PETN honours successful teams and drivers at the annual awards ceremony and announces the Junior 2026

• Annual awards ceremony as part of the NLS Night of Champions
• Niklas Koch is PETN Junior 2026
• Digital Porsche one-make series PEETN kicks off its third season during the winter break

Nürburg. The successful teams and drivers of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PETN) were honoured at the annual PETN awards ceremony during the NLS Night of Champions on 13 December. A total of nine teams and 31 drivers received their awards, trophies and prize money totalling €200,000 on Saturday evening. In addition, Niklas Koch was announced as PETN Junior 2026. The PETN Talent Pool participant will be supported next year with benefits for his team and will also receive a training course to become a Porsche instructor. During the PETN winter break, the digital Porsche one-make series Porsche Esports Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PEETN) will enter its third season.

PETN Overall Champion form the Cup 2 for the first time

In the first three years of the Porsche one-make series, the Cup 3 class provided the PETN Overall Champion as the driver pairing with the most points across both classes. For the first time, the title goes to a Cup 2 driver team this year with Arne Hoffmeister, David Jahn and Tim Scheerbarth from Mühlner Motorsport (#921). The trio won six of the eight races and received an additional five championship points for three pole positions and two fastest race laps. At the same time, they won the Cup 2 Drivers Championship and, with their team Mühlner Motorsport, the Cup 2 Team Championship.

In the Cup 3 class, last year's champions from W&S Motorsport (#962) repeated their success. Together with Joshua Bednarski, they secured their second Cup 3 championship in a row. Bednarski shares the title with his fellow driver Lorenz Stegmann, who crowned his first full PETN season with a title. They recorded a total of four race wins, including the six-hour race, which was awarded 1.5 times the points.

PRO/AM: Black Falcon Trio wins in Cup 2 class – Baumann once again champion in Cup 3

The PRO/AM driver classification in the Cup 2 class was fiercely contested this season. The BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN's number 900 and the SRS Team Sorg Rennsport's 911 GT3 Cup (#901) battled it out for first and second place. In the end, Peter Ludwig, Maik Rosenberg and Alexander Hardt (#900) prevailed and won the championship.

In the Cup 3 class, the title went once again to Horst Baumann from Schmickler Performance powered by Ravenol (#950). Baumann had already won the title in this class last season and, together with his teammates Markus Schmickler and Stefan Schmickler, was even on course for the championship in the overall Cup 3 class standings this year.

AM: A commanding championship victory in Cup 2 – dominance in Cup 3

The champions in the Cup 2 Amateur Driver Classification are Alex Koch and Niklas Koch. The duo consistently finished on the podium in every race, beating the competition. They were supported this season by Klaus Koch, who was unable to compete in one race and therefore slipped to second place in the final standings. In addition to his success in the AM standings, Talent Pool participant Niklas Koch will receive additional support from the Porsche one-make series as PETN Junior 2026. The bonuses include discounts for his team in the coming season and training to become a Porsche instructor.

With five wins and three second places, Nick Deißler, Stefan Kruse and Aaron Wenisch set the standard in the Cup 3 Amateur Driver classification this year. The trio from the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels (#941) secured the title in the penultimate race of the season, but still finished the season with another victory.

„Many thanks to all the teams and drivers for their trust this year. For us, it is not a matter of course to complete a racing season with up to 31 vehicles per race and a total of almost 130 different drivers. We are delighted to have successfully completed another season as a Porsche one-make series. The 2026 season will be more of an evolution than a revolution. Both vehicles are proven and have demonstrated that they can deliver thrilling motorsport action on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. In particular, we plan to continuously expand the framework of the race weekends in order to offer teams, drivers and partners even more before the new 911 Cup joins the Cup 2 class in 2027, among other things," explains Julia Klee, Project leader of the PETN.

Esports provides exciting racing during the winter break

The Porsche Esports Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PEETN) takes advantage of the PETN winter break to bring exciting motorsport to the digital Nordschleife. Sixteen Porsche 911 GT3 Cup will once again compete against each other in the well-known simulation iRacing. Four races, each lasting three hours, will decide who wins the team, driver and AM classifications at the end of the season. The winning teams and drivers will be honoured during a PETN race next year.

PEETN Calendar 2025/26:

06/12/2025 – DNLS1
20/12/2025 – DNLS2
21/02/2026 – DNLS3
28/02/2026 – DNLS4

PETN Calendar 2026:

14/03/2026 – PETN1
28/03/2026 – PETN2
11/04/2026 – PETN3
20/06/2026 – PETN4
01/08/2026 – PETN5
12-13/09/2026 – PETN6+7
10/10/2026 – PETN8

Press contact:

Jona Kläsener

PR & Social Media Manager
E-Mail: j.klaesener@manthey-racing.de