The Bilstein 3h race was not for the faint-hearted and the finale of the Digital Nürburgring Endurance Series left both the fans in front of the screens and the drivers breathless. In the end, the SCHERER eSPORT team was doubly jubilant, as both the team around the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from the PEETN and the team with the Renault Clio in SP3 were crowned winners in the championship. Not only has this never happened before in the six-year history of the DNLS, but also not in 48 years of the real ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. The last victory in the DNLS 24/25 season went to the MAHLE RACING TEAM in the BMW M4 GT3.
The new champions from SCHERER eSPORT dominated in two classes in the sixth season of the virtual Nordschleife championship and, unlike the real ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, where the best drivers are honoured at the end, the DNLS is a team championship. And at the finale, both Scherer teams took victory in their classes. As both have a spotless penalty points account and the positions in the four races of the season are identical, both can be delighted with the championship title.
‘Unbelievable! I don’t even know what to say,’ said Scherer Porsche driver Raphael Rennhofer. The Austrian secured the PEETN title at the third round of the winter season and the team title for SCHERER eSPORT. The DNLS championship title makes the season perfect for him. The race in the PEETN was a real motorsport thriller. Rennhofer and his team-mate Luca Alpert had to hold their own in the strong leading group right from the start. The absolute showdown then took place in the final stint, when Alpert duelled with Gunonso Tasdelen from Frozenspeed by GnG for several laps with a gap of just a few centimetres. Tasdelen took first place with one lap to go, but then had to concede defeat again on the final lap of the Nordschleife. Alpert then made a mistake on the large jump hill in the Pflanzgarten, which cost him first place again. From the slipstream, however, he then made victory and the title perfect in the final metres. His lead at the finish line was just four hundredths of a second. ‘What a crazy race, the last stint was definitely no fun to watch. My heart rate was much higher than in my own stint,’ said Rennhofer.
Auch für Michael Teusch und Sven Winter war mit dem Renault Clio in der SP3 der vierte Sieg im vierten Rennen alles andere als ein Spaziergang. „Ich glaube, Sven verbrennt gerade seinen PC“, grinste Teusch im Siegerinterview. „Er hatte von Beginn seines Stints an mit technischen Problemen zu kämpfen, klagte immer wieder über Aussetzer im Lenkrad und starkes Ruckeln auf seinem Bildschirm.“ In der letzten Runde nahm Verfolger Leon Pischke von ‚Adopt, don’t shop‘ Winter 30 Sekunden ab. Dieser konnte sich aber mit einem knappen Vorsprung ins Ziel retten. „Auch bei mir war heute der Puls beim Zuschauen deutlich höher als beim Fahren“, gestand Teusch, der ebenfalls mit einem Handicap in das Rennen startete. „Ich habe mit in dieser Woche noch das Wadenbein gebrochen, zum Glück im rechten Bein. Gas geben war möglich, Bremsen hätte nicht funktioniert“, sagte er. ‚Adopt, don’t shop‘ belegte nach drei Stunden Platz zwei in der Klasse, Dritte wurden Lean Weigel, Jason Dominic Beck und Maximilian Damm im Clio von smillaesports x Entropy.
MAHLE RACING TEAM ends Mercedes-AMG winning streak
The final victory of the day in the DNLS went to the MAHLE RACING TEAM. Although Phil Denes and Felix Quirmbach crossed the finish line 1.48 seconds behind Sami-Matti Trogen and Vasilios Beletsiotis in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of AMG Team Williams, they ultimately benefited from a penalty imposed on the Williams team. The race organisers imposed a ten-second time penalty on the Ford Mustang GT3 of the Haupt Racing Team by GnG. Third place went to Elias Seppänen and Maxence Godinho in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 AMG Team Apex Racing.
Behind the leading trio, Jeff Giassi and David Bozga in the HRT Mustang took fourth place. Dodi Ferdi and Tino Heuser in the LionGP – fenster.com Ferrari 296 GT3 rounded off the mix of brands at the front of the field.
‘My third victory this year, my first in a BMW – I’m very happy that I was able to support the MAHLE RACING TEAM in their first win of the season,’ said Quirmbach, who had switched from BS+COMPETITION to MAHLE for the finale. ‘The changeover was not a big problem for me, because both the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the BMW M4 GT3 are front-engined racing cars. We also had enough time to prepare.’ American Denes, for whom the day had started differently than expected, was also happy about the victory. ‘My alarm clock didn’t work this morning,’ he explained. ‘The race was also much tougher than expected because the performance of our BMW was slightly worse than expected. Nevertheless, it was enough to win in the end, which unfortunately we didn’t achieve on the track. Felix simply put his foot down, he really is an animal behind the wheel.’
With the first BMW victory of the current season, the MAHLE RACING TEAM has moved up to second place in the SP9 championship. European Truck Champion Norbi Kiss, who contested the finale together with Lucas Hermann, secured the SP9 title in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of BS+COMPETITION after race three.
The championship in the GT4 SP10 class went to AMG Team Apex Racing. Second place in the race was enough for Peter Berryman and Salva Talens in the Mercedes-AMG GT4 to clinch the title. Sven Haase and Aaron Vazquezz celebrated the first victory for the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the 2024/2025 winter season for Grid-and-Go.com eSports. As a result, the team moved up to second place in the class standings. The podium was completed by Jonas Wanner and Benedikt Hitz in the BMW M4 GT4 of the Falken Simracing Team, who finished fourth in the championship behind SimRC. Victory in the PEETN Am classification went to Halder Motorsport.
VLN Managing Director Mike Jäger draws a positive conclusion at the end of Season 6
VLN boss Mike Jäger, who did not miss the opportunity to watch the livestream on his birthday at home, summarised the DNLS season positively: ‘Congratulations to all the winners and champions! I am always fascinated by the great sport on offer in the DNLS, how close and fair it is and how exciting the races are. I’m a racer myself and have had a few successes on the Nordschleife, but the simracers take the crown. The precision with which the drivers drive commands my utmost respect. Today’s race also played a big part in creating huge anticipation for the real season opener on 22 March. We now have two exciting weeks ahead of us. The DNLS has become an important pillar of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie and I can already say that as soon as the engines fall silent again in the Green Hell, the virtual racing will continue.’
The successful drivers of the Digital ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie will be honoured at NLS2 on 26 April 2025. Presented by DNLS partner SimRaceShop, the trophy presentation will take place between the practice and race of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie on the podium and will be broadcast via livestream.
In just two weeks, the real Green Hell will be back in action. The season opener of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie will take place on 22 March 2025. The 70th ADAC Westfalenfahrt traditionally opens the racing year in the Green Hell. Tickets are available in advance from 25 euros per person, with children up to the age of 14 admitted free of charge.
