Four championship decisions in the penultimate race of the PETN season

• Peter Ludwig, Maik Rosenberg and Alexander Hardt from BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN (#900) win the Cup 2 PRO/AM championship
• Horst Baumann, Markus Schmickler and Stefan Schmickler from Schmickler Performance (#950) are PRO/AM Champions in the Cup 3 class
• Alex Koch and Niklas Koch from Smyrlis Racing (#910) are Cup 2 AM Champions
• The Champions of the Cup 3 AM classification are Nick Deißler, Stefan Kruse and Aaron Wenisch from Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels (#941)
• Mühlner Motorsport (#921) and W&S Motorsport (#962) are the class winners in race seven

Nürburg. With 27 cars, the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PETN) entered the penultimate race of the season as part of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS). At the 57th ADAC Barbarossapreis, four championships were decided in the six classifications. In the PRO/AM classification of the Cup 2 class, Peter Ludwig, Maik Rosenberg and Alexander Hardt from BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN (#900) won the championship, while in the PRO/AM classification of the Cup 3 class, Horst Baumann, Markus Schmickler and Stefan Schmickler from Schmickler Performance (#950) are Champions. The AM classification was also decided in both classes this weekend. In Cup 2, the AM-Champions are Alex Koch and Niklas Koch from Smyrlis Racing (#910) and in the Cup 3 class, Nick Deißler, Stefan Kruse and Aaron Wenisch from Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels (#941). Despite class victories for championship leaders Mühlner Motorsport (#921) and W&S Motorsport (#962), the overall standings in the Cup 2 and Cup 3 classes have yet to be decided in the final race.

Due to fog on Saturday morning, qualifying started late at 9:00 and was consequently shortened to 60 minutes. Tim Heinemann secured pole position in the Cup 2 class in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) from speedworxx automotive (#917) with a lap time of 8:16.751 minutes. This put the 911 in fourth place overall alongside Max Verstappen in his GT3 debut on the Nordschleife. In the Cup 3 class, the additional championship point for pole position went to W&S Motorsport (#962). Lorenz Stegmann set a lap time of 8:43.650 minutes in the 718 Cayman GT4 CS (982).

BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN (#900) and Smyrlis Racing (#910) crowned Champions in Cup 2 PRO/AM and AM

After a turbulent start in the Cup 2 class, Mühlner Motorsport (#921) with David Jahn, Arne Hoffmeister and Tim Scheerbarth took the lead early on and maintained it until the finish. This allowed the trio to extend their championship lead over 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON (#948) with Tobias Müller, Noah Nagelsdiek and Carlos Rivas, who finished second in race seven. Third place went to Fabio Grosse and Patrik Grütter from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#901). The duo had started the race as championship leaders in the PRO/AM classification, but Grütter undercut the reference lap time for amateur driver classification, meaning that Grütter and Grosse can no longer be classified in PRO/AM as a double PRO line-up. Meanwhile, Peter Ludwig, Maik Rosenberg and Alexander Hardt from BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN (#900) won the PRO/AM classification, putting them out of reach at the top and crowning them Champions prematurely.

„Winning the PRO/AM championship feels amazing. We didn't expect that today. It was extremely close between Sorg [Rennsport] and us, and we would have liked to continue the battle because it was really great fun and very fair. I've been doing motorsport for 20 years and have had individual successes, but this is my first title – I think I need a moment to realise what I've achieved," explains Maik Rosenberg.

Robin Chrzanowski and Kersten Jodexnis from ClickversicherungTeam (#919) won the AM classification, but second place for Alex Koch, Klaus Koch and Niklas Koch from Smyrlis Racing (#910) was enough to decide the championship. Alex Koch and Niklas Koch are crowned Champions, as Klaus Koch missed one race and therefore scored fewer points than his two teammates.

„We are delighted to have won the championship. It's really great that it turned out this way. We all worked hard towards this goal and gave it our best. We learned a lot in our first year with the car and will continue to work hard to improve even further next year. In the final race, we will now see how far we can move up in the PRO/AM standings," explains PETN Talent Pool driver Niklas Koch.

Schmickler Performance (#950) and Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels (#941) win the Cup 3 PRO/AM and AM championships

In the Cup 3 class, W&S Motorsport (#962) with Joshua Bednarski and Lorenz Stegmann won the penultimate race of the season. Joining them on the podium were Heiko Eichenberg and Harley Haughton from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#959) and Leonard Oehme and Moritz Oehme from Team 9und11 (#944). With their victory in the PRO/AM classification, Horst Baumann, Markus Schmickler and Stefan Schmickler from Schmickler Performance (#950) secured the championship title early on and at the same time still have a chance of winning the overall Cup 3 class title.

„We drove very consistently throughout the season and were able to collect a lot of points as a result. We are over the moon about the PRO/AM title – it couldn't have gone better. Now we're hoping for a podium place in the Cup 3 overall standings," says Horst Baumann.

The championship was also decided in the AM classification with a victory. Nick Deißler, Stefan Kruse and Aaron Wenisch from Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels (#941) prevailed against the competition and are AM-Champions in the Cup 3 class.

„I've got goose bumps. We've all worked really well together throughout the year, everyone has improved and it couldn't have gone better. The competition was tough, but we managed to finish all the races without any retirements. Thank you to everyone who contributed to winning the AM title. Of course, we're still ambitious, but we'll try to enjoy the last race even more," says Stefan Kruse.

The PETN season finale is coming up in two weeks. The 1st NLS Sportwarte-Rennen will take place on 11 October and will once again cover a distance of four hours.

Press contact:

Jona Kläsener

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