The winners of the ROWE 6h ADAC Ruhr Cup race are Salman Owega, David Schumacher and Hubert Haupt. The trio celebrated the first Mercedes victory since 2020 in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Team ADVAN x HRT. For GT drivers Schumacher and Owega, it is the first NLS victory of their still young careers. At 19, Owega is also the second-youngest winner in the 47-year history of the traditional Nordschleife championship. Only Jörg van Ommen was younger: The former DTM driver took his first victory in 1981 and was just a few days younger than Owega.

Behind the winners, the two Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars of BLACK FALCON Team 48 LOSCH and AVIA W&S Motorsport from the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (Cup2) surprisingly finished second and third. Steve Jans, Tobias Müller and Gabriele Piana were delighted with second place, while Daniel Blickle, Tim Scheerbarth and David Jahn finished third.

"We are super happy that we were able to win this race. We had a lot of competition, but they didn't compete in the second part of the race," said Haupt. A few minutes after the start of the 6-hour race, two pile-ups occurred as the rain set in, literally leaving the top 7 cars on the track. As a result, the race was red-flagged for around 1:45 hours. "To have won my first race in the Green Hell is a great result. The Green Hell showed its best side today and we had a lot of fun," said Schumacher. Owega added: "I'm really happy. Thanks to the team for the top performance. It was very hot in the car at the end, but I'm happy." When asked about his age and the fact that he is the second-youngest winner of the NLS, he joked: "I can't catch up with van Ommen, I'm not getting any younger."

"P2 with a Cup 2 car is huge, even though we all know that we benefited from the accidents," said Müller. "We really pulled through. The race wasn't easy. I was sitting in the car when the downpour came. It felt like swimming free." Piana called for the final phase: "I'm exhausted. A great result. Tobias and Steve did well, I just had to bring the result to the finish."

Victory in the Am classification of the GT3 SP9 class went to Michael Heimrich, Lorenzo Rocco and Arno Klasen in the équpe vitesse Audi R8 LMS GT3. The fastest Pro-Am GT3 was the Porsche 911 GT3 R from Huber Motorsport with drivers Hans Wehrmann, Joachim Thyssen and Thomas Kiefer.

Successful Nordschleife race premiere for football star Max Kruse
The 17-time national football player Max Kruse successfully completed his racing debut in the NLS. In the VW Golf GTI TCR, the Reinbeck native drove ten laps in the shortened race in the Green Hell alongside Nico Otto and Marcus Menden. "That was an exhausting stint," said Kruse afterwards. "Benny Leuchter had already told me that the heat would make my feet burn. He was right. It started from lap seven. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun today and I'm also happy with my times for the first race. What I'm taking with me is a lot of adrenaline and the realisation that I can keep up. I've been preparing for this for six years." Victory in the AT class was snatched by another prominent driver: Smudo (Die Fantastischen Vier) won in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup together with Michelle Halder, Henrik Bollerslev and Matthias Beckwermert.

Championship lead defended and Cup class won: AVIA W&S Racing
Joshua Bednarski, Lucas Daugaard and Moritz Oberheim have not only successfully defended their lead in the ADAC Nürburgring Endurance Series standings with their fifth victory in the sixth race. The AVIA W&S Racing trio also clinched the early title in the Cup 3 class of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring. With two races to go, they have an unassailable lead. "We've actually clinched the championship early," said a delighted Oberheim. "I don't even know what to say. The season is going perfectly. Big praise to my team-mates, the team and our partners. Now we're attacking in the NLS overall standings. We can think about that now."

The ROWE 6h ADAC Ruhr Cup race counts towards the overall standings because the winners covered more than four hours of racing distance when the two partial results are added together. The battle for the championship in the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie will be decided in the remaining races on 19th October and 16th November.

NLS4 overshadowed by incident on Friday
A tragic accident occurred on Friday evening in the run-up to the race. According to current information, 22 people were injured, four of them seriously, when a compressed air cylinder exploded. After initial treatment at the medical centre on site, some of the injured were transferred to nearby hospitals by rescue helicopter. According to the Koblenz police station, the condition of all seriously injured people was stable on Saturday morning. After consultation with participants, the ILN and the driver representatives of the NLS, the VLN decided to hold the race. After the race, an award ceremony with anthem and champagne shower was cancelled. "Our thoughts are with those affected by the incident on Friday evening," says VLN boss Mike Jäger. "We wish everyone a speedy recovery."