The Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PETN) kicked off the new season on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife with a double-header as part of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS). The first two races each covered a distance of four hours on the 24.358-kilometre combination of the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit and the Nordschleife. The Cup 2 class was won by AVIA W&S Motorsport (#120) on Saturday and BLACK FALCON Team 48 LOSCH (#148) on Sunday. In the Cup 3 class, SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#959) stood at the top of the podium in race one and AVIA W&S Motorsport (#962) in race two. In addition to the racing action, the champions of the Porsche Esports Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PEETN) were also honoured.

Former Cup 2 and reigning Cup 3 champions win their classes

In sunny weather and mild temperatures, the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring kicked off the new season at 12 noon on Saturday. In the Cup 2 class, the winners of the 2022 Cup 2 team classification AVIA W&S Motorsport (#120) led the class as pole setters in the first race of the PETN season and battled for victory over the entire distance. The trio of Daniel Blickle, David Jahn and Tim Scheerbarth were also in first place shortly before the end, but dropped back to third place due to a collision shortly before the finish line. Max Kruse Racing (#100) crossed the finish line in first place ahead of BLACK FALCON Team 48 LOSCH (#148). Independently of each other, both teams received a time penalty after the chequered flag fell, reshuffling the Cup 2 field. Blickle, Jahn and Scheerbarth ultimately won the season opener ahead of Mühlner Motorsport (#122) with Alex Brundle, Ben Bünnagel and Moritz Kranz and KKrämer Racing (#121) with Michele Di Martino and Christopher Brück.

Victory in the amateur drivers' classification went to team boss Karsten Krämer and Fidel Leib from KKrämer Racing (#112). As the best-placed, entirely AM-driver pairing, the duo also secured victory in the newly formed Gentlemen driver classification. Mühlner Motorsport also secured second place in the AM-classification with Marcel Hoppe, Peter Ludwig and Tobias Vazquez in the #123 car, while third place went to the family trio of David Kiefer, Marius Kiefer and Stefan Kiefer with PRO-driver Luca Rettenbacher from Teichmann Racing (#131).

In the Cup 3 class, the reigning champion trio of Heiko Eichenberg, Fabio Grosse and Patrik Grütter from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#959) continued their winning streak from 2023 with a lead from pole position to the finish line. Second place went to AVIA W&S Motorsport (#962) with Joshua Bednarski, Lucas Daugaard and Moritz Oberheim ahead of Schmickler Performance (#950) with Horst Baumann and Stefan Schmickler. Baumann also won the amateur driver classification ahead of Roland Froese and Stefan Kruse with PRO-driver David Griessner from Adrenalin Motorsport (#930). The AM-podium was completed by Kohei Fukuda, Kouichi Okumura, Markus Nölken and Philipp Eis from team Mcchip-dkr (#945), who also won the Gentlemen drivers' classification.

Race two with a thrilling finale in Cup 2 class - pole setters win Cup 3 class

In similar conditions to the previous day, the PETN started the second race on schedule at 12 noon. AVIA W&S Motorsport (#120) was once again in pole position on Sunday. The class lead was fiercely contested over the entire race distance. After a thrilling duel in the final stages, Tobias Müller from BLACK FALCON Team 48 LOSCH (#148) took the lead on the last lap after preparatory work by his team-mates Steve Jans and Noah Nagelsdiek and won the race by a wafer-thin 0.282 seconds ahead of Peter Terting, who shared the number 124 car from Mühlner Motorsport with Moritz Kranz. Kranz drove a double start for the Belgian team and also took third place with Alex Brundle and Ben Bünnagel in the number 122 car.

"That was a good start to the season - the car is in one piece and we scored a lot of points. I think this year there are more teams in the Cup 2 class that can compete for the podium and we're in the mix. Of course you want to win, so we have to keep developing in order to be on the top step of the podium. That's the goal for next weekend," summarises Ben Bünnagel from Mühlner Motorsport (#122).

Karsten Krämer and Fidel Leib from KKrämer Racing (#112) once again won the amateur drivers' classification and the Gentlemen drivers' classification in the Cup 2 class. Second place in the AM-classification went to Mustafa Mehmet Kaya and Mike Stursberg with PRO-driver Tobias Müller from Team Black Falcon (#103) ahead of David Kiefer, Marius Kiefer and Stefan Kiefer with PRO-driver Luca Rettenbacher from Teichmann Racing (#131).

Joshua Bednarski, Lucas Daugaard and Moritz Oberheim from AVIA W&S Motorsport (#962) also started Sunday's race from pole position. After 26 laps, the trio crossed the finish line first, taking the lead in the Cup 3 team and driver standings.

„The weekend was great. I sat in the car for the first time on Friday and first had to get used to the car. To already be in first place in the championship is incredible, we didn't expect that," says Lucas Daugaard after his debut in the PETN in car number 962.

Horst Baumann, Markus Schmickler and Stefan Schmickler from Schmickler Performance (#950) followed in second place. The Cup 3 podium was completed by Roland Froese, David Griessner and Stefan Kruse from Adrenalin Motorsport (#930). This meant that victory in the Cup 3 amateur driver classification once again went to Baumann, who was supported by a second AM-driver in race two, Markus Schmickler. Froese and Kruse accordingly took second place ahead of Oleksii Kikireshko and Rüdiger Schicht from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#969). Philipp Eis, Otto Klohs and Markus Nölken from Mcchip-dkr (#945) secured victory in the Gentlemen drivers' classification.

Annual award ceremony for the PEETN

Manthey took advantage of the first race weekend of the 2024 season to honour the successful drivers of the Porsche Esports Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PEETN). An extensive programme awaited the three best-placed driver pairings in the digital Porsche one-make series on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. Accompanied by a Manthey engineer working in the FIA WEC, the simracers tested the professional training simulator, which is also used by DTM drivers Thomas Preining and Ayhancan Güven, among others, for preparation. In addition, the PEETN drivers were given exclusive insights into the Manthey premises in Meuspath as part of a company tour. The weekend was rounded off with the annual award ceremony where the trophies, medals and prize money cheques were handed over. This took place at the award ceremony of the first PETN race in the Porsche Lounge at the Nürburgring.

„The first PEETN season was great fun. It makes us proud to have finished the championship in first and third place against such well-known teams. The weekend now was a great finale with the insight into the company and the simulator session. We are definitely planning to enter at least one vehicle again next season," summarises PEETN champion Fabian Hochstatter.

The Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring continues on the real Nürburgring-Nordschleife on 13 and 14 April with the ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers. For the first time this year these will count as NLS races. The teams will once again be competing in two 4-hour races with race one on Saturday from 17:30 to 21:30 into the dark, while the starting lights for race two will switch to green as usual at 12 noon.

Source: Manthey Racing