Exactly 100 years after the foundation stone was laid for the unique Eifel circuit, Max Verstappen and Chris Lulham made history at the Nürburgring. The four-time and reigning Formula 1 World Champion, together with his friend and teammate, won the ninth race of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. Driving the EMIL FREY RACING Ferrari 296 GT3, the duo beat Dennis Fetzer, Jann Mardenborough, and Fabio Scherer in the Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3 by 24.496 seconds. In the sister car, Vincent Kolb and Frank Stippler finished third after four hours. For Verstappen, victory at the 57th ADAC Barbarossapreis, organized by MSC Sinzig, marked several milestones: his first GT3 race, his first outing in a multi-class field, and his first win outside Formula 1 – at least in real-world motorsport. In the Digital Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, Verstappen had already claimed two victories in Season 5.
In qualifying, Verstappen had to settle for third. Christian Krognes, current lap record holder on the NLS layout of the short course and Nordschleife, secured pole position in the Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 with a time of 8:06.057 minutes. Second went to double starter Stippler, just 2.119 seconds off pole in the JUTA RACING Audi R8 LMS GT3. Verstappen briefly led the timesheets but ultimately finished 3.069 seconds down. Interest from fans was huge, with large crowds following the Formula 1 star in the paddock and on the starting grid.
At the race start, Verstappen grabbed the lead into turn one and extended his advantage during a double stint to around one minute ahead of Stippler. Lulham then took over the Ferrari for the final two stints, delivering a strong performance against Kolb and the second Mustang entry. “It feels amazing to win here in my first race,” said Verstappen. “My goal is to compete in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring one day. Hopefully, we’ll do more NLS races next year.” Lulham was equally stunned: “Unbelievable, I can’t even put it into words yet. The car was fantastic, but driving with so much traffic on track was far from easy.”
The runners-up were gracious in defeat, acknowledging Verstappen’s achievement. “Sharing the podium with someone like Max Verstappen is fantastic. That was mega. I’m rarely nervous, but today I was a little bit,” said Fetzer. Mardenborough echoed the praise: “It was extremely cool to race alongside Max and Chris.” Stippler was satisfied with yet another podium: “Our goal was to be in better shape at the end of the season than we were in March, and we’re well on track. Finishing behind the best driver in the world is perfectly fine. I fully expected Max and Chris to win.”
Speaking of “best driver”: for his outstanding performance on his GT3 debut, Verstappen was named “Driver of the Race” by representatives of the race direction, the Drivers’ Association of the ILN (Interessengemeinschaft Langstrecke Nürburgring), and the race commentators.
Behind the top three came another surprise: Dominik and Marcel Fugel, together with Benny Leuchter, finished fourth in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II. The car ran on Volkswagen-developed E20 Gasoline, a biofuel that is 60% renewable. A strong debut for the first sustainable GT3 car in the Green Hell.
Pole-sitter Krognes, together with Mateo Villagomez and Anders Buchardt, claimed victory in the SP9 Pro-Am class for Walkenhorst Motorsport. The SP9 Am crown went to Kiki Sak Nana, Christoph Breuer, and “Dieter Schmidtmann” in the Renazzo Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo II. Thai drift champion Sak Nana expressed his passion for the Green Hell: “I raced here in the NLS from 2013 to 2016. Afterwards, I competed on other circuits in Asia and Europe, but I always thought about the Nordschleife. I’d be at the Red Bull Ring or Barcelona – why was I always thinking about the Green Hell? People told me: if that’s what you want, just do it again. Now I’m back and simply very happy. Thanks to the team, because our Lambo is getting easier to drive every time.”
Ex-Formula 1 driver wins TCR class
In the TCR category, a former Formula 1 driver came out on top. Tiago Monteiro shared the ALM Motorsport Honda Civic TCR FL5 with Spain’s current TCR championship leader, Mike Halder. After 26 laps, they won by 2:35.083 minutes over Kenneth Østvold and Anders Lindstad in the Møller Bil Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS from Norway. Artur Goroyan, Roman Mavlanov (both Armenia), Oleg Kvitka (Kyrgyzstan), and VLN champion Danny Brink finished third in another Audi entered by Goroyan RT by sharky-racing.
Championship leaders virtually uncatchable
With their ninth class win in nine races, Nick Wüstenhagen and Ranko Mijatovic have all but secured the title. The FK Performance Motorsport duo in the BMW M4 GT4 holds an unassailable lead in the standings and are practically guaranteed to be crowned champions at the season finale. They will succeed Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels, who had dominated the championship for the past seven years.
Fans who don’t want to miss the big finale of an unforgettable season: tickets for the season finale of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie are here available from 25 Euro in advance sales. Children up to 14 years are admitted free of charge.