• Bastian and Rump from Mühlner Motorsport (#904) win Cup 2 class and extend their lead in the championship
• W&S Motorsport (#962) with Oberheim and Stegmann win Cup 3 class 
• Former Formula 1 and NASCAR driver Scott Speed secures his Permit A after a four-hour race driving solo
• Special exhibition ‘30 Years of Manthey’ in the PETN Village

With a total of 29 cars on the grid, the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PETN) kicked off its third round as part of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS). In midsummer conditions, after four hours of racing, Nico Bastian and Martin Rump from Mühlner Motorsport (#904) were the first to cross the finish line in the Cup 2 class. In the Cup 3 class, W&S Motorsport (#962) won with Moritz Oberheim and Lorenz Stegmann, thereby extending their lead in the PETN championship. Manthey provided some variety in the paddock with a special exhibition in the PETN Village to mark the company’s 30th anniversary.

Already during qualifying on Saturday morning, the teams and drivers were battling temperatures of over 26 degrees Celsius. With a lap time of 8:10.885 minutes, Raphael Rennhofer secured pole position in the Cup 2 class for the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from Team LIQUI MOLY by BLACK FALCON (#902). Meanwhile, for the third time in a row, the W&S Motorsport 718 Cayman GT4 CS (#962) secured pole position in the Cup 3 class. Moritz Oberheim completed the 24.358-kilometre circuit in 8:40.020 minutes.

First win of the season for Mühlner Motorsport

The four-hour race got underway in temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius and was dominated early on by accidents and technical failures. Of a total of 109 starters, only 79 were classified at the end. Mühlner Motorsport (#904), with Nico Bastian and Martin Rump, crossed the line in eleventh place overall, on the same lap as the overall winners. Following two podium finishes, this marked the first victory of the season for Bastian and Mühlner Motorsport, enabling them to extend their lead at the top of the championship standings.

„I’m always happy to be back in the Green Hell – the PETN is a great championship to be a part of and to be in the Porsche family. This weekend was really hot, but I was super excited to have the physical side of this sport highlighted like this. Mühlner Motorsport did such a great job and we were super competitive. It was a tough race but the car was great and we had a lot of pace. I’m super happy about the result“, sums up Martin Rump.

In second place came the PETN Talent Pool trio of Ryan Harrison, Raphael Rennhofer and Leon Wassertheurer from Team LIQUI MOLY by BLACK FALCON (#902). Rennhofer was also voted ‘Driver of the Race’ by the organisers. Third place went to Fabio Grosse and Patrik Grütter from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#901).

The PRO/AM classification was won by Kersten Jodexnis, Richard-Sven Karl Jodexnis and Robin Chrzanowski (PRO) from the Clickversicherung Team (#919), ahead of Michelangelo Comazzi, Karsten Krämer, Peter Sander and ‘Leo Messenger’ (PRO) from KKrämer Racing (#909). In the amateur drivers’ classification, Ralf-Peter Bonk and Marco van Ramshorst from pb performance (#906) secured victory. Second place went to Michael Kroll, Thomas Mühlenz and Alexander Prinz from Hofor Racing (#908), ahead of Alexander Koch, Klaus Koch and Niklas Koch from Smyrlis Racing (#910).

“This is our first AM victory, and we’re absolutely delighted. We tweaked our strategy slightly and, because of the heat, only did single stints so we could take turns. It was a wild race with lots of crashes, but we got through it well and it was great fun,” says Marco van Ramshorst.

Maximum points and top spot in the championship for W&S Motorsport

With pole position, the fastest lap of the race and class victory, W&S Motorsport (#962), with Moritz Oberheim and Lorenz Stegmann, secured the maximum possible number of points and jumped from sixth to first in the championship. The duo benefited, amongst other things, from the retirements of Smyrlis Racing (#953) with Alexander Fielenbach and Oskar Sandberg, as well as SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#959) with Calvin de Groot and Heiko Eichenberg.

“That was a really thrilling race. We got off to a good start from P1, but then struggled a bit with our pace. Moritz and I both lost a position, but managed to stay in the mix. We then benefited from our rivals retiring, which allowed us to take a big step forward in the championship – it’s not really how we’d like to win, but we’re still delighted to be back in contention for the title,” says PETN Talent Pool driver Lorenz Stegmann.

Leonard Oehme and Moritz Oehme from Team 9und11 (#944) finished the race in second place ahead of Extreme Racing (#977) with Sebastian Brandl, John-Lee Schambony and Nick Wüstenhagen, who also won the PRO/AM classification. Second place in the ranking for professional and amateur drivers went to Erik Braun, Franz Linden and Arne Hoffmeister (PRO) from Speedworxx Automotive (#977). The podium was completed by Christian Kraus, Peder Saltvedt and Fidel Leib (#952) from Smyrlis Racing.

Victory in the amateur drivers’ classification was secured by Smyrlis Racing’s sister car, with the start number 951. After 25 laps, Constantin Laube, Henry Lindloff and Max Rosam crossed the finish line, with a lead of just under one and a half minutes over Nick Deissler, Darian Donkel and Aaron Wenisch from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#949). Third place went to the reigning AM champion Stefan Kruse, alongside Adrian Rziczny and David Vogt from the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels (#941).

“I’m really delighted that we’ve secured our first AM victory. We only earned our Permit A in the first race and didn’t think we’d be right up there at the front so soon. It just goes to show how well we work together as a trio and as a whole team,” says PETN Talent Pool driver Henry Lindloff.

Scott Speed secures Permit A driving by himself

The weekend was also a success for Scott Speed. The former Formula 1 and NASCAR driver competed in a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS in Permit B specification from Mühlner Motorsport (#999) to secure the race result he needed for the DMSB Nordschleife Permit A. Usually, multiple drivers share the four-hour race distance, but the American drove the entire race as the sole driver in the Cayman bearing start number 999, braving the high temperatures. After 23 laps, he took the chequered flag and was thereby awarded Permit A, meaning he can now compete in any vehicle category on the Nordschleife.

‘30 Years of Manthey’ Exhibition in the PETN Village

As part of the race weekend, Manthey set up a special exhibition in the PETN Village to mark the company’s 30th anniversary. Spectators were able to get a close-up look at a total of six cars, including Ayhancan Güven’s DTM championship-winning car and Manthey’s first winning car from the 2006 Nürburgring 24 Hours. The cars were complemented by memorabilia from the company’s history. Furthermore, Giant, the bicycle manufacturer and PETN partner, was also represented in the Village.

The fourth round of the PETN, the KW 6h ADAC Ruhr Cup race, is scheduled for 1 August. The race covers a distance of six hours and therefore awards 1.5 times the standard points.