Raise the curtain and clear the stage. The 54th ZEWOTHERM ADAC Barbarossapreis will see a world premiere that will make the hearts of NLS fans beat faster: The brand new Porsche 911 GT3 R will start for its first race outing and will be driven by Julien Andlauer and Frédéric Makowiecki next Saturday (8.10.). The film set is the Nürburgring-Nordschleife and in addition to the protagonist there are 131 other main characters. The chase through the Green Hell lasts four hours. Tickets for the sixth race of the Nürburgring Endurance Series are available from 18 euros (children up to 14 years free) online and on site at the box offices. The entire race day will be streamed live, bringing the unique atmosphere of the Nordschleife championship to your home screen.
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"The new 911 GT3 R follows in big footsteps," says Michael Dreiser, Head of Sales at Porsche Motorsport. "Its predecessor has won just about everything there was to win in the GT3 scene in four seasons since 2019." The challenger is based on the current generation 992 and can take off at the start of the 2023 season. Development began back in 2019 and is now culminating in its first outing under real racing conditions on the most beautiful and challenging race track in the world. The main focus was on improved driveability for professionals and so-called gentleman drivers, as well as greater power reserves depending on the classification by the 'Balance of Performance' (BoP). Simplified handling of the race car for the teams and optimised running costs were also the focus of development.
The new 911 starts in the SP-X class because it does not yet have final homologation for the GT3 class. Nevertheless, it is in the same league as the 15 cars that have entered for the SP9 class. His direct opponents include the two Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II cars of Scherer Sport Team Phoenix, which are currently fighting for the NLS Speed Trophy crown. In the #16 car, Luca Engstler celebrates his GT3 debut on the Nordschleife alongside Jakub "Kuba" Giermaziak and Kim Luis Schramm.
Three other prominent participants are also aiming for this goal in the medium term. Three-time Le Mans winner and ex-Formula 1 driver Kazuki Nakajima will tackle the race together with Heiko Tönges in the Toyota GT86 of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Germany powered by Ring Racing. Ferdinand Habsburg, great-grandson of Charles I of Austria and ex-DTM driver, will start together with Benjamin Goethe in the BMW 330i of the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Alzner Automotive to complete his mandatory laps for obtaining the 'big' Nordschleife licence. Hugo Sasse is also at the start in terms of the 'permit'. Together with Gabriela Jílková, Niek Hommerson and Ivan Peklin, the ADAC GT4 Germany championship leader will complete a double start in two PROsport-Racing Porsche Caymans in the V5 and VT3 classes.
Interesting side stories provide entertainment
In the 2022 season they were opponents, now they are making common cause. We are talking about Laurin Heinrich and Larry ten Voorde, who are competing together with Georg Kiefer in the Porsche Cayman GT4 CS from Four Motors Bioconcept Car in the alternative fuel class. In the Carrera Cup, the two engaged in a fierce battle for the championship, which Heinrich most recently decided in his favour at the Sachsenring.
The TCR class is experiencing a renaissance at NLS7. Five cars from four different manufacturers are represented. Jürgen and Joachim Nett celebrate their comeback after a two-year break with their Peugeot 308 Racing Cup TCR. The duo will be up against the two strongly fielded Audi RS3 LMS from Møller Bil Motorsport with the three experienced Norwegians Håkon Schjærin, Kenneth Østvold and Anders Lindstad, as well as Scherer Sport with drivers Andreas Gülden, Mathias Schläppi and Michael Bohrer. Sebastian Schemmann, Florian Haller and Daniel Fink will be driving a Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR for MSC Emstal, while Jens Wulf, Roger Vögeli and Meik Utsch will bring a Seat Cupra Leon Cup Racer/TCR to the start.
In addition to the SP9 with 15 cars, the two classes VT2 with front- as well as rear- and all-wheel drive are also very well occupied with ten and eleven cars, respectively, and earn full points according to the NLS scoring system. The two classes of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring are also strong with 13 (CUP2) and 15 (CUP3) cars.
In the championship, Daniel Zils, Oskar Sandberg and Sindre Setsaas in the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Alzner Automotive BMW 330i are in the lead. The trio has a 17-point lead over second-placed Mauro Calamia, Ivan Jacoma and Kai Riemer, who pilot a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS (982) in CUP3 for Schmickler Performance powered by Ravenol and, for their part, have an eleven-point advantage over Daniel Blickle and Tim Scheerbarth in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of AVIA W&S Motorsport.
© Photo: Porsche