Preview: NLS 3
- Benjamin Crundwell
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
The 57th running of the Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy will take place this weekend with 139 cars split across 23 different classes. The class with the most attention is SP9, where some of sportscar's finest drivers race regulated GT3 cars. The class is split into Pro, Pro-Am and Am depending on the driver's ratings.
Unsurprisingly, 11 of the 15 SP9 runners are German manufacturers, four of which are Porsche. As per usual, Falken Motorsports will race a single Porsche 911 GT3 R, piloted by Klaus Bachler and Benjamin Leuchter, who has won the Nürburgring 24h four times in class, but has never won it out right.
Interestingly, Dunlop (who took over Falken's second entry from previous years, since the two tyre brands merged) will not race this weekend, despite needing experience before the 24 hour race as rookies to the Nordschleife. The tyre company are expected to return next weekend for the 24h Qualifiers.
Manthey are back at the NLS this weekend; they were on the entry list for NLS 1, which was cancelled, and missed NLS 2 due to an IMSA clash, so this will be their first race in the 2026 NLS season. Unlike Dunlop, Manthey do not need the experience, as they have more wins at the Nürburgring 24h than any other team. The 'Grello' Porsche will be driven by Ayhancan Güven and Matt Campbell.
Two Audi R8s will be raced, however neither of which will be in the Pro class. Similarly, Mercedes will also feature twice in the SP9 class, but one of the cars will be a Pro entry. Kamui Kobayashi, Jesse Krohn, Edoardo Liberati and David Pittard will race the No.47 KCMG Mercedes.
BMW have one Pro entry: the Schubert Motorsport car driven by Marco Wittmann, Phillip Eng and Robin Frijns, however their headline entry is one of their two other SP9 cars. The BMW Z4 GT3 will race on the Nordschleife for the first time since 2018. The car is a nostalgic reminder for many fans of racing in the early 2000s.
The Z4 is not the oldest throwback on the NLS 3 entry list however. The SPX class will feature two HWA EVOs, which are modern renditions of the Mercedes 190E, with "state of the art" technology beneath the bonnet.
Lamborghini's Pro entry comes from Konrad Motorsport, the No.7 will be raced by Patricija Stalidzane, Christian Engelhart, and Pavel Lefterov. They will continue to race the Huracan on the Nürburgring, despite the availability of the new Temerario, the Italian marque's latest GT3 model.
The SP9 entry list is rounded out by Aston Martin and Ford, each of who are entering a single car. PROsport Racing will race an Aston Martin, and HRT will race No.65 Pro car driven by Dennis Olsen, Frédéric Vervisch, Christopher Mies and Vincent Kolb.
NLS 2's main protagonists, the Verstappen.com Winward Mercedes and Rowe Racing BMW are both absent this week. The No.3 Mercedes won the opening race (since NLS 1 was cancelled) on track by a minute, however was later disqualified for a tyre infringement. This handed the victory to the No.99 BMW.
Having made headlines for his defence against Max Verstappen in the first stint of NLS 2, Christopher Haase will also not be racing this weekend, as Scherer Sport are taking a race off, before the 24h Qualifiers next week.
Looking further down the entry list, Jimmy Broadbent, Steve Brown (Super GT), Misha Charoudin and Manuel Metzger will once again be racing the Black Falcon by Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car in the AT2 class.
The YouTubers once again only have one other car to compete against in their class: the all female WS Racing crew of Fabienne Wohlwend, Janina Schall and ex F1 Academy driver Chloe Chong. The class was won by the Fanatec team in NLS 2, as the WS Racing car failed to make the start.
The weather is set to be uncharacteristically calm for the Eifel Forrest, it is expected to be sunny for the entire weekend, without a drop of rain. This mirrors the conditions in NLS 2, giving an advantage to those who raced in the previous round and have experience with higher track temperatures.
The race will be a four hour tour of the combined track (Grand Prix circuit and Nordshcleife), starting at 12:00 local time (11:00 BST) on Saturday 11th April. A 90 minute qualifying session will take place at 08:30 local time (07:30 BST) on the same morning.
Both qualifying and the race can be streamed live on YouTube for free.
