At the third race of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring season as part of the Nürburgring Endurance Series, KKrämer Racing (#121) once again won the Cup 2 class with Christopher Brück and Moritz Kranz. The Cup 3 class was won by Francesco Merlini, Christopher Rink and Philipp Stahlschmidt of Smyrlis Racing (#952) to clinch their first win of the season. At the 54. Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy 15 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) and 13 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS (982) competed in the PETN.

Qualifying on Saturday morning took place under optimal conditions. In sunny weather and a dry track, Leon Köhler set the fastest lap time in the Cup 2 class. With a time of 8:09.168 minutes, the 23-year-old, who also competes in the Porsche Supercup and the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, scored the additional championship point for the Frikadelli Racing Team (#111). Moritz Oberheim of AVIA W&S Motorsport (#960) again set the best time in the Cup 3 class with a time of 8:32.956 minutes. In doing so, he narrowly missed a new lap record in the class. The current best time of 8:32.188 minutes was set by Oberheim himself last season.

Back-to-back victories in the Cup 2 class

With the second victory in a row, KKrämer Racing (#121) with Brück and Kranz reduced the gap to the leaders in the Cup 2 team and driver standings Max Kruse Racing (#100) with Benjamin Leuchter and Nicolas Otto to five points. Leuchter/Otto again crossed the finish line in third place. Second place went to AVIA W&S Motorsport (#120) with Paul Harkema, David Jahn and Tim Scheerbarth.

"The race was really fun. The second win in a row is obviously nice, but we have to make sure that we keep up the pace and continue to achieve good results. The season is still long," says Moritz Kranz, driver of the No. 121 car.

There was also a second consecutive victory in the AM drivers' standings. Klaus Abbelen and 'Jules' were once again at the top of the podium. The two drivers of the Frikadelli Racing Team (#111) were supported by PRO driver Leon Köhler this weekend.

"Today was just a fantastic day. Leon did a mega job and took pole position. My stint in the race was great. The car felt really good and I had a nice duel with Karsten Krämer. We're super happy with the championship points," said 'Jules', driver of the No. 111 car.

As in NLS2, Karsten Krämer and Herbert Lösch with PRO driver Alexey Veremenko from KKrämer Racing (#112) finished the race in second place ahead of Bill Cameron and Jim Cameron with starting number 113.

Smyrlis Racing enters the battle for the championship.

After four hours of racing, Smyrlis Racing (#952) with Francesco Merlini, Christopher Rink and Philipp Stahlschmidt was the first to see the chequered flag in the Cup 3 class. They were followed by Heiko Eichenberg, Fabio Grosse and Patrik Grütter from Sorg Rennsport (#959) with a gap of 21.166 seconds. As a result, Smyrlis Racing scored important championship points after finishing twelfth in the final race.

"After an unfortunate NLS2 weekend, today's result has brought relief – we are back in the championship. Fighting at the front was our goal right from the start. This is our second season in the one-make cup and we are doing everything we can to catch up with the top teams," explains Team Principal Ioannis Smyrlis.

A strong result was achieved by Horst Baumann from Schmickler Performance (#950). Together with PRO driver Stefan Schmickler, Baumann won the AM drivers' championship. At the same time, the duo jumped out for a place on the podium of Cup 3 with third place in the class.

"After a retirement and a botched race, it was great to move up from eighth to third place and win the AM drivers' championship. I'm super happy, we didn't expect that," says Horst Baumann, who already competed in the Cayman GT4 Trophy by Manthey Racing in 2020 and 2021.

Second place in the AM drivers' standings went to Stefan Kruse and Florian Wolf with PRO driver David Griessner from Adrenalin Motorsport (#930). Third place went to Stefan Beyer and Carl-Friedrich Kolb with PRO driver Torsten Kratz from Sorg Rennsport (#949).

Successful Cup 2 development mission

In addition, Manthey used a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) for development purposes in the Cup 2 class at NLS3 in order to test various technical components based on feedback from the teams and drivers. Jaxon Evans and Marco Holzer collected important test kilometres on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.

"This weekend, we tested various components on the car, which are primarily intended to optimise drivability on the Nordschleife. In the process, we have gained a lot of insights. We will now evaluate the results and work on a potential implementation," explains Helmut Brakhage, Head of Motorsport Products at Manthey Racing GmbH.

Next up for some teams in the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring are the ADAC TotalEnergies 24h Nürburgring and the associated qualifying race. The next round of the PETN will take place on 15.04.2023 as part of the Nürburgring Endurance Series.