What a start to the 49th season of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie: Falken Motorsports celebrated a double victory right at the opening round. Sven Müller and Morris Schuring were waved off in the Porsche 911 GT3 R with a lead of 3.068 seconds ahead of their teammates Dorian Boccolacci and Nico Menzel. But that wasn’t all, as in the end, four sports cars from Zuffenhausen occupied the top positions. The success for Porsche was completed by Ayhancan Güven and Thomas Preining in the 'Grello' from Manthey-Racing, as well as Matteo Cairoli and Bastian Buus in the Dinamic GT Porsche. Around 7,000 spectators attended the 70th ADAC Westfalenfahrt, visiting the grandstands, the paddock, and the exclusive spectator zones at the Nordschleife. Only once in the history of the traditional racing series have more tickets been sold on a single race day. Interest from fans was also high at the free Nordschleife spots for the first race of the season.
The first surprise of the day came from Frank Stippler in qualifying: in the Audi R8 LMS from JUTA RACING, he secured the team's first pole position, setting a time of 7:51.530 minutes, driving for the team built around the ambitious amateur drivers 'SELV' and Alexey Veremenko. A colorful brand mix followed in qualifying on the other positions: the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 from Walkenhorst Motorsport, the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo from Dörr Motorsport, the Ferrari 296 GT3 from REALIZE KONDO RACING with Rinaldi, the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 from Red Bull Team ABT, the two Mercedes-AMG GT3s from Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed, and the BMW M4 GT3 from ROWE RACING. The second Mustang from HRT qualified in 13th place on its Nordschleife debut.
After the start, Stippler initially defended the lead. A brief rain shower between practice and the race turned the opening phase into a tire thriller. At the end of lap one, the Abt Lambo returned to the front. The Dörr McLaren also collected some lead laps, as did the Porsche 911 GT3 R from BLACK FALCON Team EAE, the Aston Martin from Walkenhorst, 'Grello', and the two Falken Porsches.
"The start was difficult, as we began the race on rain tires and came into the pits for a tire change to slicks right after the first lap," said Schuring, who celebrated his first NLS victory ten years after his father. 'Gerwin' won the season finale in 2015 in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup MR from Black Falcon – the last non-GT3 victory. "But that turned out to be absolutely right later on, because the strategy worked perfectly." Müller added: "From P15 to P1 – that's how it's done." Even though he was waved off in second place behind his teammates, Menzel was satisfied: "You couldn’t have a better start to the new season." DTM champion Preining was also glad to have claimed a podium finish in the end. After an unintended spin in the AMG Arena on lap one, the Manthey duo worked their way up from the back of the first starting group step by step. "To finish third after the turbulent starting phase was not something we expected," said the Austrian. "We were on the right tire from the beginning and therefore saved a pit stop."
Behind the leading quartet, the ROWE BMW, the GetSpeed AMG #17, the Dörr McLaren #69, and the Abt Lambo crossed the line in fifth to eighth positions. Winners of the Pro-Am class were Daan Arrow, Gabriele Piana, Ben Bünnagel, and Mike Stursberg in the Black Falcon Porsche.
Moran Gott is the first 'Driver of the Race'
BMW 325i driver Moran Gott is the first 'Driver of the Race'. The Israeli contested the race solo with the vehicle he had built himself over the past six weeks. He wasn’t discouraged by setbacks during the race. A crash was repaired during the race by Sorg Rennsport, who support the vehicle on-site, and a tire failure in the final stages also didn’t stop Gott from being classified fourth in his class. "Normally, I want to be honored when I win," said Gott. "Today, many things didn’t go perfectly – but I still wanted to continue. Being recognized for that does make me a bit proud." The decision on the 'Driver of the Race' is made jointly by the NLS race management, ILN driver committee, and the track announcer. The trophies are donated by the Interessengemeinschaft Langstrecke Nürburgring (ILN).
The first victory in this year’s newly created BMW 325i Challenge by Goodyear went to Jonas Spölgen and Eugen Becker. Second place was secured by Juha Miettinen, Dan Berghult, and Oliver Frisse from Keeevin Sports and Racing. Simon Sagmeister, Jürgen Huber, and Dirk Vleugels completed the class podium.
Father and son Bohrer win two races in one day
In the first race of the new NLS Youth Kart Championship, eight-year-old Jonas Bohrer won his K1 age class. Afterwards, he gave his dad strong support – and dad followed suit confidently. In the NLS race, father Michael Bohrer, together with Gerrit Holthaus in the Hyundai i30N, claimed first place in the VT2-F+4WD class. "A cool and perfect race day," grinned Jonas after the award ceremony, which took place just before the NLS class victory ceremony. In K2, the kart-kids winner was Mick Schmidt (ACV OC Lahnstein), in K3 David Böttcher (MSC Konz), in K4 Florian Rauhe (MSC Adenau), and in K5 Tobias Mosdzen (KSC Wülfrath).
The second round of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie will take place on April 26. The ADAC Ruhrpott Trophy will once again be held over a four-hour distance. Tickets for race number two of the season are available in advance for 25 euros (children up to and including 14 years free) at vln.de/tickets. This grants access to the open grandstands at the Grand Prix circuit, the exclusive spectator areas at Brünnchen and Pflanzgarten, as well as the paddock, pit lane, and starting grid.