In the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS), the 46th season in the Green Hell begins next Saturday (26.03.) with the 67th ADAC Westfalenfahrt. The Nordschleife championship has lost none of its appeal. There is premiere fever on several occasions. A number of new GT3 teams are preparing to shine in the Green Hell and the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring is a new one-make cup. A glance at the list of participants promises: this will be a hot opening race. The starting lights for the 4-hour endurance race switch to green at 12 noon on Saturday.
Traditionally and in large numbers, the GT3 cars in particular set the scene in the first third of the season, dictating the action at the front and giving the fans in the grandstands and spectator seats around the Nürburgring Nordschleife goosebumps with great motorsport, a great soundscape and their looks. NLS1 can come up with some treats and highlights in this respect with the cars and the celebrity drivers.
PROsport Racing, for example, is fielding an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for the entire NLS season. The British luxury class will be driven by the Belgians Maxime Dumarey, Jean Glorieux and Nico Verdonck. Schnitzelalm Racing will celebrate a premiere in SP9, fielding a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the first time. "We are hot as fritters. And we are mega proud that we can now also compete in the premier class. With Kenneth Heyer we have a driver who is very experienced at the wheel, but with whom you can also have a lot of fun. Marek Böckmann and Johannes Stengel complete the top-class crew. We are looking forward to finally welcoming the fans back to the paddock," says team manager Thomas Angerer. Also driving with the star on their bonnets are Hubert Haupt, Lucas Auer and Phil Ellis from Haupt Racing Team Bilstein as well as Luca Stolz, Raffaele Marciello and Manuel Metzger from Mercedes-AMG Team HRT Bilstein.
Scherer Sport Team Phoenix will bring the Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II to the grid in 2022. The new construction stage presents itself even more aerodynamic. Real Nordschleife aces are the drivers Vincent Kolb and Frank Stippler. Last but not least, BMW will be fielding its new flagship in the form of the M4 GT3. And it does so with a whole armada. Schubert Motorsport is relying on Alexander Sims, Jesse Krohn and Niklas Krütten, while Walkenhorst Motorsport is fielding two new BMWs. Jörg Müller, Mario von Bohlen and Ben Tuck as well as Christian Krognes, Andy Soucek and Sami-Matti Trogen will take turns behind the wheel of the cars. The BMW Junior Team with Daniel Harper, Max Hesse and Neil Verhagen, which has recently been very successful in the Eifel, should not be missing from the starting line-up.
The only thing missing is Porsche in the line-up of the numerous GT3 cars. For Falken Motorsport, Martin Ragginger and Lars Kern as well as Patrick Pilet and Marco Seefried each drive a Porsche 911 GT3 R. The Grello Porsche from Manthey Racing with Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki and Laurens Vanthoor adds a touch of colour. Axcil Jefferies and Michele Di Martino in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 from Konrad Motorsport provide the exotic touch.
Cup2 celebrates premiere with a strong field of participants
Meanwhile, the organisers of the new one-make cup in the NLS are getting more and more excited: The Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring, the championship organised by Manthey, is divided into two classes. In Cup 2, only the latest generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is eligible to start. The former Cayman GT4 Trophy will become the Cup 3 class as part of the Porsche Endurance Trophy. Both classes together form the new one-make cup. "We are overwhelmed by the response from the teams to the PETN and are looking forward to around 30 starters from 19 different teams competing in the one-make cup classifications. We have a promising 2022 season ahead of us," summarises Julia Klee, organisational director of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring.
KKrämer Racing, for example, is concentrating entirely on the new one-make cup. In Cup 2, team boss Karsten Krämer, Christopher Brück and Moritz Kranz form the spearhead of the racing team from Bergisch Gladbach. They face strong competition in the form of Tim Scheerbarth, Ralf Schall and Daniel Blickle in the Avia W&S Motorsport Porsche, but Sebastian Asch, Nico Otto and Ben Bünnagel from FK Performance Motorsport are also worth watching out for.
Laurin Heinrich is switching from the DNLS to the NLS. The freshly minted Porsche Junior will take to the track in NLS 1 in the AT class for the Four Motors Bioncocept car in the Porsche Cayman GT4 CS alongside Ayhancan Güven.
The championship duo will go their separate ways in future: Philipp Leisen will continue to take the wheel with Jacob Erlbacher and Oliver Frisse in the BMW 325i with the #1 from Adrenalin Motorsport Team Alzner Automotive. Danny Brink, on the other hand, has found his new field of activity in the now split VT2 class with FK Performance Motorsport. The three-time champion, just like Leisen, has Christian Konnerth and Ranko Mijatovic as teammates.
Tickets for the grandstands at the Grand Prix Track as well as the separately designated spectator seats in the Brünnchen and Pflanzgarten areas are available from 18 euros (parking ten euros). The tickets also include a visit to the paddock, the pit lane, the starting grid and the motorsport experience museum ring°werk. Children up to 14 years of age are admitted free of charge. Advance tickets are available at www.nuerburgring.de and on race day on site. 2G rules apply for spectators.