The sixth race of the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie ended with a true photo finish. In perfect weather and midsummer temperatures that pushed both drivers and machinery to their limits, Nico Menzel and Sven Müller celebrated a historic victory after 4:09:46.280 hours in the new Dunlop-Porsche 911 GT3 R. At the 1. ADAC Eifel-Trophy, the duo crossed the finish line with a lead of just 0.319 seconds. For Menzel, it was the fifth win of his NLS career, while Müller recorded his seventh overall victory. After 27 laps, the duo narrowly defeated Jens Klingmann and Robin Frijns in the BMW M4 GT3 EVO from Schubert Motorsport. Third place went to the Pro-Am crew of 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON: Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller and Dylan Pereira guided their Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO to the remaining podium position after a faultless team performance.
In qualifying, Christian Krognes and Mateo Villagomez initially demonstrated their potential in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO from Walkenhorst Motorsport. With a lap time of 7:54.452 minutes, Krognes secured pole position for the team. The Norwegian maintained the lead at the start and entered the first corner in first place. However, as the race progressed, the Aston Martin lost ground during the first pit stop phase and had to let the leading group pull away. In the very last lap, the Walkenhorst team lost another position when Adam Christodoulou, Jake Hill and Kyle Tilley in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 from PROsport racing overtook them in the final sprint to secure fourth place. For the pole setters, fifth place overall was the final result.
Strategic undercut and late drama on track
The battle for overall victory was largely influenced by pit strategy in the first third of the race. While most of the top cars stayed out until lap seven, the Dunlop-Porsche 911 GT3 R and the Schubert-BMW pitted already at the end of lap six. Thanks to this early stop, the duo moved to the front of the field, where Menzel took the lead on lap twelve.
The Porsche 911 GT3 R from Falken Motorsports, driven by Klaus Bachler and Tim Heinemann, was also on course for a podium finish for a long time. However, a left-rear tire failure on lap 21 forced the team to retire the car prematurely, allowing Black Falcon to move into third place. In the closing laps, Klingmann in the BMW M4 GT3 EVO closed the gap significantly to the leading Porsche due to heavy traffic and a late Code 60 phase. Nevertheless, Müller kept his composure in traffic and defended the lead all the way to the finish line.
Relief after hard work in the cockpits
After crossing the finish line, the intense tension of the final laps was clearly visible on the drivers’ faces. Müller, visibly emotional about the close finish, explained: “I don’t think it could have been any closer. We didn’t expect it to get that tight at the end.” His teammate Menzel added with relief: “No fingernails left! My heart nearly sank when another Code 60 came out on the last lap.” At the second-placed Schubert Motorsport team, Klingmann still drew a positive conclusion despite narrowly missing victory: “It was definitely fun. There was a lot going on out there and it was pretty messy. But in the end, it’s P2. I think we can still be satisfied.” Commenting on the extreme temperatures, Pereira added: “It was a hot race, but we fought through it. In the end, we finish P3 overall and P1 in Pro-Am. We’re happy!”
Raphael Rennhofer named Driver of the Race
In the Cup-2 class of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring, Raphael Rennhofer attracted attention. At the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with starting number 902 from LIQUI MOLY by BLACK FALCON, the young driver delivered a strong performance in the highly competitive one-make cup. As a result, ILN, race control and the track commentators jointly named him “Driver of the Race.”
Rennhofer, who finished second in class alongside Ryan Harrison and Leon Wassertheurer, commented enthusiastically: “Yes, that’s super cool! I was very satisfied with my own performance and felt like this was my best race on the Nordschleife so far. The fact that the officials noticed that makes me proud.” Meanwhile, class victory in Cup-2 went to Nico Bastian and Martin Rump in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from Mühlner Motorsport.
Thriller decided by seconds in the BMW M240i Racing Cup and shift at the top of the standings
In addition to the GT3 cars at the top of the overall classification, the BMW M240i Racing Cup class delivered excitement right up to the finish line. In a nail-biting finish, Sven Markert, Edoardo Bugane, Tim Lukas Müller and Yannick Fübrich claimed victory in car number 651 for Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels. After more than four hours of hard racing on the Nordschleife, the class winners were separated from their closest rivals by just 1.028 seconds at the finish. Aiden Mulready, Joshua Hislop and James Breakell mounted a fierce charge in car number 667 but, after 23 completed laps, had to concede defeat to the well-drilled Adrenalin quartet by the narrowest of margins in the final sprint.
This dramatic outcome had an immediate impact on the championship at the start of the second half of the season: before the race weekend, Bugane, Fübrich and Markert were tied on points with the Smyrlis duo Oskar Sandberg and Alexander Fielenbach at the top of the standings. While the Adrenalin team secured maximum points with their class win and moved into sole championship lead with 60 points, their rivals experienced drama. After an accident in the Schwalbenschwanz section, Sandberg was forced to retire the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS.
Focus on young talent
Parallel to the action in the Green Hell, young motorsport talents competed in the second event of the NLS Youth Kart Slalom Championship 2026 in the historic paddock. Across six different age categories, the young drivers delivered clean and millimeter-precise duels decided by tenths of a second. At the end of an intense race weekend, Leonie Heiermann (K1 / MSC Altenbach), Luise Schwarz (K2 / MSC Adenau), Jeremy Port (K3 / MSC Piesbach), Leo Pawelczyk (K4 / MSC Losheim), Tim Schneider (K5 / AMC Hellertal) and Francis Rittinger (K6 / OC Lahnstein) secured the coveted class victories.
On August 1, the XXL-distance race is on the schedule. The KW 6h ADAC Ruhr-Pokal-Rennen is the highlight of the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie season.