BS+COMPETITION was again no match for BS+COMPETITION in the second RAVENOL 3h race. Norbi Kiss and Felix Quirmbach triumphed for the second time this season in the digital Mercedes-AMG GT3. The duo won by 17.98 seconds ahead of Phil Denes and Ray Barneveld in the BMW M4 GT3 of the MAHLE RACING TEAM. Jan Philipp Springob and Jonas Gundert of the M&J Downforce team celebrated the first podium finish for the beefy Ford Mustang GT3. While the decision in the overall championship of the Digital Nürburgring Endurance Series has been postponed until the finale on 8 March, SCHERER eSPORT secured two titles in the Porsche Esports Endurance Trophy Nürburgring ahead of schedule. Everything is also clear in the SP9 ahead of the final race: following win number two this season, BS+COMPETITION has an unassailable lead in the SP9 class standings.
A Mercedes-AMG was already the fastest car in qualifying: Sami-Matti Trogen took pole position for AMG Team Williams with a time of 7:52.491 minutes ahead of Lewis Woods in the Porsche 911 GT3 R from Falken Simracing. However, the joy of first place on the grid did not last long: Trogen was penalised by race control with a drive-through penalty for a false start. Falken was also unable to stay in the leading group for long because no Realdriver was in action for the Japanese tyre manufacturer’s team – BS+COMPETITION took the lead without a fight. ‘I wasn’t the fastest driver at the start,’ said European Truck Champion Norbi Kiss. ‘But once again I managed to stay error-free. That was my main focus. After that we had a very good pace and a perfect strategy, so that in the end we were ahead for the second time. As a result, we were able to win the championship in our class early and defend our title. Thanks to the whole team.’ After two wins and a second place, Kiss and Quirmbach have 41 points. Second-placed AMG Team Apex Racing has 25 points after fourth place in the third race and can no longer catch BS+COMPETITION even with a win and 15 more points.
A preliminary decision was also made in the PEETN. With the third victory in the third race, SCHERER eSPORT secured the team title early with the #116 and Raphael Rennhofer is already the winner of the drivers’ championship. In the race, the Austrian and Luca Alpert fought a thrilling battle with Marc Balzer and Jonas Van Dreuten, who were driving the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from Team Nitro x Falken. At the finish line, however, their lead was 12.616 seconds. The podium places were completed by Roland Alfredsson and Simone Maria Marcenò for Team Alonefredsson Racing.
‘Very cool, this has simply been the perfect season so far,’ beamed Rennhofer in the winner’s interview. ‘We didn’t expect this before the start of the season. Last weekend I was still a guest at the World Ski Championships in Saalbach and cheered on my compatriots, today I’m at the top myself.’ His team-mate Alpert often had to hold his breath, especially in the start phase. ‘My fingernails are no longer feeling so good and when a competitor missed the braking point at the start and shot past the field, my heart almost stopped. But Raphael was simply unbeatable, especially under pressure, when many cars were still very close together in the first stint.’
After winning the PEETN, SCHERER eSPORTS now has its sights set on winning the overall championship in the Digital Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. The team has two irons in the fire: after also securing three class wins in the races so far, Sven Winter and Michael Teusch, who drive a Renault Clio in the SP3 class, are tied in points. The duo finished 15.354 seconds ahead of Leon Harhoff and Lean Weigel of Smillaesports x Entropy. Third-placed Leon Pirschke and Yannis Aulberg of ‘Adobt, don’t shop’ were almost two minutes behind at the finish. “It was particularly close in the starting phase today. In general, the gaps in the class are getting smaller and smaller,” said Teusch after the race. “And even if the times suggest otherwise, we also had two or three moments today where everyone held their breath in the voice chat. I’m very excited for the final race. We’ll definitely be practicing a lot.”
In the GT4 SP10 class, Peter Berryman and Aaron Vazques not only took their second win of the season in the Mercedes-AMG GT4 of AMG Team Apex Racing, but also reclaimed the lead in the standings. Falken Simracing once again performed strongly with the BMW M4 GT4, but an accident on lap ten dropped Lucas U. Müller and Benedikt Hitz far back. Corentin Guinez and Marvin Strehl of SimRC in another Mercedes-AMG GT4, as well as Sven Haase and Gabriel C. Streitmatter in the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Grid-and-Go.com eSports, rounded out the podium in the class.
The BILSTEIN 3h Race, the finale of the 2024/2025 Digital Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, will take place on March 8th.
