 2019.
The NLS continues in quick succession. As early as next weekend (18–19 April), the two races of the ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers will mark races four and five of the 2026 season. The next event organised by the VLN is the ADAC Eifel Trophy on 20 June.
