All signs point to a fantastic race day as a top-class field lines up for the third race of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie this coming Saturday (May 10). The provisional entry list for the 56th Adenauer Rundstrecken-Trophy features 141 cars – 510 drivers from 36 nations in vehicles from 18 different manufacturers. Among them are a number of champions who have already celebrated major successes in 2024 across various international racing series and prestigious events.

Joel Sturm, a genuine world champion, will be on the grid. The 23-year-old German won the LMGT3 category in the WEC together with Manthey PureRxcing. At NLS3, he will share the cockpit of the Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3 R with Bastian Buus and Loek Hartog. Sturm will face strong competition, including Lucas Auer and Maro Engel, who are racing for the Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed and are the reigning champions of the GT World Challenge Europe – arguably the toughest GT3 championship in the world. Auer will alternate driving duties in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Adam Christodoulou and Mikaël Grenier, while Engel teams up with Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz. Also competing is reigning DTM champion Mirko Bortolotti, representing the Red Bull Team ABT. He will drive a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 alongside Luca Engstler and Christian Engelhart. Scherer Sport PHX is fielding two champions in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO 2 with start number #15: Christopher Haase, who won the 2024 International GT Open title, and Luca Ludwig, the GT Cup Europe champion.

In addition to the stars already mentioned, other champions will be taking part in the third round of the Nordschleife racing series. Lorenz Stegmann, who won the 2024 Porsche Sprint Challenge GT3, is competing in the Cup 3 class in a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS for W&S Motorsport, together with Joshua Bednarski and Kai Riemer. Also in the PETN class is Nick Deißler, who dominated the RCN performance test last year. His teammates in the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels are Stefan Kruse and Aaron Wenisch.

Frank Stippler, Ricardo Feller, and Dennis Marschall – last year’s winners of the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring – are also returning, albeit in different cars. Stippler is moving into the cockpit of the powerful Ford Mustang GT3 from HRT FORD Performance. Feller remains loyal to Scherer Sport PHX and will race in a Porsche 911 GT3 R for the team based at the Nürburgring industrial park. Marschall, meanwhile, is driving for Falken Motorsports, also in a Porsche. He shares the 911 with, among others, Morris Schuring, who won the LMGT3 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year. The top-tier field is further enhanced by Nicki Thiim, winner of the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, who will drive an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo for Walkenhorst Motorsport with David Pittard.

Naturally, the top drivers from the 2024 NLS season are also fully represented. However, the champion trio is going their separate ways. Sven Markert will pilot the BMW M240i Racing Cup car for Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels with start number #1. Toby Goodman has switched to AVIA W&S Motorsport in a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS, while Ranko Mijatovic will compete in the 2025 season in a BMW M4 GT4 for FK Performance Motorsport. Ladies Trophy winner Desiree Müller has moved up to the Cup 3 class.

Only three teams remain unbeaten
After two of ten races in the 2025 season, the first title contenders are beginning to emerge. With two wins each in their class, Heiko Eichenberg and Harley Haughton (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS, SRS Team Sorg Rennsport), Tim Scheerbarth and Arne Hoffmeister (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, Mühlner Motorsport), and Philipp Leisen, Philipp Stahlschmidt, and Daniel Zils (BMW 330i, Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels) are leading the standings. Eichenberg also leads the Gentleman Trophy, while Haughton tops the Junior Trophy. The Adrenalin trio leads the Production Car Trophy. Falken Motorsports, with the Porsche 911 GT3 R, car #3, comfortably tops the NLS Speed Trophy.

Home race for seven teams
Seven cars will start NLS3 under the entry of the organizing MSC Adenau. In SP10, W&S Motorsport fields a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 for Stephan Brodmerkel, Jürgen Vöhringer, and Hendrik Still. Also racing a Cayman are Laurents Hörr, Ulrich Daniel Nölken, and David Ackermann from rent2Drive-racing in the V6 class. Georg Albinger and Jérôme Larbi will start in the V5 class, also in a Cayman. Two Hyundais will be entered by STENLE Marketing by Mertens Motorsport in the VT2-F+4WD class. Daniel Mertens, Alex Schneider, and Akshay Gupte will alternate driving duties in car #493, with Ralf Wiesner and double starter Schneider in car #496. In the BMW 325i Challenge by Goodyear, two local teams are also represented: Sven Oepen and Manuel Dormagen in #112, and Simon Sagmeister, Jürgen Hubert, and Dirk Vleugels in #700.

Get your tickets now!

Tickets for the 56th Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy are available for 25 euros (children up to and including age 14 are admitted free) here and at the box office. The ticket grants access to the open grandstands on the Grand Prix circuit, the exclusive spectator areas at Brünnchen and Pflanzgarten, as well as the paddock, pit lane, and starting grid. The third round of the NLS Kart Slalom Championship will also take place again on the helipad in the paddock.

The battle for the best grid positions will take place during qualifying between 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. During the break between qualifying and the race, fans will have plenty of time to get up close with the cars and soak up the racing atmosphere: with a ticket, visitors can enter the pit lane at 10:20 a.m. for the Pitwalk, followed by the gridwalk at 11:10 a.m. The Nürburgring mascot 'Legend' and Stitch from 'Lilo & Stitch' will also be there on Saturday. The start of the four-hour endurance race is at 12:00 noon.