Dunlop Motorsport ended the 2026 ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) season with victory as Nico Menzel and Sven Müller led a Porsche 1-2 in NLS10 at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
The #17 Porsche 911 GT3 R completed 27 laps in 4h00m37.071s, finishing 37.691s ahead of Tim Heinemann and Müller in the #44 Falken Motorsports Porsche. Müller therefore remarkably occupied both of the first two positions as a double starter, while Jordan Pepper and Tim Tramnitz completed the podium for Schubert Motorsport in the #77 BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
Behind the fight for the overall victory, Edoardo Bugane, Yannick Fübrich and Sven Markert delivered when it mattered most. The #650 Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels BMW M240i took its seventh class victory of the campaign to secure the overall NLS championship, having entered the finale only four points ahead of Oskar Sandberg and Alexander Fielenbach following the dramatic NLS9 title swing.
Gamota Racing locks out NLS10 front row
Conditions remained difficult during qualifying, with damp sections of the Nordschleife contributing to considerably slower times than those seen during the previous rounds.
Gamota Racing produced the surprise of the session by locking out the front row with its two BMW M4 GT3 EVO entries. Antal Zsigo, Moritz Kranz and David Jahn secured pole in the #23 with a 9:03.855, while the #36 sister car of Zsigo, Csaba Walter and Dennis Fetzer joined it on the front row.
Falken Motorsports qualified third with Heinemann and Müller, putting the #44 Porsche ahead of the #26 PROsport Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. The #75 Max Kruse Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II started fifth, while eventual winner Dunlop Motorsport lined up sixth.
Schubert Motorsport faced a considerably greater challenge. Pepper and Tramnitz initially qualified 17th, before a penalty for another car effectively moved them up one position for the start. Their recovery from 16th would become one of the standout performances of the finale.
The official NLS10 chronology also confirmed the championship contenders’ starting positions. Bugane, Fübrich and Markert took BMW M240i Racing Cup pole, while Sandberg and Fielenbach started third in Cup 3.
Gamota leads as Dunlop begins charge
Jahn retained the lead when racing began, but the order behind changed almost immediately.
Adam Christodoulou swept the #26 PROsport Mercedes-AMG around the outside into second before Müller reclaimed the position for Falken. Max Kruse Racing also made rapid progress, with the #75 Audi moving into second overall before the end of the opening lap.
Dunlop started further back but wasted little time moving into contention. Menzel and Müller brought the #17 Porsche forward as the different GT3 contenders began separating their pit strategies.
The first major round of stops began after five laps, when Dunlop came in alongside several other early-stopping cars. Falken waited one additional lap, while pole-sitting Gamota Racing extended its opening stint to seven laps.
That variation transformed the order. By lap nine, the #17 Dunlop Porsche had moved into the overall lead ahead of PROsport, Schubert, Max Kruse Racing and Falken.
Schubert charges through field
Schubert Motorsport made particularly rapid progress from its midfield starting position.
Pepper and Tramnitz had already climbed into seventh overall by the end of lap four. Their #77 BMW continued gaining ground as several cars ahead encountered problems or fell back through the pit cycles.
PROsport initially remained a factor near the front, but its challenge suffered a major setback during a close fight with the Schubert BMW. Contact damaged the Mercedes-AMG’s bonnet and forced the #26 into the pits for repairs.
The crew returned to the race and eventually recovered to seventh overall, but the delay removed Christodoulou, Steven Palette and Marek Böckmann from the fight for the overall podium.
Haupt Racing Team also encountered early problems. Frank Stippler and Vincent Kolb’s #64 Ford Mustang GT3 suffered contact and a left-rear tyre issue, requiring repairs before eventually recovering to 10th.
Dunlop takes control of NLS10
The different pit sequences continued to temporarily reshuffle the leading positions, but Dunlop increasingly emerged as the principal victory contender.
Menzel and Müller led when they made another stop after lap 13, around the halfway point of the race. Falken and Max Kruse Racing ran longer before completing their own subsequent stops, but the #17 retained the strategic advantage.
Once the second major pit cycle played out, Dunlop established a substantial lead. Falken moved into second, creating a Porsche 1-2 at the head of the field, while Schubert continued its recovery towards the final podium position.
The #75 Max Kruse Racing Audi remained firmly involved. Marcel and Dominik Fugel and Benjamin Leuchter kept the alternative-fuel entry near the leaders throughout the race and sat third approaching the final stages.
However, Tramnitz and Pepper eventually found a way through for third. Matters worsened for the Audi when Race Control issued it a penalty lap shortly before the chequered flag. Despite the setback, the #75 still finished fourth overall and won the AT1 class.
Müller finishes first and second
Nothing prevented Dunlop from completing its second overall victory of its rookie SP9 campaign.
Menzel and Müller brought the #17 Porsche home at the head of the field, while the amended provisional race classification recorded a winning time of 4h00m37.071s after 27 laps.
Falken followed 37.691s later, giving Müller the unusual distinction of sharing both the winning car and runner-up entry. He had only a short break between driving the two Porsches during the race and was subsequently named Driver of the Race.
The result also continued Falken’s strong finish to 2026. Heinemann and Morris Schuring had controlled NLS9 from pole, and the #44 again fought at the front during the finale.
Pepper and Tramnitz completed an impressive recovery to third, finishing 1m31.182s behind Dunlop after starting 16th. Their podium also helped Schubert Motorsport secure the season-long NLS Speed Trophy with 183 points.
