13.11.2024
The season finale of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie will make history in more ways than one. The tradition-rich Nordschleife championship will conclude its 2024 racing season on November 16, unusually late. Nevertheless, a diverse field of participants is getting ready to take on the Green Hell one more time this year. The championship decision is also at the center of attention. Can the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels turn the tide again? Or will the championship leaders from AVIA W&S Motorsport seal the deal and win the first championship title for Porsche in the NLS?
The provisional entry list for the 56th ADAC Barbarossapreis includes 85 entries. “We are very satisfied with the quality of the field. There are some great cars in the line-up and we are in for a thrilling race,” says NLS Director of Motorsport Christian Vormann. “Quantitatively, of course, the number of entries does not meet our expectations. But that was clear to us after we were assigned this late date.”
What Vormann describes as “great vehicles” makes the hearts of motorsport fans beat faster. After ten years, Dörr Motorsport is finally bringing a McLaren back to the Nordschleife. Ben Dörr shares the cockpit of his 720S GT3 EVO, with which he made his DTM debut this year, with Marvin Kirchhöfer. PROsport-Racing is entering an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 with a professional line-up for the first time. Marek Böckmann, Nico Bastian and Adam Christodoulou will take turns at the wheel of the British supercar. For the first time, Up2Race will field an Audi R8 LMS GT3 for Pierre Lemmerz and Philippe Charlaix. The team, in whose BMW M240i Racing ex-Formula 1 star Timo Glock obtained his Nordschleife license, is happy to take on the new challenge.
With next year in mind, 'Grello' will return to the Nordschleife one more time. The Porsche 911 GT3 R from Manthey Racing will be driven by Ayhancan Güven and Morris Schuring. For the 19-year-old Dutchman, it will be his first race with a GT3 car on the Nordschleife. “When I was asked if I wanted to drive ‘Grello’, I didn't have to think about it for a second. This is really something special,” says Schuring. A victory would see him follow in his father's footsteps. In 2015, Gerwin Schuring won the season finale, which was shortened due to fog, in a Porsche Cup car. “Of course, it would be fantastic if I could also do well there and continue the tradition,” says Morris Schuring.
Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf will also be competing again to cover a few more Nordschleife kilometers at the end of the year. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is strongly fielded with the two performance drivers Lucas Auer and Mikaël Grenier. Scherer Sport PHX will also be taking advantage of this fact. Frank Stippler and Markus Winkelhock will take turns at the wheel of the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO 2. Meanwhile, Team ADVAN x HRT will contest the final Nordschleife race with the Mercedes-AMG GT3. Dennis Fetzer, Finn Wiebelhaus and Salman Owega will reach for the stars one more time before the team from the industrial park at the Nürburgring switches to the Ford Mustang GT3 next year.
Showdown for the championshipIn addition to the fight for the last victory of the year, the focus is also on the championship decision. After the bad luck of the championship leaders Joshua Bednarski, Lucas Daugaard and Moritz Oberheim, who were unable to compete in the Porsche Cayman of AVIA W&S Motorsport after an accident during Friday's test, the decision will now be made at the finale. “Our goal is to win the NLS championship after taking the title in the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring,” says team manager Patrick Wagner. With their fifth victory in the seventh race, Sven Markert, Ranko Mijatovic and Toby Goodman kept their title chances alive in the BMW M240i Racing of the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels. “Of course, it would be incredibly nice if we were actually able to defend the title in the final race,” says team manager Matthias Unger. “However, it's still out of our hands and we'll have to wait and see what the competition does.”
The match point lies with AVIA. The trio currently has 90 points on the credit side. Adrenalin can catch up on the missing 15 points with another victory. If they succeed, Markert, Mijatovic and Goodman would draw level. Then the number of victories will decide the championship. In this case, Bednarski, Daugaard and Oberheim would also have to win their class in order to be at the top according to the rules that apply when there is a tie.
Tickets are available for 22 euros (children up to 14 years of age are admitted free of charge). This includes access to the open grandstands on the Grand Prix circuit, the exclusive Brünnchen and Pflanzgarten spectator areas, the paddock, the pit lane, the starting grid and the ring°werk motorsport experience museum. Positions on the starting grid will be determined between 8:30 and 10 am. During the pit walk starting at 10:20 a.m. and the visit to the starting grid starting at 11:10 a.m., fans will experience motorsport up close.