26.04.2025
Brilliant sunshine at the Nürburgring and thrilling racing once again delighted numerous spectators at the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. Victory at the premiere of the ADAC Ruhrpott-Trophy went to Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Picariello from Falken Motorsports. Driving a Porsche 911 GT3 R, the duo crossed the finish line with a comfortable margin of 30.751 seconds ahead of Christian Krognes and Mattia Drudi in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo from Walkenhorst Motorsport, who finished second. Completing the podium were Augusto Farfus, ‘Jesse Krohn’, Raffaele Marciello, and Kelvin Van der Linde in the BMW M4 GT3 Evo from ROWE Racing.
Pole position was secured for the second time in a row by Frank Stippler – once again in the Audi R8 LMS from JUTA RACING and not in the brand-new Ford Mustang GT3 from Haupt Racing Team. Veteran Stippler also dominated the first stint of the four-hour race, maintaining the lead – but only until lap seven. After that, the two Falken Porsches took control. Tim Heinemann and Dennis Marshall, in the sister car to the eventual winners, dropped back due to a pit stop issue, and in the final lap, Boccolacci had to concede the lead to Krognes in the Aston Martin. However, fortune smiled on the Falken team: the Walkenhorst duo received a time penalty for undershooting the minimum pit stop time and were ultimately classified second. The ROWE Racing quartet won a thrilling battle for third place against the Scherer Sport PHX Porsche 911 GT3 R. Patric Niederhauser and Patrick Pilet finished fourth in the team from Meuspath’s debut with the Porsche 911. Heinemann and Marshall crossed the line fifth, ahead of the Ferrari 296 GT3 from REALIZE KONDO RACING with Rinaldi.
"Last time I was already happy with second place at my first GT3 race in the Green Hell, and now I'm on the top step of the podium – I’m very happy," said Boccolacci. "Because of the penalty, I didn’t have to take full risks on the final lap." His teammate Picariello praised him: "Dorian has had an incredibly steep learning curve, going from a podium in race one to winning his second race. Brilliant." Despite missing out on the win, Krognes was satisfied: "It’s a very good start to the new season for me." For Drudi, NLS2 marked his first race in an Aston Martin on the legendary Nordschleife. "A shame about missing the win," he said. "But the car ran perfectly, and we can be happy with the data we collected." Having started from ninth place, the podium finish was a success for the ROWE Racing team. "It was a chaotic race for us with many yellow flag phases – so we can be satisfied with the result," said Farfus.
Together with polesitter Stippler on board, ‘SELV’ and Alexey Veremenko took victory in the Pro-Am category of the SP9 class. The fastest Am car – the Audi R8 LMS GT3 from équipe vitesse – was driven by Michael Heimrich, Lorenzo Rocco, and Arno Klasen.
Max Kruse Racing fastest car in the AT3 classIn the AT3 class for alternative fuels, Dominik and Marcel Fugel, together with Moritz Oestreich, took victory in the Porsche 911 GT3 from Max Kruse Racing. The team won the four-hour race ahead of Björn and Georg Griesemann, who finished second at the debut of the Team eFuel Griesemann Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS M. The vehicle, entered by Manthey, completed 26 trouble-free laps in its first outing in the Green Hell. Third place went to Michelle Halder, ‘Tom’, and Luka Wlömer in the Four Motors Bioconcept-Car Porsche 911 GT3 R.
After two races, three teams still have a perfect record. Heiko Eichenberg and Harley Haughton secured their second Cup 3 victory in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS of SRS Team Sorg Rennsport. Arne Hoffmeister and Tim Scheerbarth did the same in Cup 2, winning with the Mühlner Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Philipp Leisen, Philipp Stahlschmidt, and Daniel Zils also repeated their class victory in the VT2-RWD category in their Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels BMW 330i. Additionally, Zils won his class in the V6 and was crowned ‘Driver of the Race’. This award is jointly decided by representatives of the ILN Drivers' Association, the race control of the NLS, and the livestream commentators.
Robert Wickens completes his Permit lapsCanadian Robert Wickens fulfilled the requirements for obtaining the DMSB Permit Nordschleife during the ADAC Ruhrpott-Trophy. In the Hyundai Elantra from Bryan Herta Autosport, he completed 21 laps together with Michael Lewis and Youngchan Kim. The trio finished fourth in the TCR class. "It felt really good to be back in the Green Hell," Wickens beamed. "I love the track and have only good memories from my DTM days at the Nürburgring," said the paraplegic racer, who drives using a hand control system. "It works wonderfully, although it’s very different compared to the sprint races I do in the U.S. The Nordschleife is extremely narrow and unforgiving. You rarely get a clean lap, and especially during Code 60 or Code 120 phases, there’s a lot to manage with the hand controls. But I adapted quickly."
Youth promotion once again part of the support programOnce again, the NLS Youth Kart Slalom Championship was held alongside the NLS. Jonas Bohrer (MSC Adenau) won the K1 class for the second time in a row, while Oliver Scheibel (ASC Ahrweiler) triumphed in K2. Paul Sonnack (AMC Ingelheim) took victory in K3, with Florian Rauhe (MSC Adenau) and Luis Müller-Herrfarth (MSC des PSV Wengerohr) winning K4 and K5 respectively.
Parallel to the NLS, two rounds of the ADAC Mittelrhein Slalom Youngster Cup also took place in the paddock. MSC Adenau’s young talents Max Knauth (Class 1) and Noah Servos (Class 2) each scored double victories.
Trophies for the DNLS winnersBetween qualifying and the race, the successful drivers of the DNLS Winter Season 2024/2025 were honored, with SCHERER eSPORT leading the way, winning titles with both the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from PEETN and the Renault Clio in the SP3 class. This summer, the DNLS Community Cup will take place, bringing the virtual Green Hell back to life. Every sim racing enthusiast can participate, with wildcards for the "big" DNLS up for grabs.
The third race of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie will already take place in two weeks, on May 10. The 56th Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy will again cover the familiar four-hour race distance. Tickets for the race are available now. Admission is free for youths up to and including 14 years old.