The 2026 KW 6h ADAC Ruhr-Pokal-Rennen delivered a commanding Mercedes-AMG victory in ideal summer conditions. For Pitlanes newest press member, Batuhan Pehlivan, it also became a first accredited NLS assignment defined by discovery, difficult logistics and one costly wrong turn in the forest.
The Nordschleife is usually associated with changing skies, sudden rain and conditions that can transform one part of the circuit while another remains dry. NLS7 offered the opposite. On 1 August, the Eifel delivered clear, stable weather for the longest race of the 2026 ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie season.
Across six hours and 41 laps of the 24.358-kilometre combination, Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL and Winward Racing produced a nearly flawless performance. Luca Stolz and Ralf Aron converted pole position into victory in the No. 80 Mercedes-AMG GT3, completing just under 1,000 kilometres in 6:06:54.895.
A comeback completed from pole position
The foundations of the victory were laid in qualifying. Aron, returning to competition approximately five months after his serious accident at the Bathurst 12 Hour, set a 7:51.506 to secure pole position. Nineteen of the 21 SP9 cars broke the eight-minute barrier, but none could match the Estonian.
Stolz protected the lead at the start, ahead of the No. 64 HRT Ford Mustang GT3 and the No. 20 ERA Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3. Through the pit cycles, the No. 80 briefly surrendered track position, but never lost control of the race. Aron and Stolz repeatedly rebuilt their advantage whenever the chasing cars moved within range, and they also recorded the fastest lap of the race with a 7:55.363.
The emotional context made the result more significant. It was Aron's first race back after Bathurst, while Stolz celebrated his 31st birthday with an overall victory. Their margin at the finish was 39.480 seconds.
Schubert rises to second, Black Falcon completes the podium
Behind the winner, the No. 77 Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO delivered one of the strongest recoveries of the race. Jens Klingmann, Ugo de Wilde and Tim Tramnitz started eighth and climbed into contention immediately, gaining three positions on the opening lap.
Schubert remained close enough to pressure the leader through the middle phase, but the No. 80 always had an answer. Klingmann, de Wilde and Tramnitz completed 41 laps to finish second. For Tramnitz, it was an impressive GT3 debut on the Nordschleife, while de Wilde secured his first podium at the circuit.
Third overall and first in SP9 PRO-AM went to the No. 48 Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO of 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON. Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller and Dylan Pereira stayed clear of major errors and penalties to finish 1:01.534 behind the winner.
The No. 4 Goroyan RT by Car Collection Porsche finished fourth, followed by the No. 1 FK Performance Motorsport BMW. The fight for fifth continued into the final lap, when the BMW passed the No. 123 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche and pushed it back to sixth.
A final-lap fight in SP9 AM
The SP9 AM contest produced one of the closest battles of the afternoon. Renazzo Motorsport's No. 786 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO II and the No. 5 BLACK FALCON Team EAE Porsche 911 GT3 R entered the final lap separated by only 0.477 seconds.
The No. 5, driven by Mustafa Mehmet Kaya, Gabriele Piana and Mike Stursberg, had already recovered from a pit-lane start and an early drive-through penalty. Despite those setbacks, it fought all the way back to eighth overall and crossed the line directly behind the Lamborghini. Sak Nana, Christoph Breuer and Thomas Mutsch secured seventh overall and the SP9 AM victory for Renazzo Motorsport.
The incidents one photographer did not see
From my positions around the circuit, the race appeared remarkably calm. During six hours of shooting, I did not witness a single accident. That does not mean the race was without incidents. It means something different on the Nordschleife: no individual photographer can see an entire lap of a 24.358-kilometre circuit.
The official race chronology recorded several contacts, including a major early accident involving the No. 26 PROsport Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the No. 885 ME Motorsport BMW M2 Racing. The Mercedes, shared by Simon Balcaen and Steven Palette, had qualified seventh overall but completed only five laps and was not classified. I did not see the accident, so this account does not present it as an eyewitness report. Its place here comes from the official chronology and final result, not from what appeared in my viewfinder.
My first accredited NLS race
NLS7 was my first Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie race as an accredited photographer. I had already worked at the Nordschleife, but covering an NLS event from inside the accredited system was a different experience. Accreditation creates opportunities, but it also exposes the true scale and difficulty of the assignment.
The Nordschleife does not challenge a photographer in the same way it challenges a driver, but it is no less unforgiving of poor preparation. Drivers must know every blind crest, compression and change of grip. Photographers must understand access roads, forest paths, elevation, fencing, the direction of the light and the time required to move between locations while carrying equipment.
On Saturday, I underestimated that final part. While trying to reach the Karussell, I took the wrong route and became genuinely lost in the forest. The detour cost enough time that I missed the podium ceremony.
It was an avoidable mistake and a clear lesson. At a conventional circuit, a wrong turn may cost a few minutes. At the Nordschleife, it can cost an entire part of the story. Knowing where a photograph can be made is only half the job. Knowing exactly how to reach it, when to leave it and how long the return journey will take is equally important.
That was the defining discovery of my first accredited NLS weekend. The circuit is demanding not only because the cars are fast or because the light changes beneath the trees. It is demanding because every decision about position, timing and movement carries a consequence.
The No. 80 Mercedes left NLS7 with a perfect result. I left without podium photographs, but with a much clearer understanding of what it takes to document this championship properly. The Nordschleife must be learned from both sides of the barrier, and this first assignment will shape how I approach every one that follows.
Photo by Batuhan Pehlivan
