The sixth round of the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie ended in a real photo finish. In glorious weather and midsummer temperatures, which pushed both drivers and their cars to the limit on the track, Nico Menzel and Sven Müller celebrated a historic victory in the new Dunlop Porsche 911 GT3 R after 4:09:46.280 hours. The duo crossed the finish line at the 1st ADAC Eifel Trophy with a lead of just 0.319 seconds. For Menzel, it was the fifth victory of his NLS career, whilst Müller recorded his seventh overall win. After 27 laps, the duo narrowly prevailed over Jens Klingmann and Robin Frijns in the Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO. Third place was secured by the Pro-Am crew from 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON: Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller and Dylan Pereira steered their Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO to the remaining podium spot following a flawless team performance.
In qualifying, Christian Krognes and Mateo Villagomez initially demonstrated their potential in the Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO. With a lap time of 7:54.452 minutes, Krognes secured pole position for the team. The Norwegian maintained the lead at the start and entered the first corner in the lead. As the race progressed, however, the Aston Martin lost ground during the first pit stop phase and was forced to let the leading group pull away. On the very last lap of the race, the Walkenhorst team dropped another place when Adam Christodoulou, Jake Hill and Kyle Tilley in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 from PROsport racing overtook them in the final sprint to secure fourth place. In the end, the pole-setters finished fifth overall.
A tactical undercut and late drama on the track
The outcome of the race was largely determined by the pit stop strategy in the first third of the race. Whilst most of the top cars remained on the track until the seventh lap, the Dunlop Porsche 911 GT3 R and the Schubert BMW headed for the pit lane as early as the sixth lap. This early pit stop propelled the pair to the front of the field, where Menzel took the lead on the twelfth lap.
The Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven by Klaus Bachler and Tim Heinemann, was also on course for a podium finish for much of the race. However, a rear-left puncture on lap 21 forced the team to retire the car early, allowing Black Falcon to take third place. In the closing laps, Klingmann in the BMW M4 GT3 EVO made strong ground on the leading Porsche through heavy overtaking traffic and a late Code 60 phase. Müller, however, kept his nerve in the traffic and defended the lead in the final sprint to the finish line.
Relief after a tough battle in the cockpits
As they crossed the finish line, the intense strain of the final laps was written all over the drivers’ faces. Visibly moved by the close result, Müller said: “I don’t think it could have been any closer. We certainly didn’t imagine it would be that tight right at the end.” His team-mate Menzel added, with a sigh of relief: “No more nail-biting! My heart did skip a beat a bit when another Code 60 came in on the final lap.” Even for the second-placed Schubert Motorsport team, Klingmann drew a positive conclusion despite narrowly missing out on victory: “It was definitely good fun. There was a lot going on out on the track and it was all rather chaotic out there. But yes, in the end we finished P2. I think we can still be satisfied.” When asked about the extreme temperatures, Pereira added: “It was a hot race, but we fought our way through it. In the end, we’re P3 in the overall standings and P1 in the Pro-Am class. We’re happy!”
Raphael Rennhofer named Driver of the Race
Raphael Rennhofer caught the eye in the Cup 2 class of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring. At the wheel of the No. 902 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from Team LIQUI MOLY by BLACK FALCON, the young driver put in a strong performance in the fiercely contested one-make cup. Following this impressive display, the ILN, the race organisers and the track announcers jointly named him ‘Driver of the Race’.
Rennhofer, who finished second in the class alongside Ryan Harrison and Leon Wassertheurer, commented enthusiastically on the success: “Yes, that’s absolutely brilliant! I was very happy with my own performance; I felt that this was my best race so far on the Nordschleife. The fact that the officials noticed this too makes me proud.” Meanwhile, the class victory in the Cup 2 class went to Nico Bastian and Martin Rump in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from Mühlner Motorsport.
A nail-biting finish in the BMW M240i Racing Cup and a shake-up at the top of the standings
Alongside the GT3 cars at the top of the overall standings, it was the BMW M240i Racing Cup class in particular that provided thrills right up to the finish line. In a nail-biting finish decided by a matter of seconds, Sven Markert, Edoardo Bugane, Tim Lukas Müller and Yannick Fübrich ultimately prevailed in car number 651 for the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels. After more than four hours of gruelling action on the Nordschleife, the class winners crossed the line just a hair’s breadth – 1.028 seconds – ahead of their closest rivals. Aiden Mulready, Joshua Hislop and James Breakell put in a furious chase in car number 667, but were pipped at the post by the well-coordinated Adrenalin quartet in the final sprint after completing 23 laps.
This dramatic outcome had an immediate impact on the championship at the start of the second half of the season: ahead of the race weekend, Bugane, Fübrich and Markert were still level on points with the Smyrlis duo, Oskar Sandberg and Alexander Fielenbach, at the top of the table. However, whilst the Adrenalin team secured the maximum number of points with their class victory and took sole possession of the top spot in the standings with 60 points, their rivals faced a dramatic turn of events. Following a crash on the Schwalbenschwanz section of the circuit, Sandberg was forced to retire the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS early.
Focus on the next generation
Alongside the action in the Green Hell, the next generation of motorsport talent held the second round of the 2026 NLS Youth Kart Slalom Championship in the historic paddock. Across the six different age groups, the young drivers engaged in flawless, millimetre-precise duels, battling for every tenth of a second. At the end of an intense weekend of competition, Leonie Heiermann (K1 / MSC Altenbach), Luise Schwarz (K2 / MSC Adenau), Jeremy Port (K3 / MSC Piesbach), Leo Pawelczyk (K4 / MSC Losheim), Tim Schneider (K5 / AMC Hellertal) and Francis Rittinger (K6 / OC Lahnstein) the coveted class victories.
The XXL-distance race is scheduled for 1 August. The KW 6h ADAC Ruhr Cup race is the highlight of the season in the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. With the race duration increased by 50 per cent, more points are up for grabs in the championship. Tickets are available at VLN.de/tickets.