LOSCH Motorsport completes Pro-Am title season with another win
Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller and Dylan Pereira completed their championship-winning campaign with another SP9 Pro-Am victory for LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON.
The #48 Porsche had already secured the class championship at NLS9 but remained competitive in the finale. It moved past the pole-sitting #23 Gamota BMW late in the race and finished fifth overall, 2m11.290s behind the winner.
Gamota took second in Pro-Am and sixth overall with Zsigo, Kranz and Jahn. Although the team could not convert pole into an overall podium, it completed a strong finale after running at the front during the opening phase.
PROsport Racing recovered from its earlier damage to take third in Pro-Am and seventh overall. Team Joos Sportwagentechnik followed in ninth overall with its #2 Porsche after being sent to the rear of the first starting group for a qualifying infringement.
JUTA Racing wins SP9 Am
JUTA Racing secured the final SP9 Am victory of the season with Alexey Veremenko and ‘SELV’ in the #8 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II.
The Audi finished 12th overall after completing all 27 laps, edging the #36 Gamota Racing BMW that placed 13th overall and second in class. KKrämer Racing completed the leading three Am cars with Peter Sander, Karsten Krämer and Michele di Martino.
The result added another class winner to a finale in which several of the major championship contests had already been decided before the final round.
Late penalty hands Cup 2 victory to BLACK FALCON
Cup 2 produced one of the closest fights during the closing stages.
The #904 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche of Nico Bastian and Tim Scheerbarth moved into the class lead ahead of the #900 BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN entry. Only a fraction separated the two cars as the race entered its final phase.
However, officials investigated the #904 for a yellow-flag infringement and subsequently applied a 30-second time penalty. That promoted Alexander Hardt, Benjamin Hites and Benjamin Koslowski to the Cup 2 victory.
The #900 Porsche finished eighth overall, making it the highest-placed non-SP9 car in the final classification. Mühlner Motorsport dropped to second in class and 11th overall.
Bugane, Fübrich and Markert secure 2026 NLS crown
The most significant championship battle unfolded well behind the overall leaders.
Bugane, Fübrich and Markert entered NLS10 only four points clear of Sandberg and Fielenbach. Their advantage had been considerably larger before NLS9, when a technical problem produced their first scoreless round of the year and allowed the Smyrlis Racing pairing back into contention.
Adrenalin Motorsport immediately took control of the BMW M240i Racing Cup class in the finale. The #650 qualified on class pole and remained at the front throughout the four-hour race, eventually finishing 49th overall and first in class.
The victory gave the trio its seventh class win from 10 rounds and increased its championship total to 109 points. Sandberg and Fielenbach finished second in Cup 3 aboard the #953 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS and ended the season eight points behind on 101.
The title represents Adrenalin Motorsport’s eighth overall NLS championship, extending the team’s remarkable record in the Nordschleife series. The official NLS season-finale report confirmed Bugane, Fübrich and Markert as the 2026 champions. ADAC Nürburgring Series
Production Car Trophy decided in finale
The Production Car Trophy also went down to NLS10 after Piet-Jan Ooms and Ionuc Catalin Timis entered the weekend four points ahead of Adrenalin Motorsport’s Philipp Leisen, Philipp Stahlschmidt and Daniel Zils.
The #500 Adrenalin Motorsport BMW 330i won the VT2-RWD class in the finale, finishing 56th overall. Ooms and Timis followed in the #524 SRS Team Sorg Rennsport Toyota Supra, but their result proved sufficient to retain the championship advantage and secure the Production Car Trophy.
Elsewhere, Schubert Motorsport secured the NLS Speed Trophy following another podium for the #77 BMW, while Alexandru Vasilescu took the Gentleman Trophy with 86 points.
2026 NLS10 top 10 results
The amended classification recorded 115 starters, with 91 cars classified, 24 not classified and one additional entry failing to start.
- #17 Dunlop Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R — Nico Menzel / Sven Müller — 27 laps — 4h00m37.071s
- #44 Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R — Tim Heinemann / Sven Müller — +37.691s
- #77 Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO — Jordan Pepper / Tim Tramnitz — +1m31.182s
- #75 Max Kruse Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II — Marcel Fugel / Dominik Fugel / Benjamin Leuchter — +1m39.048s — AT1 winner
- #48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO — Patrick Assenheimer / Tobias Müller / Dylan Pereira — +2m11.290s — SP9 Pro-Am winner
- #23 Gamota Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO — Antal Zsigo / Moritz Kranz / David Jahn — +2m51.256s
- #26 PROsport Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 — Adam Christodoulou / Steven Palette / Marek Böckmann — +3m55.011s
- #900 BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN Porsche 911 GT3 Cup — Alexander Hardt / Benjamin Hites / Benjamin Koslowski — +7m10.602s — Cup 2 winner
- #2 Team Joos Sportwagentechnik Porsche 911 GT3 R — Michael Joos / Fidel Leib / Christopher Brück — +7m15.437s
- #64 Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3 — Vincent Kolb / Frank Stippler — +7m16.066s
The result brought the 10-round 2026 NLS campaign to an end with Dunlop Motorsport claiming the final overall victory and Adrenalin Motorsport leaving the Nordschleife with another championship. Porsche also closed the year with consecutive victories following Falken’s NLS9 triumph, while Schubert’s third-place recovery secured another piece of season-long silverware for BMW.
