The 65th ADAC Reinoldus Endurance Race treated fans at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife to four hours of top-class endurance racing and a thrilling finish: after completing 27 laps, Schubert Motorsport secured the overall victory in the eighth round of the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie. Jens Klingmann, Jordan Pepper, and Ugo de Wilde crossed the finish line in their BMW M4 GT3 EVO with a razor-thin margin of just 0.308 seconds. Finishing a close second were Tim Heinemann and Morris Schuring in the Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R. Dominik and Marcel Fugel, alongside Benjamin Leuchter, claimed a historic third place on the overall podium for Max Kruse Racing in their Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II. In doing so, the trio not only celebrated an undisputed class victory in the AT 1 category but also wrote history as the first team ever to achieve an overall podium finish using a GT3 car running on E20 fuel.
During qualifying, the field demonstrated the series’ high level of performance, with the top twelve cars separated by a mere ten seconds. The trio of Antal Zsigo, Moritz Kranz, and David Jahn secured pole position in the Gamota Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO with a lap time of 7:53.343 minutes. Meanwhile, Team Dunlop Motorsport had to overcome a setback: following a collision early in the session, Nico Menzel and Flynt Schuring were demoted from eighth to eleventh on the starting grid; however, they staged an impressive recovery drive during the race to finish fifth overall, trailing the fourth-placed Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL.
Falken Motorsports errang Platz zwei im Rennen
Tactical Pit Stops and Changing Race Leaders
The battle for the day’s victory was fiercely contested over the course of the 27 laps. Immediately after the start, Pepper, driving the Schubert BMW, snatched the lead from the pole-sitters at the AMG Arena. During the opening laps, the Schubert BMW and the Gamota BMW engaged in a spectacular duel for the lead—including a daring overtaking maneuver at the Schwedenkreuz section.
The overall lead changed hands several times during the race due to varying pit-stop strategies. The Max Kruse Racing Audi R8—which ultimately finished third—capitalized on extended windows for its first and third stints, leading the field at times. At the finish line, Benjamin Leuchter reflected on the historic significance of the achievement: “This is huge for us. We are the first AT-GT3 car to make the overall podium in a field of 27 GT3 cars. That makes us very proud, and I’m just happy that we’ve finally had a breakthrough and avoided bad luck for a change.” Teammates Marcel and Dominik Fugel were also thrilled with the team’s performance; despite facing setbacks throughout the season, the crew had prepared the Audi to perfection: “All three of us really delivered today. Considering this isn’t our full-time job, we didn’t do too badly at all.”
Falken Motorsports took the lead after the first round of pit stops and found themselves at the front of the field again later in the race. Morris Schuring reflected on the tight battle: “That was cool racing. I had a bit of bad luck with an Aston Martin while lapping traffic—which might have been the deciding factor—but it was great fun.” Tim Heinemann also drew a positive conclusion: “That was exactly what the fans want to see: close, hard racing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough for us in the end, but we’re still satisfied.”
The early stages saw some drama following a collision in the AMG Arena between the Haupt Racing Team’s Ford Mustang GT3 (Vincent Kolb / Frank Stippler) and the BLACK FALCON Team EAE Porsche 911 GT3 R (Daan Arrow / Mustafa Mehmet Kaya / Mike Stursberg). Despite spinning out, the BLACK FALCON Team EAE fought back to convincingly secure the SP9 Am class victory (finishing eleventh overall). The Mustang retired from the race early. Victory in the SP9 Pro-Am class went to 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON—with drivers Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller, and Dylan Pereira in the Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO—finishing sixth overall.
The battle for overall victory was decided after the final pit stop, when Schubert Motorsport reclaimed the lead on lap 24. In the remaining laps, Heinemann and Schuring kept the leading BMW under constant pressure, running bumper-to-bumper. However, Schubert Motorsport defended their line flawlessly, crossing the finish line after four hours with a 0.308-second advantage. A beaming Jens Klingmann reflected on the race: “That was truly motorsport at its finest—exactly what we drivers want and what the fans want to see. At NLS6, we lost by two-tenths of a second; today, we won. On the Döttinger Höhe straight, I felt we had it in the bag, but traffic from lapped cars made things really tight again. It makes the eventual victory all the sweeter.” Incidentally, the Oschersleben-based team had double the reason to celebrate on Saturday: at the Sachsenring, Marco Wittmann won the first DTM race in the BMW M4 GT3.
Photo finish in the BMW M2 class and success in the one-make series
It wasn’t just at the front of the field that a photo finish set pulses racing; spectators witnessed an equally dramatic conclusion in the BMW M2 class. After four hours of racing, Ranko Mijatovic—driving the BMW M2 Racing for Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport—secured victory over the duo of Marc David Müller and Henrik Seibel by a razor-thin margin of 0.352 seconds. In the highly competitive CUP2 class (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup), the BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN dominated: Alexander Hardt, ‘Benjamin Hites’, and Benjamin Koslowski claimed the class win while finishing an impressive 13th overall.
Title Race Remains Thrilling: Neck-and-Neck at the Top of the Standings
The top contenders in the battle for the overall championship of the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Endurance Series gave nothing away. The leading trio of Edoardo Bugane, Yannick Fübrich, and Sven Markert—driving the BMW M240i Racing Cup car for Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels—continued their flawless run by securing another class victory. However, their closest rivals in the title race also held firm: Alexander Fielenbach and Oskar Sandberg won the CUP3 class for Smyrlis Racing in their Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS. Since both title contenders secured the maximum points haul, the situation at the top of the standings remains unchanged.
The action continues thick and fast
The teams and drivers have little time to catch their breath: the next round takes place tomorrow, Sunday, with the 66th ADAC ACAS Cup. Fans at the track can once again look forward to a full day of Nordschleife action. Tickets are available for €25 per day (free for children up to and including age 14) at VLN.de/tickets and at the box office; they include access to the grandstands, paddock, pit lane, starting grid, and the Brünnchen and Pflanzgarten spectator areas. The schedule remains the same: qualifying begins at 08:30, followed by the pit walk (10:20) and grid walk (11:10), before the four-hour race gets underway at 12:00. Those following from home can watch the action via the livestream on VLN.de starting at 08:15, or listen to “Radio Nürburgring” on rpr1.de and via the RPR1 app.
