Team Mathol Racing goes from P13 to Cup 2 victory – Sorg Rennsport extends championship lead with Cup 3 win

Meuspath. After a two-month NLS break, the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring entered its fourth race of the season on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. The starting field of 23 vehicles was divided into 13 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) in Cup 2 and ten Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS (982) in Cup 3 class. The 46th RCM DMV Grenzlandrennen went over a distance of four hours and was characterised by numerous lead changes. After 28 race laps, Arne Hoffmeister and Hendrik Still from Team Mathol Racing (#107) crossed the finish line in first place. Cup 3 class was again won by Sorg Rennsport (#959) with Heiko Eichenberg, Patrik Grütter and Fabio Grosse.

In qualifying, David Jahn in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) of AVIA W&S Motorsport (#120) was able to take advantage of the only free lap and set the fastest lap time in Cup 2 class. With 8:09.928 minutes, he secured the additional championship point for the team. In Cup 3 class, Fabio Grosse of Sorg Rennsport (#959) was again fastest on the 24.358-kilometre combination of the short layout of the Nürburgring GP circuit and the Nordschleife with a time of 8:36.039 minutes.

Top-10 result and finish on the lead lap for the top three Cup 2 teams

Team Mathol Racing went into qualifying with the 911 GT3 Cup in the second lap. A Code-60 phase, which was set-up at the same time and lasted until the end of qualifying, prevented Arne Hoffmeister and Hendrik Still from setting a fast lap time. The consequence: 13th place and thus the last starting position in Cup 2 class. After the start, Hoffmeister fought his way through the field and quickly joined the leading group. After several lead changes in the Cup 2 field, the duo finally won by 12.648 seconds ahead of Max Kruse Racing (#100) with Benjamin Leuchter and Nico Otto, who extended their championship lead in the class with second place. Christopher Brück, Moritz Kranz and Michele Di Martino finished third. The top three Cup 2 teams finished fifth to seventh overall and stayed on the overall winner's lead lap throughout the race. This is the best PETN result in the overall ranking.

"This was really unexpected, coming from the very back to win in such a strong class. This is an excellent result. Now we have to keep pushing and not rest on our victory," Arne Hoffmeister sums up.

Reigning AM-champion Mustafa Mehmet Kaya competed in NLS4 for the first time this season and promptly won the AM-classification with his teammate Mike Stursberg. The Black Falcon Team TEXTAR 911 GT3 Cup (#103) was completed by PRO-driver Gabriele Piana. Second place went to Klaus Abbelen and 'Jules' with PRO-driver Felipe Fernández Laser from Frikadelli Racing Team (#111) ahead of Simon Balcaen and Jörg Viebahn from PROsport-Racing (#104).

"It's great to be back after my injury. Many thanks to my teammates, we were really fast. Now we look to the rest of the season and hope to win again," said Mustafa Mehmet Kaya.

Big points for Sorg Rennsport in Cup 3 class

With the class win at the 24-hour race behind them, Sorg Rennsport (#959) with Heiko Eichenberg, Fabio Grosse and Patrik Grütter drove to class victory from pole position. Horst Baumann and Stefan Schmickler of Schmickler Performance (#950) followed in second place. Baumann led the class for several laps and also secured victory in the AM-classification with this result. Third place in the class went to the second Sorg Rennsport car #949. Stefan Beyer and Carl-Friedrich Kolb, together with PRO-driver Torsten Kratz, who also finished second in the AM-classification. Third place in the AM-classification went to Sébastien Carcone and René Höber from W&S Motorsport (#961).

"With pole position we had an excellent starting position for the race, which worked out well. The extra point and the win secured us important points for the championship. Now we are looking forward to the six-hour race in three weeks," Fabio Grosse sums up.

"We are super satisfied. Starting in fourth place, I even managed to collect my first lead laps in the class. That made me very happy," said Horst Baumann about NLS 4.

The ROWE 6h ADAC Ruhr-Pokal-Rennen will take place on 8th July 2023. An important race for the championship aspirants of the PETN, as 1.5 times the points are awarded for the longer race distance in the classifications.

Press contact:

Laura Claesgens

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