• Talent Pool Trio Ryan Harrison, Raphael Rennhofer and Leon Wassertheurer win Cup 2 class with Team LIQUI MOLY by BLACK FALCON (#902)
• „Driver of the day“ Oskar Sandberg and Alexander Fielenbach are Cup 3 winners with Smyrlis Racing (#953)
• PETN Village brings variety to the paddock

Nürburg. After the first race of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) – and thus the season opener of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PETN) – was cancelled due to bad weather, the PETN got off to a belated start in its fifth season. A total of 29 cars competed in the first race of the season for the Porsche one-make series as part of the NLS, including twelve Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the Cup 2 class and 17 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS in the Cup 3 class. After an eventful race, the junior trio from Team LIQUI MOLY by BLACK FALCON (#902) – Ryan Harrison, Raphael Rennhofer and Leon Wassertheurer – prevailed to take the class victory. In the Cup 3 class, the new driver duo from Smyrlis Racing (#953), Alexander Fielenbach and Oskar Sandberg, took the win. In spring-like conditions, the new PETN Village opened its doors, providing a welcoming spot in the paddock for teams, drivers and spectators.

Qualifying took place on Saturday morning in cool but sunny and dry conditions. In the Cup 2 class, Alexander Hardt drove the BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN 911 GT3 Cup (#900) to pole position with a lap time of 8:07.795 minutes, after the team had repaired the car overnight following a crash in practice on Friday evening. With a lap time of 8:35.748 minutes in the 718 Cayman GT4 CS from W&S Motorsport (#962), Moritz Oberheim was the fastest in the Cup 3 class.

Three PETN Talent Pool drivers with class win at Cup 2 debut

Team LIQUI MOLY by BLACK FALCON (#902) is fielding a particularly young driver line-up this year. Ryan Harrison (21), Raphael Rennhofer (19) and Leon Wassertheurer (23) are behind the wheel of a 911 GT3 Cup for a full season for the first time and immediately demonstrated their skills at the start of the season. The trio, who is also part of the PETN Talent Pool line-up, won by a narrow margin of 1.682 seconds ahead of Nico Bastian and Flynt Schuring from Mühlner Motorsport (#904). The sister car from Mühlner Motorsport, featuring two reigning PETN champions, finished third. Joshua Bednarski, who won the Cup 3 class last season, shares the #921 car with last year’s Cup 2 Driver Champion Tim Scheerbarth.

„I’m super happy – to be honest, we didn’t expect this on our first race weekend with a new car and a completely new line-up. I’ve picked up where I left off in the PEETN. The car handles surprisingly similarly to how it does in the simulation and I felt at home straight away – that helps me a lot, of course. I’m looking forward to what’s still to come this year“, says Raphael Rennhofer, reigning champion in the Porsche Esports Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PEETN).

In the PRO/AM class, KKrämer Racing (#909) with Karsten Krämer, Peter Sander and ‘L.Messenger’ (PRO) took the win ahead of Kersten Jodexnis, Richard-Sven Karl Jodexnis and Robin Chrzanowski (PRO) from the Clickversicherung Team (#919). The amateur classification was won by the reigning champion trio of Alex Koch, Klaus Koch and Niklas Koch from Smyrlis Racing (#910).

„We were able to pick up exactly where we left off last year and have therefore achieved our goal for the start of the season. Everything went according to plan this weekend and the team did a brilliant job“, summarizes Niklas Koch, which receives additional support from the one-make series as PETN Junior 2026.

Smyrlis Racing wins the Cup 3 class and takes the ‘Driver of the Day’ award

The Cup 3 class once again delivered thrilling motorsport at the season opener, presenting fans with numerous lead changes. In the end, Alexander Fielenbach and Oskar Sandberg from Smyrlis Racing (#953) came out on top and won the race. Sandberg was also named ‘Driver of the Day’ by the organisers.

„We had a good race and a thrilling battle with the Sorg guys. It’s an honour for me to have been named ‘Driver of the Day’ in the end. The team works incredibly hard and we’re trying to make the most of our potential throughout the season“, says Oskar Sandberg.

Second place went to Heiko Eichenberg and PETN Talent Pool driver Calvin de Groot from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#959), ahead of Schmickler Performance powered by Ravenol (#950) with Horst Baumann, Kai Riemer and Stefan Schmickler. The PRO/AM classification was won by Erik Braun, Franz Linden and Arne Hoffmeister (PRO) from speedworxx automotive (#971).

Also in the AM classification, a driver from the Talent Pool made it onto the podium this weekend. Darian Donkel won the class alongside his team-mates Akshay Gupta and Aaron Wenisch from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#949), ahead of the sister car (#969) driven by Maximilian Eisberg, Tommy Gräberg and Axel Sartingen. The podium was completed by Lion Düker, Christoph Krombach and Oliver Kunz from W&S Motorsport (#982).

„The first race was really exciting for me, with the new car and the new team. But everything went really well right from the start, and I’m absolutely delighted with the win in the amateur driver classification – it was a great way to start“, says Darian Donkel.

Paddock activities in the PETN Village

In sunny weather, the new PETN Village in the paddock opened its doors for the first time this weekend. With this new event area, the Porsche one-make series aims to create a destination for everyone in the paddock and offers a variety of activities to keep things interesting during the race. The race can be watched on a large screen, whilst simulators, a kids’ area and exhibition cars, amongst other things, await the teams, drivers and spectators. PETN is drawing on the extensive Manthey network and will vary the exhibitors and activities throughout the season.

The PETN’s second race of the season is scheduled for 11 April and will cover a distance of four hours.