Dunlop Wins the Finale as Adrenalin Claims the NLS Crown

An article by Batuhan Pehlivan

Autumn sunshine lit the Nordschleife for the final four hours of the 2026 ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, but the season still had unfinished business. At the front, Porsche rivals fought for the last overall victory. Further down the field, every completed lap brought Adrenalin Motorsport closer to a championship that remained undecided until the finale.

By the chequered flag, Nico Menzel and Sven Müller had delivered victory for Dunlop Motorsport. Edoardo Bugane, Yannick Fübrich and Sven Markert had secured the overall NLS title in their BMW M240i Racing Cup. Both successes depended on turning a promising position into a controlled finish.

The morning belonged to Gamota Racing. Fielding two BMW M4 GT3 EVOs, the team locked out the front row in qualifying on a circuit that still held damp sections. The #23 of Antal Zsigo, Moritz Kranz and David Jahn claimed pole with a 9:03.855, ahead of the sister #36.

Jahn protected the lead at the start, while the order behind him changed quickly. Adam Christodoulou attacked in the #26 PROsport Mercedes-AMG, the #44 Falken Porsche joined the fight, and Max Kruse Racing's #75 Audi climbed to second during the opening lap. Dunlop's #17 started sixth, with work to do before it could dictate the race.

Menzel's first stop provided the opening. Dunlop brought him in after five laps, taking advantage of a shorter minimum stopping time following the shorter stint. The strategy gained track position and gave Menzel room to establish a rhythm while the cars behind continued trading places.

Christodoulou briefly looked capable of disrupting that progress. On lap nine, he used the slipstream to pass both Tim Tramnitz's Schubert BMW and Tim Heinemann's Falken Porsche. One lap later, after the BMW had responded, the Mercedes struck its rear in the AMG Arena. A bonnet fastening came loose, forcing an unscheduled repair.

The interruption removed PROsport from the immediate podium contest. Dunlop continued building its advantage, while Falken worked towards securing second. Behind both entries was Schnabl Engineering, whose afternoon would end with another one-two finish.

Müller played a part in both results. Having driven the Falken car, he took a five-lap break before switching to the Dunlop Porsche. His afternoon earned him the Driver of the Race award. For Menzel, a fifth NLS overall win brought him level with his father Christian.

The winning Porsche completed 27 laps in 4:00:37.071. Heinemann and Müller finished 37.691 seconds behind in the Falken entry, with Jordan Pepper and Tramnitz completing the podium for Schubert Motorsport.

Schubert's route to third was demanding. Starting 16th, the #77 BMW had reached seventh by the end of lap four. The final podium position still belonged to Max Kruse Racing late in the race, until Pepper passed the Audi with only minutes remaining. Marcel Fugel, Dominik Fugel and Benjamin Leuchter finished fourth.

The closing stages also settled SP9 Pro-Am. The #48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON Porsche passed Gamota's #23 for fifth overall and the class victory. Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller and Dylan Pereira finished ahead of the polesitters, while the repaired PROsport Mercedes took seventh overall.

The overall championship followed a different rhythm. Adrenalin's #650 BMW arrived with 94 points, four ahead of Smyrlis Racing's Alexander Fielenbach and Oskar Sandberg. A class win would make Bugane, Fübrich and Markert champions regardless of what happened elsewhere.

The margin left little room for compromise. If Smyrlis won CUP3 and Adrenalin finished second in its class, both crews would reach 105 points. The tiebreak would favour Fielenbach and Sandberg because their class had attracted a higher average entry. Winning remained Adrenalin's clearest route to the crown.

That certainty applied only to the calculation. Four hours on the Nordschleife still stood between the crew and the trophy. They led their class through the race, with their position remaining secure as the final hour began.

Their challengers had their own race to manage. In CUP3, Sandberg and Fielenbach finished second behind the #962 W&S Motorsport Cayman of Lorenz Stegmann and Moritz Oberheim. Adrenalin completed its task by winning the BMW M240i class, taking the title out of reach.

The final championship totals were 109 points for Bugane, Fübrich and Markert, and 101 for Fielenbach and Sandberg. The LOSCH trio finished with 87, the third-highest total among the driver crews.

Adrenalin had claimed its eighth overall NLS championship. The achievement also illustrated how much of the series' season-long story is written beyond the GT3 lead battle. The #650's class result carried the weight of the overall crown, and its crew delivered when the championship required one final successful afternoon.

Another contest continued after the flag. In CUP2, Mühlner Motorsport's #904 Porsche crossed the line just 0.284 seconds ahead of BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN's #900. A penalty for overtaking under yellow flags then changed the order.

The amended classification published that evening listed #900 first in class, with 30 seconds added to #904's time. Proceedings left the CUP2 championship outcome unresolved, however, with the NLS standings explicitly withholding the class's points from the finale. The latest provisional result therefore required a clear distinction between the listed race winner and a confirmed title outcome.

Other trophies found their owners. Schubert secured the NLS Speed Trophy with 183 points, ahead of LOSCH on 140 and Dunlop on 133. Piet-Jan Ooms and Ionuc Catalin Timis took the Production Car Trophy for SRS Team Sorg Rennsport by a single point, 75 to 74, over Adrenalin's Philipp Leisen, Philipp Stahlschmidt and Daniel Zils.

Adrenalin won the final VT2-RWD race with its #500 BMW 330i, but second place was enough for the Sorg Toyota crew to preserve the championship lead. Their season ended with a narrow escape from a determined final challenge.

Alexandru Vasilescu secured the Gentleman Trophy with 86 points. In SP9 Am, JUTA Racing's Audi beat Gamota's second BMW by just 5.770 seconds, adding another close finish to the afternoon. In SP10, the #166 Willi Msport BMW took victory, only 6.449 seconds ahead of the #180 AV Racing by BLACK FALCON entry. The margins remained small even as the season's larger questions were answered.

For Adrenalin, those final laps brought relief. The advantage it had carried into the weekend became a championship only when the work was finished. Around the same circuit where Menzel and Müller collected the final overall victory of 2026, Bugane, Fübrich and Markert completed the drive that would define their season.