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 years of age, 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 maiden victory in 1981, just a few days younger than Owega.
Behind the winners, the two Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars of the BLACK FALCON Team 48 LOSCH and AVIA W&S Motorsport from the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (Cup2) surprisingly took second and third place. Steve Jans, Tobias Müller and Gabriele Piana were pleased with second place, while Daniel Blickle, Tim Scheerbarth and David Jahn came in third.
‘We are super happy to have won this race. We had some strong competitors, but they didn’t finish the second half of the race,’ said Haupt. A few minutes after the start of the six-hour race, two pile-ups occurred as rain set in, leaving the top seven cars stranded on the track. As a result, the race was red-flagged for around 1 hour and 45 minutes. ‘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,’ says 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 being the second youngest winner of the NLS, he joked: ’I can’t catch up with van Ommen anymore, 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 stuck with it. The race was not easy. I was in the car when the downpour came. It felt like a free swim.” The final phase was demanding for Piana: ’I’m exhausted. An awesome result. Tobias and Steve did a good stint, and I just had to bring the result home.’
Victory in the Am classification in 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 Huber Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Hans Wehrmann, Joachim Thyssen and Thomas Kiefer.
Successful Nordschleife racing debut for football star Max Kruse
17-time German national team footballer Max Kruse has successfully completed his racing debut in the NLS. In the shortened race, the Reinbeck native drove ten laps in the Green Hell at the side of Nico Otto and Marcus Menden in a VW Golf GTI TCR. ‘That was a strenuous stint,’ said Kruse afterwards. ‘Benny Leuchter had already told me that my feet would burn because of the heat. He was right. It started from lap seven. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun today and I’m also satisfied with my times for the first race. What I take 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 went to another prominent driver: Smudo (Die Fantastischen Vier) won in a 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 Langstrecken-Serie with their fifth victory in the sixth race. The trio from AVIA W&S Racing have also clinched the title in the Cup 3 class of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring. With two races to go, they are uncatchable in the lead. ‘We 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 teammates, the team and our partners. Now we are still in the NLS overall standings. We can think about that now.’
Because the winners covered more than four hours of racing distance in the addition of both partial results, the ROWE 6h ADAC Ruhr Cup race is entered in the classification with full points. The battle for the championship in the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie will be decided in the remaining races on 19 October and 16 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, in the explosion of a compressed air cylinder. After receiving initial treatment at the on-site medical centre, some of the injured were transferred to nearby hospitals by rescue helicopter. According to the Koblenz police station, the condition of all seriously injured persons was stable on Saturday morning. After consulting with participants, the ILN and the driver representatives of the NLS, the VLN decided to hold the race. There was no award ceremony with the national anthem and champagne shower after the race. ‘Our thoughts are with those affected by the incident on Friday evening,’ said VLN boss Mike Jäger. ‘We wish everyone a speedy recovery.’
