After the razor-thin photo finish the day before, Falken Motorsports struck back at the 66th ADAC ACAS Cup (NLS9) on Sunday. In sometimes difficult weather conditions, Tim Heinemann and Morris Schuring celebrated overall victory in the Porsche 911 GT3 R after starting from pole position. Directly behind them, Nico Menzel and Flynt Schuring secured a dominant one-two finish for Sven Schnabel’s team in the sister car. An all-Porsche podium was completed by Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller and Dylan Pereira in the Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO of 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON (#48), who secured victory in the SP9 Pro-Am category despite a turbulent race.
Qualifying decided by the smallest of margins and drama at the start
The drivers already left nothing to chance in qualifying. Pole-sitter Heinemann described his lap after qualifying as a “perfect lap”, the kind rarely experienced in motorsport. However, the competition was close behind: Tobias Müller in the BLACK FALCON Porsche was just 0.020 seconds slower. The top four cars were covered by only 0.460 seconds. Drama erupted immediately at the flying start in the AMG Arena. The previous day’s winner Ugo de Wilde (Schubert BMW) tried to squeeze past Nico Menzel on the inside. Following slight contact, Menzel was forced wide before the BMW was struck shortly afterwards by Daan Arrow and dropped far down the order. On lap eight, the Schubert BMW’s race eventually came to an early end following an accident at Brünnchen.
Tyre gamble, scary moments and wild spins
As rain arrived in the Eifel, the race developed into a nerve-racking strategic roulette between slicks and wet tyres. For the BLACK FALCON trio, the race became a complete rollercoaster. First, Tobias Müller overlooked a Code 60 board and drove into Thomas Schönfeld’s VW Golf GTI, resulting in a bent wheel and a later drive-through penalty. Shortly afterwards came the scare of the day when Müller spun in the ultra-fast “Mut-Kurve” on the wet track and somehow managed to catch the car without touching the barriers. “The spin, the drive-through penalty and so on – I think we can be super proud to be standing on the overall podium here,” Müller said with relief at the finish. Patrick Assenheimer added on the team’s strategy: “We managed it quite well by stopping earlier when the conditions simply became too bad for slick tyres.”
Charge through the rain and a family celebration for the Schurings
Meanwhile, a brotherly battle developed at the front: Morris Schuring temporarily led the field ahead of his younger brother Flynt. For GT3 debutant Flynt, it was a true baptism of fire: “My first GT3 weekend, on the Nordschleife, and then in a race like this with slicks in the rain. It was super difficult, but I’m really happy.”
From the pit lane, father Gerwin Schuring, himself a former Nürburgring overall winner, proudly watched his sons secure the one-two finish. Race winner Morris Schuring beamed after taking the chequered flag: “I was already happy just watching from the pit lane, but I always had confidence in Tim. Everything feels so normal right now, but maybe in two or three weeks we’ll look back and think: that was actually pretty cool.”
“Driving a motorboat” in the Eifel and the heroes of the day
In the final laps, the circuit turned into a series of lakes. Breidscheid, Fuchsröhre and Schwedenkreuz became extremely slippery. “Exciting is a huge understatement,” reported winner Heinemann. “I’ve never experienced conditions this bad before. Aquaplaning in every corner, on every straight. I’m really happy we got through it without damage.” Runner-up Menzel also breathed a sigh of relief: “At the end it was almost like driving a motorboat. So much aquaplaning, a few heart attacks along the way, but we managed it quite well.”
The “Driver of the Day” trophy went to Moritz Oberheim (#962 AVIA W&S Motorsport). After being forced to sit out Saturday following a qualifying accident, he celebrated a triumphant return on Sunday with pole position, a lights-to-flag victory in CUP3 and the award from the ILN, race control and the TV commentators: “It means a great deal to me. I know there are a lot of great drivers out there. Today was actually a very good day and it’s an honour to receive this trophy.”
Title fight postponed: first scoreless result for the championship leaders
The race also developed dramatically in terms of the overall NLS standings. The previously dominant Adrenalin trio of Edoardo Bugane, Yannick Fübrich and Sven Markert was forced to retire its BMW M240i due to a technical issue and the car had to be recovered. It was the championship leaders’ very first scoreless result of the season. Their rivals took full advantage of the opportunity: Although Alexander Fielenbach and Oskar Sandberg in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS missed out on victory in CUP3 to Moritz Oberheim and Lorenz Stegmann, second place still earned valuable points. As a result, Fielenbach and Sandberg have reduced the gap at the top of the standings to just four points.
The picture has also changed in the 2026 Production Car Trophy following the intense double-header. Piet-Jan Ooms and Ionuc Catalin Timis in the Toyota Supra (SRS Team Sorg Rennsport) and the trio of Philipp Leisen, Philipp Stahlschmidt and Daniel Zils in the BMW 330i (Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels) arrived in the Eifel tied on points in the VT2-RWD class. After hard-fought battles on both race days, Ooms and Timis crowned their weekend on Sunday with a class victory ahead of their Adrenalin rivals, who had to settle for second place. Thanks to this success, the Sorg duo now holds sole possession of the championship lead in the Production Car Trophy and will head to the season finale in October with a four-point advantage.
The fight for the NLS crown will therefore be decided at the season finale on 10 October 2026. At the 2nd NLS Sportwarte Trophy (4h), the final victory of the season will be contested and the new champion crowned. Fans should not miss the season finale: Tickets for the decisive race day are available from €25 (children up to and including the age of 14 are admitted free of charge) via VLN.de/tickets and at the circuit ticket offices. As usual, admission includes access to the grandstands, paddock, pit lane, grid walk as well as the popular spectator areas at Brünnchen and Pflanzgarten.