The season opener of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) had all the ingredients for pure entertainment. The sun was shining, the spectators came in large numbers and motorsport on the legendary Nordschleife was gripping and varied as ever. The 67th ADAC Westfalenfahrt was ultimately won by Laurens Vanthoor, Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowiecki in the Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. Up to the last few meters of the race, however, the "Grello" had to hold his own against the bravely fighting Christopher Mies and Jusuf Owega in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 from Montaplast by Land Motorsport. Third place on the podium went to Dennis Olsen and Josh Burdon in another KCMG Porsche 911 GT3 R.

“Two GT3 victories in such a short time are not so bad. This is a great start to the year. The car worked very well. We can build on that, hopefully that bodes well,” said the victorious Dane Christensen, who had previously won the Sebring 1,000 miles.

Above all, the only 19-year-old Jusuf Owega, whom his teammate Chris Mies jokingly referred to as the "Kimi Raikkonen of GT racing" because of his sometimes taciturn interviews after the race, caused a stir. In the first GT3 race in the Green Hell, he delivered flawlessly. “I know the track very well and was looking forward to the race. I can't complain today. Chris gives me a lot of tips based on his many years of experience here and I absorb them all,” said Owega. Team boss Wolfgang Land was also full of praise: “What he showed here in his first GT3 race was great cinema, he did a fantastic job. That'll be something."

There were also consistently satisfied faces at Team KCMG. “We're very happy with third place, we had a few problems this weekend, we still have a lot of work to do but we came back strong in the race. It was great to see all the spectators back along the track and in the pit lane. The race was spectacular with many overtaking manoeuvres. I really enjoyed it,” said Dennis Olsen.

Brand diversity already prevailed in the battle for the best starting position. Axcil Jefferies and Michele Di Martino in the Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 secured pole position in 7:50.370 minutes ahead of Daniel Harper, Max Hesse and Neil Verhagen in the BMW M4 GT3 of the BMW Junior Team ahead of Jakub Giermaziak, Kim Luis Schramm and Ricardo Feller in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 3 of the Scherer Sport Team Phoenix and the Porsche 911 GT3 R of Falken Motorsports with Patrick Pilet and Marco Seefried.

With his time of 7:50.370 minutes, Jefferies clearly improved on the NLS course record set by Christian Krognes (7:51.807) at the 2021 doubleheader. A total of 19 cars stayed under the eight-minute mark. The new asphalt on the transition from the Grand Prix circuit to the Nordschleife and in the Tiergarten section and the Hohenrain chicane, as well as sunshine and ten degrees, made for very good external conditions.

Pilet caught a rocket start from fourth place. The Frenchman immediately took the lead with a brilliant driving maneuver and, after four laps, pulled away 8.179 seconds from Ricardo Feller in the Audi. Max Hesse, on the other hand, got off to a bad start. In the early stages, the BMW junior dropped from second to ninth place. In the final standings, it was just enough for the top ten after the four-hour distance.

The protagonists of the first hour later played no role in the front field. NLS1 was over for the Falken-Porsche after seven laps and an accident with a Porsche Cayman. The race was once again unfortunate for the Lamborghini. Due to a defective tire, the Huracan dropped from third place to 17th after lap eight after a pit stop. “I suddenly had a massive drop in power for some reason, I had to fight the entire stint to even keep the car on track, there were a few tricky moments and suddenly I had a puncture, it's frustrating. It's hard to say where the problem lies," said pole setter Axcil Jefferies. The bottom line was eleventh place overall.

90 minutes before the end, others then moved into the limelight: Niklas Krütten, teammate of Alexander Sims and Jesse Krohn, led in the BMW M4 GT3 from Schubert Motosport in front of the “Grello” driven by Laurens Vanthoor. Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowiecki were rooting for Manthey Racing's Porsche 911 GT3 R. This was followed by Christopher Mies, who had taken over the Audi R8 LMS GT3 from Montaplast by Land Motorsport from Jusuf Owega. The trio was within four seconds at this point. However, the 19-year-old Krütten could not withstand the onslaught of the two veterans for long. Mies took first place from Belgian Vanthoor with a daring maneuver halfway across the green lawn on the hard shoulder, raising a lot of grass and dust.

“Everything was relaxed and absolutely within the bounds of what was allowed. I enjoyed it. When I got back to the pits, the first thing I saw was Christopher's smileys on my phone. We had already expected that we would be among the front runners. It's definitely going in the right direction for the coming weeks," said Vanthoor and Mies added: "It looked more spectacular than it actually is in the car. I know Laurens very well and I know that he gives me space, so you can afford such a courageous action. Sure, I would have liked to have won today, but I'm satisfied, that wasn't the last NLS race either."

This gripping slipstream duel continued seamlessly after the pit stop between Jusuf Owega and Frederic Makowiecki. With a lead of 1.231 seconds, the Frenchman was the first to cross the finish line in his Porsche.

In the SP9 Am, the team boss himself celebrated his ninth NLS class victory. Henry Walkenhorst won the class with Jörg Breuer and Friedrich Von Bohlen at his side in the BMW M4 GT3. “We are very satisfied, that was very good. Although we had a puncture on the first lap, we brought the car home safely. I was amazed at how many people were along the route. I felt like I was back in my living room. I drove under 8.10 minutes, which was okay for a 56-year-old amateur,” said Walkenhorst.

Laurin Heinrich's switch from the DNLS to the NLS was also successful. The new Porsche Junior won the AT class in the Porsche Cayman GT4 CS fielded by Four Motors Bioconcept-Car alongside Ayhancan Güven. “Thanks to my experience in the simulator, I was very well prepared. But in real racing, the differences in altitude are different, that was a different feeling. I had to find my way around before I could reach my limit, but I'm on the right track," said Heinrich.

The cup classes were also exciting: Adrenalin Motorsport Team Alzner Automotive with pilots Yvan Muller and Yann Erlacher won the BMW M240i Racing Cup. In the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring Cup2, Karsten Krämer, Moritz Kranz and Christopher Brück were ahead in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from KKrämer Racing. Mauro Calamia, Ivan Jacoma and Kai Riemer triumphed in the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring Cup 3 in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS from Schmickler Performance powered by Ravenol. Success in the CupX went to Teichmann Racing with Georg Griesemann, Felix von der Laden, Yves Volte and Maik Rönnefahrt in the KTM X-Bow GTX.

The second race of the Nürburgring Endurance Series takes place in two weeks. The 46th NIMEX DMV 4h race on April 9th will cover the usual distance of four hours.