In hot conditions, the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring entered its fifth race of the season on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife last Saturday. The ROWE 6h ADAC Ruhr-Pokal-Rennen went over a two-hour longer distance and was rewarded with 1.5 times the points. For the 28 PETN entries, the aim was therefore to finish the race as far up the field as possible. With the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) of Max Kruse Racing (#100), Benjamin Leuchter and Nico Otto secured victory in Cup 2 class. The second Cup 3 victory in a row went to Heiko Eichenberg, Fabio Grosse and Patrik Grütter with the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS from Sorg Rennsport (#959). Both teams and driver pairings thus further extended their championship leads.

In qualifying on Saturday morning, Felipe Laser of the Frikadelli Racing Team (#111) drove the fastest lap in Cup 2 class. With a time of 8:11.204 minutes he placed the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) on the first row of the grid. In Cup 3 class, Fabio Grosse from Sorg Rennsport (#959) was again fastest around the 24.358-kilometre combination of the short version of the Nürburgring GP circuit and the Nordschleife with a time of 8:38.869 minutes. Both drivers thus once again secured the additional championship point for their teams.

First Cup 2 victory of the season for Max Kruse Racing and 5th place overall

In the past races, Benjamin Leuchter and Nico Otto from Max Kruse Racing have consistently finished on the podium in Cup 2 class. A victory has remained denied to them so far – until the 6-hour race, which was particularly significant for the championship due to the 1.5 times points. At the same time, the team from Reinbek finished fifth overall. Besides Mathol Racing, Max Kruse Racing is thus the second PETN team to achieve the best PETN finish in the overall ranking with fifth place overall. The team secured 30 points and now has a lead of 16.5 points over KKrämer Racing (#121) in the championship. Christopher Brück and Moritz Kranz, who shared the cockpit of the 121 car with Michele Di Martino and Tobias Müller, just missed the Cup 2 podium with fourth place. Second place went to Black Falcon Team IDENTICA (#102) with Ben Bünnagel, Noah Nagelsdiek and Henrik von Danwitz. The winners from the last race, Team Mathol Racing (#107) with Arne Hoffmeister, Reinhard Kofler and Hendrik Still, completed the podium with third place.

"We have been really unlucky in qualifying this season and started the race from P8. But we showed that the pace is there. We are happy about the 30 points, which move us further up in the championship. Thanks a lot to the whole team for the brilliant job, now we are looking forward to the 12h Nürburgring," Benjamin Leuchter sums up.

AM-driver Mustafa Mehmet Kaya and Mike Stursberg drove with PRO-driver Gabriele Piana in their second race of the season to victory once again in the Cup 2 amateur drivers' classification of the one-make series. The trio from Team Black Falcon (#103) are thus catching up with the leaders in the AM drivers' classification and second-placed in the 6-hour race Klaus Abbelen and 'Jules' with PRO-driver Felipe Fernandez Laser from the Frikadelli Racing Team (#111) and are back in the championship fight. Third in the AM-classification were Alexander Akimenkov, Herbert Lösch and 'SELV' with PRO driver Alexey Veremenko from KKrämer Racing (#112).

"The second victory in the second race, we are very happy about that – many thanks to the whole team. To defend the championship, we have to win almost all the upcoming races. That will be tough, but we will give everything," explains the reigning AM champion Mustafa Mehmet Kaya.

Big step in the Cup 3 championship for Sorg Rennsport

The Sorg Rennsport trio (#959) consisting of Heiko Eichenberg, Fabio Grosse and Patrik Grütter once again secured the top spot on the podium after a long battle with second-placed Moritz Oberheim, Marius Rauer and Finn Zulauf of AVIA W&S Motorsport (#960). Francesco Merlini and Christopher Rink finished third in the number 952 car of Smyrlis Racing. As a result, Sorg Rennsport leads the Cup 3 team- and driver standings by 27.5 points over AVIA W&S Motorsport (Oberheim/Rauer/Zulauf).

"It started perfectly, with P1 in qualifying. With a gap of two hundredths to the 960, the tough fight had already begun and showed how close it is in Cup 3 class. In the race we had the best starting position and kept it cool at the end. We are happy to go into the summer break with 1.5 the points," said Fabio Grosse.

The AM classification was again won by Horst Baumann with Markus Schmickler and PRO-driver Stefan Schmickler of Schmickler Performance (#950). Baumann thus takes the lead in the Cup 3 AM-championship. Sorg Rennsport (#949) with Stefan Beyer, Mads Gravsen, Carl-Friedrich Kolb and Philip Schauerte finishing second ahead of Matthias Beckwermert, Stefan Kruse and Florian Wolf with PRO-driver David Griessner of Adrenalin Motorsport (#930).

"The goal was to drive as far to the front as possible. We are very happy with P4 in class and the win in the AM-classification. The heat was brutal, especially in the first stint when you are in battle with the other cars. Now it's time to prepare more physically for the 12-hour race," explains Horst Baumann, the new leader in the AM-standings.

Now a nine-week summer break is coming up. The last third of the season will be kicked off by the 12h Nürburgring with two 6-hour races on 9 and 10 September 2023.