16/04/2023

KKrämer Racing again victorious in Cup 2 – Smyrlis Racing with first win of the season in Cup 3 class

Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring

Meuspath. At the third race of the season of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring as part of the Nürburgring Endurance Series, KKrämer Racing (#121) with Christopher Brück and Moritz Kranz again won Cup 2 class. Cup 3 class was won by Francesco Merlini, Christopher Rink and Philipp Stahlschmidt of Smyrlis Racing (#952), taking their first win of the season. At the 54th Adenau ADAC Rundstrecken Trophy, 15 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) and 13 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS (982) raced in the PETN.

Qualifying on Saturday morning took place under ideal conditions. In sunny weather and on a dry track, Leon Köhler set the fastest lap time in Cup 2 class. With 8:09,168 minutes the 23-year-old, who also competes in the Porsche Supercup, as well as in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, collected the additional championship point for the Frikadelli Racing Team (#111). Moritz Oberheim of AVIA W&S Motorsport (#960) again set the best time in Cup 3 class with a time of 8:32.956 minutes. He thus just missed a new lap record in the class. Oberheim set the current best time of 8:32.188 minutes himself last season.

Back-to-back victories in Cup 2 class

With their second win in a row, KKrämer Racing (#121) with Brück and Kranz shortened the gap to the leaders in the Cup 2 team as well as driver standings Max Kruse Racing (#100) with Benjamin Leuchter and Nicolas Otto down to five points. Leuchter/Otto again finished in third place. Second place went to AVIA W&S Motorsport (#120) with Paul Harkema, David Jahn and Tim Scheerbarth.

"The race was really fun. The second win in a row is nice, of course, but we have to look to keep the pace up and keep getting good results. The season is still long," says Moritz Kranz, driver of car number 121.

There was also a second consecutive victory in the AM drivers' classification. Klaus Abbelen and 'Jules' were once again at the top of the podium. The two Frikadelli Racing Team drivers (#111) were supported this weekend by PRO-driver Leon Köhler.

"Today was simply a fantastic day. Leon did a mega job and clinched pole position. My stint in the race was great. The car felt really good and I had a nice fight with Karsten Krämer. We are super happy about the championship points," reports 'Jules', driver of car number 111.

As in NLS2, Karsten Krämer and Herbert Lösch with PRO-driver Alexey Veremenko of KKrämer Racing (#112) finished the race in second place ahead of Bill Cameron and Jim Cameron of car number 113.

Smyrlis Racing enters the battle for the championship

After four hours of racing, Smyrlis Racing (#952) with Francesco Merlini, Christopher Rink and Philipp Stahlschmidt saw the checkered flag first in Cup 3 class. Heiko Eichenberg, Fabio Grosse and Patrik Grütter from Sorg Rennsport (#959) followed behind with a gap of 21.166 seconds. Smyrlis Racing thus collected important championship points after finishing twelfth in the last race.

"After an unfortunate NLS2 weekend, the result today brought relief - we are back in the championship. To fight in front was our goal from the beginning. This is our second season in the one-make series and we are doing everything we can to catch up with the top teams," explains team boss Ioannis Smyrlis.

Horst Baumann of Schmickler Performance (#950) achieved a strong result. Together with PRO-driver Stefan Schmickler, Baumann won the AM drivers' classification. At the same time, a place on the Cup 3 podium jumped out for the duo with third place in class.

"After a retirement and a messed up race, it was super to move up from eighth to third place as well as win the AM drivers' classification. I'm super happy, we didn't expect that," says Horst Baumann, who already competed in the Cayman GT4 Trophy by Manthey Racing in 2020 and 2021.

Second place in the AM drivers' classification went to Stefan Kruse and Florian Wolf with PRO-driver David Griessner from Adrenalin Motorsport (#930). Third place went to Stefan Beyer and Carl-Friedrich Kolb with PRO-driver Torsten Kratz from Sorg Rennsport (#949).

Completed Cup 2 development run

Manthey also fielded a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) for development purposes in the Cup 2 class at NLS3 to test various technical components based on feedback from the teams and drivers. In the process, Jaxon Evans and Marco Holzer collected important test kilometers on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.

"We tested various components on the car this weekend, primarily to optimize drivability on the Nordschleife. We gathered a lot of knowledge in the process. We will now evaluate the results and work on a potential realization," explains Helmut Brakhage, Head of Motorsport Products at Manthey Racing GmbH.

Next up for some of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring teams is the ADAC TotalEnergies 24h Nürburgring and the associated qualifying race. The next race of the PETN will take place on 15.04.2023 as part of the Nürburgring Endurance Series.

Press contact:

Laura Claesgens

Consultant Corporate Communications
E-Mail: l.claesgens[at]manthey-racing.de