Endurance Weekly: 15th-21st May
- DIVEBOMB Endurance Team
- May 21
- 6 min read
Written by the DIVEBOMB Endurance Team, Edited by Morgan Holiday
This week on Endurance Weekly, the DIVEBOMB endurance team look ahead to the latest round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) championship, take a look back at the GT World Challenge Europe (GTWC EU) Sprint weekend at Zandvoort and report on all of the breaking news stories you may have missed.
24h Nürburgring Qualifiers - Preview
This weekend the infamous “Green Hell” will come alive for one final time before the brutal 24h Nürburgring race. 109 teams will race in the 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers, the last chance for teams to gain valuable experience or for drivers to fast track their permits, and four cars will earn a spot in Top Qualifying for the 24 hour race.
The weekend is structured unlike other NLS events, as there are two races. Qualifying for the first race will take place at 10:00 local time (08:00 GMT) on Saturday. The first race will follow at 17:30 local time (15:30 GMT) the same day, which will last four hours. The race ends five minutes after the official sunset time, so the race will simulate evening’s conditions for the 24h Nürburgring.
Race two will take place the next day at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT), only 80 minutes after the final qualifying session finishes. Race two will also last four hours, but it will take place at a different time of the afternoon so that teams can get experience during different hours of the day. Both races will take place on the Gesamtstrecke, which is a combination of the Nordschleife and GP track.
As if the challenge of the Nordschleife was not tough enough, Saturday evening is due to be wet and the rain will likely continue on Sunday for the second race. The rain is forecast to begin at around the same time as race one, meaning teams may have to take a gamble with their tyre compound for Lap 1. Extreme weather adds extra danger to drivers compared to other circuits, due to the expanse of the track, there is a high chance one part of the circuit will be bone dry, and a few corners later it will be pouring.
Having won all three NLS rounds so far, the Porsche 911 GT3 R’s are favourite for this weekend's race as they appear to have the car best suited to the 25.3km circuit. The manufacturer has seven cars racing at the qualifiers, one of which is the famous ‘Grello’ which will be driven by two previous 24h Nürburgring winners, Kevin Estre and Patrick Pilet.
All action can be streamed for free on YouTube.
GTWC EU Sprint Cup - Review
Race One
The No.89 Bronze Cup Porsche led the field away at the start of race one, with chaos ensuing behind. One of the Ferrari’s ended up on the grass with a broken bonnet before it even got to turn one.
The No.74 Ferrari was then spun around on the exit of the first corner, with both the Ford and Corvette ending up in the wall heavily at Turn 3. Elsewhere, many other cars came out of Lap 1 with damage through smaller contact with other cars. With damaged cars in gravel traps, and debris across the track, the race director called out the Safety Car.
On the restart there was even more chaos, with the No.51 Ferrari and No.80 Porsche colliding at the banked turn three. The Porsche hit the outside wall and the Ferrari was forced to limp back to the pits for repairs to its suspension.
As the pit window opened, it was two Bronze cars leading the race, but the Bronze class had a mandatory pit time to adhere to that the Pros, Golds and Silvers did not. After the 10 minute pit window closed, it was the No.96 Rutronik Porsche that led the way, never looking back. Patric Niederhauser and Sven Müller won race one of the GTWC EU at Zandvoort.
Behind, the No.63 Lamborghini, No.48 Mercedes and No.25 Audi all battled for the final two spots on the podium. The trio finished in that order, with the No.25 also taking the Gold Cup victory. The No.99 Audi won in Silver, with the No.89 Porsche winning in Bronze.
Race Two
For race two it was the No.14 and No.69 Ferrari leading the field away from the grid at the start. The start was much cleaner than race one, with the only incident being a brief trip to the gravel for the No.58 McLaren.
A lead group of the two Ferraris and the No.63 Lamborghini began to form early on, with the trio battling it out for the lead in the opening stint of the race. The No.50 AF Corse Ferrari in fourth had an issue, dropping down the order, with driver Arthur Leclerc pulling the car into the garage to retire from the race.
As the pit stops rolled around, the two leading cars - No.14 and No.69 - both got handed 10-second time penalties for a jumped start. That meant that after the pit stops it was the No.32 BMW that led after a quick pit stop from the WRT team helped them jump up the order.
In second was the Silver Cup No.26 Audi, with the No.63 Lamborghini still in third despite being in the same position before the stops. A train formed behind the Silver Audi driven by Ivan Klymenko, as the BMW streaked away into the lead.
The Ukrainian driver in the Audi put up the defense of his life to keep the train of Pro cars behind him, finishing second overall behind the BMW, and first in class. The No.69 Ferrari won in Gold, and the No.74 Ferrari won Bronze.
The GTWC EU Sprint Cup returns on the 18th of July, for a pair of races at Misano.
Breaking News
WEC (World Endurance Championship)
FIA announce minor changes to BoP system
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) have announced that it had made a “minor enhancement” to the process for determining the Balance of Performance (BoP) in the Hypercar class.
It was announced at the beginning of the 2025 season that the BoP would be based on the best lap times from each of the previous three WEC races, excluding Le Mans which has its own standalone BoP.
However, from Spa the FIA and Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) will be basing the BoP on the best two of the previous three races excluding Le Mans. This announcement explains why there were such drastic changes for the Hypercars between Imola and Spa, with most cars receiving double digit power and weight changes.
The change will not affect the LMGT3 class or any of the BoP at Le Mans, and will be in action again at São Paulo in July.
WTR reveal Le Mans livery
The No.101 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac Hypercar will feature a new paint scheme, with the added sponsorship of Mobil 1. The car that will be driven by Jordan and Ricky Taylor, alongside Filipe Albuquerque, will be a one off WEC entry for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The livery itself is very similar to the livery used by WTR on their No.10 car in the IMSA Sportscar Championship, with the added white from the Mobil 1 sponsorship.
The team will compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the 14th and 15th of June.
Nürburgring 24 Hours
New BMW M2 Racing to tackle the 24h Nürburgring
FK Performance Motorsport will enter the new BMW M2 Racing car to the 24h Nürburgring in June as its final test before it goes on the market. The car will be driven by Ugo de Wilde, Charles Weerts, Jens Klingmann and Michael Bräutigam in the SP3T class, which is a class for cars that are turbocharged.
The full entry list for the 24h Nürburgring has yet to be released, but in the past manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Audi have had cars compete in the class. BMW will look to prove themself by beating their brands competitors on track.
The car will be released as an entry level car in 2026, and should include low operating costs, a “striking” sound and a carbon roof. The car will be powered by an in-line four cylinder engine, which produces 313 bhp.
Scherer Sport PHX reveal two car entry for N24
Scherer Sport PHX will field two entries to the 24h Nürburgring, unusually with two different manufacturers. Laurens Vanthoor, Ricardo Feller and Patric Niederhauser will race in the No.16 Porsche 911 GT3 R.
The No.16 car has a highly impressive lineup, Niederhauser is a three time GTWC winner, Feller won the famous race last year and Vanthoor won the race in 2019, and more recently became the WEC champion last year and won the 24 hours of Daytona this year.
Scherer Sport’s other car will be the No.1 Audi R8 LMS GT3, which will be driven by Christopher Haase, Luca Ludwig and Markus Winkelhock. The lineup is also not to be messed with, as Haase and Winkelhock are both multiple time winners of the race.
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