The Phoenix team is currently unstoppable. Kuba Giermaziak took his second NLS win in a row. Behind them, the teammates Kolb/Stippler finished and made the double victory perfect. The Schnitzelalm-Mercedes surprisingly celebrated the first podium and Adrenalin Motorsport celebrated the premature title win with Zils/Setsaas/Sandberg.
The Scherer Sport Team Phoenix continues to ride the wave of success in the Nürburgring Endurance Series. Once again Kuba Giermaziak was able to celebrate victory - this time with the support of DTM driver Kelvin van der Linde. And like in the last race, Frank Stippler and Vincent Kolb made the one-two with the Audi R8 LMS with starting number 5 perfect.
Kuba Giermaziak wins NLS 8
"You don't get used to winning," said Giermaziak with a grin on his face. "Kelvin and René won here with us - so if the factory drivers want to win races here, they are very welcome. But seriously: Kelvin presented in the first two stints and I only had to drive it home. I only had Code once 60 a bit unlucky and Stippler was able to catch up a bit."
In fact, the Audi with starting number 16 controlled almost the entire race. Shortly after the start, the fans saw many duels a wild manoeuvre, in which at the end of the Döttinger Höhe, Stippler, van der Linde and Tim Heinemann positioned themselves side by side in threes in a Falken-Porsche.
In lap 2, Alessio Picariello's Dinamic Porsche, which had been leading up to that point, had to bow down to the two Audi R8 cars of Stippler and van der Linde. After the first round of pit stops, the #16 Giermaziak/van der Linde took the lead and never relinquished it.
Competition eliminates itself
Many competitors tripped themselves up. The list of unlucky people is long. Picariello/de Leener's Dinamic Porsche had to serve a stop-and-go penalty after falling short of the minimum pit stop time. The new Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), entered by Falken this time, was shut down with an overheated engine due to too many leaves in the radiator.
Thomas Preining had an accident at the wheel of the Manthey-Grellos on the first lap and after a longer standstill only completed tire tests. The Walkenhorst-BMW (Krognes/Dennis) came into the pits with a damaged left front wheel and was out of the fight for victory. The EMA Porsche (Olsen/Cairoli) used by Manthey had an accident shortly before the end in the Hohe Acht area.
Schnitzelalm celebrates first NLS podium
One person's suffering was another's chance. Schnitzelalm Racing with Kenneth Heyer, Marek Böckmann and Marcel Marchewicz celebrated the first podium finish in the team's GT3 history. And that also only came about at the last second due to a problem with a competitor. Falken was hit hard here with the old 911 model.Martin Ragginger had overtaken Heyer in the last few meters, but he was penalized twice for 5.05 minutes for yellow card violations.
"The year didn't go quite as hoped for the team so this is extremely important," said Marchewicz. "We also had the problem with the leaves in the radiator, the car was already in the emergency program and I had to come into the pits after two laps. We then got back into it on the track and with a good strategy."
Cup Porsche in the top ten again
The second Schnitzelalm car driven by Peter Terting and Carrie Schreiner placed fourth right behind their teammates. Despite the penalty, the Dinamic-Porsche ended up in fifth place ahead of the Walkenhorst-BMW, which was also handicapped by the tire problem.
In the end, Falken had to settle for seventh place instead of the podium. They are followed by the Cup Porsches from W&S Motorsport, Mühlner Motorsport and Mathol Racing, which complete the top ten.
Adrenalin Motorsport NLS champions again
Even before the final race at the beginning of November, the champions of the Nürburgring Endurance Series have been determined. They come from the same racing team for the fifth time in a row. Adrenalin Motorsport provides the new champions with Daniel Zils, Sindre Setsaas and Oskar Sandberg and the BMW 330i from the VT2+R+4WD class. They couldn't believe their success shortly after the race, in which they celebrated their seventh class win in seven races. "We haven't even realized it yet," said the three in unison. "It just takes a load off our hearts."
