Falken Motorsports remains the benchmark in the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. At the KW 6h ADAC Ruhr Cup race, Klaus Bachler and Sven Müller celebrated overall victory after 33 laps in the Porsche 911 GT3 R with start number 3, ahead of their team-mates Dennis Marschall and Nico Menzel. At the finish line, the two Falken Porsches were separated by 5.127 seconds. The Haupt Racing Team made history: Vincent Kolb, Frank Stippler and Patrick Assenheimer drove their Ford Mustang GT3 to third place – the first podium finish for the new GT3 car on the Nordschleife. Fog around the Nürburgring and the Nordschleife meant that the race had to be shortened: instead of the planned six hours, the race distance had to be reduced to 4.5 hours.
In the qualifying session on Saturday morning, which was also shortened to 40 minutes, it was Nico Menzel who set the pace with a lap time of 8:10.838 minutes. This put the Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R with start number 4 in pole position and gave his team the best starting position. The first row was completed by the Porsche from BLACK FALCON Team EAE with Daan Arrow, Mustafa Mehmet Kaya, Gabriele Piana and Mike Stursberg.
The final phase was particularly exciting. Bachler crossed the finish line again just seconds before the end of the race and added an extra lap – much to the delight of the numerous fans in the stands and around the Nordschleife. ‘We are here to race,’ explained team boss Sven Schnabl. For Bachler himself, it was a perfect debut. His first Nordschleife outing this year ended with a victory. ‘Mega,’ said the Austrian happily. ‘I haven't been able to drive on the Nordschleife this year due to scheduling conflicts. That makes it all the more wonderful to be here today, to win and to celebrate a double victory. Sven did a mega job and put us in a position to be at the front.’
His teammates also drew positive conclusions. ‘After the tough 24-hour race for the Falken team, this was a conciliatory race,’ said Dennis Marschall. ‘We had no problems, and the lap times looked good. Of course, we want to win, but we're satisfied for now.’ Frank Stippler emphasised the significance of the Mustang podium: ‘The first podium finish for the Ford Mustang GT3 on the Nordschleife is a milestone – and we also racked up a few kilometres in the lead. The car is fast over one lap, but we still have work to do over the distance. We've already taken a few steps forward and will use the next races to continue working on development.’
In addition to the overall standings, the classes also provided exciting stories. In the highly competitive Cup 2 class of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring, car number 921 with Arne Hoffmeister, David Jahn and Timi Scheerbarth came out on top. The trio finished sixth in the overall standings. David Jahn caused a particular stir when he was voted ‘Driver of the Race’. This was in recognition of his spectacular and fair overtaking manoeuvre against Carlos Rivas, who had been leading the class until then. Daniel Zils, on the other hand, saw his streak come to an end: after 58 class victories in a row, he had to settle for two second places this time around as a double starter.
The most numerous class at the KW 6h ADAC Ruhr Cup race was the Cup2 category of the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport with 17 starters. Victory went to car number 962 from W&S Motorsport with Joshua Bednarski and Lorenz Stegmann. Second place went to car number 944 with Leonard and Moritz Oehme from Düsseldorf. The podium was completed by Schmickler Performance powered by Ravenol with Horst Baumann, Stefan Schmickler and Markus Schmickler. The large field ensured thrilling duels throughout the entire race, once again making CUP3 one of the crowd favourites and the heart of grassroots motorsport in the ADAC Nürburgring Endurance Series.
After six of ten races, Sven Markert and Kevin Wambach lead the overall standings with 90 points. They are followed by Arne Hoffmeister and Tim Scheerbarth with 82 points. The points difference between the two duos remains unchanged, as both won their class. Falken Motorsports also extended its double lead in the NLS Speed Trophy with the double victory: car number 3 is ahead of number 4 with 160 points to 122 points.
The next highlight for the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie is just four weeks away. On 13 and 14 September 2025, the NLS will hold its first double-header of the season. A four-hour race will be held on both days, marking rounds seven and eight of the season.