Excitement at the penultimate NLS race

19.10.2022

The Nürburgring Endurance Series is entering the home straight. The PAGID Racing 46th DMV Münsterlandpokal (22 October), which was actually planned as the finale, is now the seventh race of the 2022 season due to the postponement of NLS2. The battle for the championship is coming to a head and a preliminary decision is even possible with one race to go. Tickets for the 4-hour race in the Green Hell are available here. Children up to 14 years of age are admitted free of charge.

They still have a spotless white waistcoat after six races: Daniel Zils, Oskar Sandberg and Sindre Setsaas in the BMW 330i of the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Alzner Automotive. With six wins in six races, the trio starts the final two races as title favourites. Four points are still needed in the remaining two races to take a virtually unassailable lead in the championship. Expressed in results: fifth place in a class with seven or more cars, fourth place with six cars, etc. So for team boss Matthias Unger, the fifth title in a row is within reach.

The pursuers - Mauro Calamia, Ivan Jacoma and Kai Riemer, who drive a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS (982) for Schmickler Performance powered by Ravenol - have taken three class victories so far. With 30 points still to be awarded in the remaining two races, the trio needs two wins to keep their chances of winning the title alive. Even with maximum points they would have to hope for the misfortune of the championship leaders, who are only four points off the title.

The two dominant teams from the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring Cup 2 are currently tied for third place, AVIA W&S Motorsport and KKrämer Racing have no more chance of winning the title. Over the course of the season, both have shared the victories between themselves and thus lost points.

"Even if the standings paint a different picture, our season so far in the VT2-R+4WD class has not been a foregone conclusion," says Adrenalin team boss Matthias Unger. "We had to put all our experience on the line and the races were always fiercely contested. Even though the starting point is very good for us - the final score is settled at the end. We have to keep our focus on the two races in order to clinch our fifth title in a row."

Ring clear for round two: Falken Motorsports tests the new 911
After the successful first test run of the new Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) at the last NLS race by Manthey Racing, the Porsche customer teams now get their turn. Falken Motorsports will be the first to put the new 911 on the grid at NLS 8. Julien Andlauer and Klaus Bachler take turns at the wheel. "It's a great honour for Falken Motorsports to be the first customer team to field the new Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). The Nürburgring is the perfect location for this," says Stefanie Olbertz, responsible for motorsport at Falken Tyre Europe GmbH. "The whole team is very excited before the race. We will attack fully and see what works. At the same time, we are also competing with the familiar model, so that we have immediate comparative values that will then flow into our tyre development for the coming season." The second Falken Porsche is driven by Tim Heinemann and Martin Ragginger.

Grello returns to the Nordschleife at the Münsterland Cup. The yellow-green Manthey Porsche will be driven by Jaxon Evans and Thomas Preining. In addition, the team from the industrial park at the Nürburgring will contest an event together with the Australian team EMA Motorsport and the drivers Matteo Cairoli and Dennis Olsen.

In addition to Preining and Olsen, other DTM drivers are returning to the Nordschleife. For HRT, Austria's Lucas Auer and India's Arjun Maini, together with Australian Jordan Love, will take to the track in a Mercedes-AMG GT3. "The Nürburgring Endurance Series has a special appeal and I want to show a good performance here as well. Together with Arjun and Jordan, we are well positioned," says DTM vice-champion Auer.

And Kelvin van der Linde won't miss the chance to return to the scene of his greatest successes in 2022. The South African will start together with Kuba Giermaziak in the Audi R8 LMS of Scherer Sport Team Phoenix. "On the Nordschleife, the goal is always to win," says the Audi Sport driver. "After the success at the 24h race, we obviously want to be competitive again. I've never driven in a car with Kuba before, but he's a fast man. We are perfectly prepared and have a good chance of a top result."

New vehicles - big and small
At NLS8, the Keeevin Sports and Racing team around Kevin Wolters will enter a newly built Hyundai i30N Performance in the VT 2 FWD class for the first time. The vehicle has been extensively tested over the past two months. "Now the time has come for us to compete with our new vehicle," says Wolters. "It took a little longer, but now we can go into the last two races well prepared so that we can fully attack again next year."

Georg Griesemann, Maik Rönnefarth, Yves Volte and Felix von der Laden are entering new territory. The three Team Teichmann Racing drivers will be competing in the SP10 class for the first time with a Toyota Supra GT4. "We are always looking at options in order to position ourselves as broadly as possible," says Michael Teichmann. "The option to test the Supra GT4 in NLS 8 came up for us at very short notice. After an accident in the last race, our X-BOW GTX is not ready for action. This gives us the opportunity to test a new car at the end of the season and decide on an expansion of our entry cars during the winter break."

The PAGID Racing 46th DMV Münsterlandpokal will run over the usual distance of four hours. The starting lights switch to green at 12 noon. Prior to that, the grid positions will be determined in qualifying from 08:30 to 10 am. The entire race day will be streamed live on vln.de and will bring the unique atmosphere of the Nordschleife Championship to the home screen.