The Nürburgring Endurance Series enters the home straight of the 2023 season with the 55th ADAC Barbarossapreis on 23 September. The focus of the eighth race of the year is the championship decision in the tradition-steeped Nordschleife championship. A number of other topics underpin the dramaturgy. Thrilling motorsport in the Green Hell is guaranteed. Tickets for the 4h race are available from 20 Euros (children under 14 free) in the online shop and at the box offices.

The 24-hour winners are back! After the grandiose success of Frikadelli Racing at the Eifel Marathon, the Ferrari 296 GT3 of the team around Klaus Abbelen was granted the honour to be in the limelight at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello from now on. Since Frikadelli Racing could already win the Am title in the CUP2 classification of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring at NLS7, the preparation for the coming year starts early now. David Pittard and Nick Catsburg will drive the brand-new super sports car from Italy at NLS8, which already had its roll-out during the test and set-up run before the 12h Nürburgring at the beginning of September.

Due to their great successes - Pittard won the 24h race as well as the ROWE 6h ADAC Ruhr Cup race in the Falken Porsche - the duo automatically slip into the role of favourites. They are opposed by a number of teams who were also successful at the Nürburgring in 2023, most notably four-time season winners Christian Krognes and Jakub 'Kuba' Giermaziak in the Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3. With three pole positions, Vincent Kolb and Frank Stippler in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II from Scherer Sport PHX are also always among the illustrious circle of candidates for victory. Of the NLS8 contenders, Schnitzelalm Racing (Mercedes-AMG GT3), PROsport Racing (Aston Martin Vantage GT3) and Dörr Motorsport (Aston Martin Vantage GT3) have achieved podium finishes so far this season.

A Brazilian enters new territory: Felipe Nasr
With Felipe Nasr, a former Formula 1 driver is preparing to conquer the Green Hell at the Barbarossa Trophy. The Brazilian raced for Sauber in the premier class in 2015 and 2016 and is now a Porsche works driver in the Porsche 963 LMDh hybrid prototype. His field is the North American IMSA sports car championship. It is not known whether his Nordschleife event was inspired by Sebastian Vettel, David Coulthard & Co. who made the legendary Nordschleife shake with F1 cars as part of the Red Bull Formula Nürburgring at the beginning of September. The fact is, Nasr is contesting a real racing event in contrast - alongside twins Alesia and Jacqueline Kreutzpointner in the 718 Porsche Cayman GT4 CS from Four Motors Bioconcept-Car (#420) to obtain the DMSB Permit A for the Nordschleife.

Tobias Jung and thinking outside the box
Tobias Jung wants to prove at NLS 8 that he can not only handle Opel cars. On the Nordschleife, the team from Bornheim won the hearts of the fans with the Calibra and Astra models. Now comes the first race with a Cupra Leon in VT3. Tobias Jung himself and Michael Eichhorn take turns at the wheel. The racing team is also fielding an Opel Astra in the TCR class, driven by none other than Carlos Antunes Tavares, the CEO of the Stellantis Group, which owns the Opel, Citroën, Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler brands, among others. At the side of the Portuguese, who lives in France, the Senior Vice President of Stellantis Motorsport, Jean-Marc Finot, takes the wheel. In the TCR class, the duo will face Møller Bil Motorsport with the Audi RS3 LMS, Halder Motorsport with the Honda FK7 TCR as well as Patryk Krupinski from Luxembourg, who is contesting a kind of home game in the Cupra TCR of the organising MSC Sinzig.

A real showdown: who will be champion and when?
The championship in the Nürburgring Endurance Series will only be decided in the last two races. Daniel Zils, Oskar Sandberg and Philipp Leisen in the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Motec BMW 330i have scored the maximum points haul in the first seven races: seven class wins in VT2-R+4WD. Nevertheless, the trio cannot sit back and relax, because Heiko Eichenberg, Fabio Grosse and Patrik Grütter, who drive a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS in Cup 3, are hot on their heels. Five class wins and two second places mean that they are currently still eight points behind. With two more class wins, the three drivers of SRS Team Sorg Rennsport can draw level, because at the end of the season, only the best seven results are included in the standings. Both teams would then be equal on points. In this case, four different rules apply and the decision becomes complicated.

Rule number one weighs the respective number of placings against each other. Since both teams would have seven wins in the scored races, they would still be tied. Next, the position of the last race used for scoring is compared - again, both would have one win. Rule number three takes into account the points from the two strike results. For race eight this means: Sorg can delay the championship decision until the final with a win. If they fail to do so, Adrenalin will have a virtually unassailable lead in the standings - regardless of the result. If both teams win their class at NLS8, a third place will be enough for Adrenalin to win the title at the final.

A historical plot twist is not out of the question
By the way, the situation would get really curious if Sorg won both races and Adrenalin came second twice in the remaining races. Then rule number four would come into force: the consideration of the training results. The better average of the qualifying results leads to the title. But here, too, there is a tie - after seven of nine races, the average of both teams is 2.14. Should this remain the case until the finale, there would be two champion teams for the first time in the history of the Nürburgring Endurance Series. In the medienkraftwerk Junior Trophy 2023, Nico Otto, who competes in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup fielded by Max Kruse Racing in Cup 2, currently leads the standings. The team leading the standings, Adrenalin Motorsport, leads the NIMEX Team Trophy in four classes.

A script that guarantees entertainment for the whole family
The 55th ADAC Barbarossapreis will run over the customary distance of four hours. The positions on the starting grid will be determined in qualifying between 08:30 and 10 am. At the 'NLS-Pitwalk presented by PITWALK - das Motorsportmagazin' from 10:20 a.m. and the visit to the starting grid from 11:10 a.m., the fans will experience motorsport with all their senses. The race starts at 12 noon. The entire race day will be broadcast live on VLN.de. Between practice and the race, a parade for a good cause will take place on the Nordschleife. The Benefiz Corso e.V. is collecting donations for the track safety officers. The big sports stewards' party organised by the VLN in the paddock after the race is also aimed at the tireless helpers around the Nürburgring, without whom motor sport would be unthinkable.