After a thrilling finale, the champions of the 2023 Nürburgring Endurance Series have been decided. Daniel Zils, Oskar Sandberg and Philipp Leisen drove to their ninth victory in the ninth race in the VT2-R+4WD class in the BMW 330i of Adrenalin Motorsport Team Motec. In a long-distance duel with the driver trio from SRS Sorg Rennsport, Zils, Sandberg and Leisen thus made their triumph perfect. For Adrenalin Motorsport, it is the sixth title in a row. Leisen secured his fourth championship overall, while Zils and Sandberg defended their title from last year and took championship honors for the second time. Victory in the 47th PAGID Racing DMV Münsterlandpokal went to Frank Stippler and Christopher Mies in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II. The duo from Scherer Sport PHX thus gave Ernst Moser, team founder of predecessor racing team Phoenix Racing, a victory on literally his last outing on the pit wall.

With its sixth title, Adrenalin Motorsport is now the most successful team in the NLS and has replaced Scheid Motorsport at the top of the statistics. "I can only repeat myself," says team boss Matthias Unger. "From the outside it might look easy sometimes, but this year was really damn hard. We had to put in another extreme effort to end up with nine class wins in the highly competitive VT2-R+4WD class. It was no walk in the park." The success of the team from Heusenstamm is no coincidence. "We simply had the best package again this year," said Sandberg. "We were a super-fast driver trio, the car was always perfect, the tires always fit and, last but not least, our team always made the right decisions - that was, as in the previous year, the secret of our success." After seven wins in the first seven races, the adrenaline trio had reached the maximum points haul. After that, the arithmetic began. The Sorg trio could still have drawn level and even taken the title. "Of course, we always had that in the back of our minds," says Zils. "But in practice, we only ever thought from race to race. We primarily focused on ourselves and that led to success in the end." With four titles in the NLS, Leisen is now one of the most successful drivers in the history of the traditional series. Only Heinz-Otto Fritzsche and Johannes Scheid were more successful, with five triumphs each. Leisen is already looking ahead: "After the season is before the season. I would like to fight for successes together with cool teammates like Daniel and Oskar in the coming year as well." One of the first congratulators was Daniel Sorg: "I congratulate Matthias on his sixth title. We had a thrilling fight until the final. Second place is a strong result in the end for Heiko Eichenberg, Fabio Grosse and Patrik Grütter. For us as a team, it's motivation in the end to fully attack again next year." SRS Sorg Rennsport also recorded victory in the Cup 3 class of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring in addition to the vice championship.

Starting from pole position, Stippler and Mies dominated the action at the front of the field. Leading laps were also collected by five-time season winners Jakub 'Kuba' Giermaziak and Christian Krognes in the BMW M4 GT3 of Walkenhorst Motorsport. In the end, the team relied on the wrong strategy, had to make a refueling stop shortly before the end of the race and narrowly missed out on the podium in fourth place. Fabian Schiller and Lucas Auer in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed were delighted with second place. Julien Andlauer and Patric Niederhauser in Rutronik Racing's Porsche 911 GT3 R completed the mix of brands on the podium.

Emotional victory for Scherer Sport PHX.
"This was a very emotional win for us," said Stippler. "We have had a very tough year. And with the retirement of Phoenix founder Ernst, an era is coming to an end. So it was important for us to give him this victory. I've been leaning with Phoenix for 15 years. We have celebrated many great successes together. I've been squeezing the car like a lemon all season. But it's never been rewarded. That's why I agreed with Chris that we would give it our all once again today. I would like to thank all the track safety officials and all the other participants for giving us a good time on the most beautiful race track in the world. We all have to be very grateful that we can do this together." Mies added, "That was legendary, sharing the car with Stippi and celebrating this victory for Ernst."

Schiller, who was in the lead group throughout the race in the GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3, was happy with second place in the end, "It was a tough race. The car was very, very good and it was a very good race for us in general. For Luggi it was his first Nordschleife race and only his second ever in GT3 - so second place is a fantastic result." Auer was also beaming after the race about second place: "Fabian did a mega job. For me, it was important to reel off laps on the Nordschleife and I'm very happy to now be on the podium." The Rutronik duo was also pleased with third place after their final outing in the Green Hell this year. "It's great that I was able to finish my first race at the Nürburgring with the Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) on the podium. I had a lot of fun in the duels during the race. In the end I lacked a bit of pace against Fabian," said Niederhauser. Victory in the Pro-Am classification of the GT3 class SP9 went to Florian Spengler and Markus Winkelhock in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II from Car Collection Motorsport. The duo finished fifth overall ahead of the fastest Aston Martin Vantage GT3, piloted by Phil and Ben Dörr.

In addition to the drivers' championship, Zils / Sandberg / Leisen also won the production car trophy. And in the medienkraftwerk Junior trophy, too, an Adrenalin driver was at the top in the end. Nils Steinberg prevailed over Nico Otto (Max Kruse Racing) in second place and the two Black Falcon drivers Ben Bünnagel and Noah Nagelsdiek in third. In the NIMEX Team Trophy, Adrenalin won four class rankings. Other titles went to Zierau Hochvolt by Mertens Motorsport (VT2-FWD), CP Racing (SP9 Pro-Am), FK Performance (SP10), Four Motors Bioconcept-Car (AT(-G)), MØLLER BIL MOTORSPORT (TCR) and Walkenhorst Motorsport (SP9 Pro), among others. The racing team from Melle also decided the NLS Speed Trophy in its favor. Fastest lady of the 2023 season was Flavia Pellegrino Fernandes (Keeevin Sports and Racing).

The successful drivers of the 2023 NLS season will be honored on November 18 at the Bitburger Event Center at the Nürburgring. Then, on December 2, the Digital Nürburgring Endurance Series will kick off the 23/24 winter season, with five races on the schedule through the spring. The real endurance racing in the Green Hell will start in full swing from the end of March. The exact dates will be announced shortly.