Falken Motorsports responded to its agonising NLS8 defeat by dominating the ninth round (NLS9) of the 2026 ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS), as Tim Heinemann and Morris Schuring led an all-Porsche podium at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
Only one day after losing the previous race by 0.308s, Heinemann and Schuring converted pole position into victory aboard the No. 44 Porsche 911 GT3 R. They completed 25 laps in 4h02m39.386s and finished 43.813s ahead of Nico Menzel and Flynt Schuring in the No. 17 Dunlop Motorsport Porsche.
Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller and Dylan Pereira completed the overall podium for LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON while also securing SP9 Pro-Am victory and the class title. The result gave Porsche a clean sweep of the first three positions in difficult conditions that became increasingly treacherous as rain intensified during the second half of the four-hour contest. The official NLS9 race report described the result as an emphatic Falken response following Saturday’s photo finish.
Heinemann edges Müller to NLS9 pole
Falken established its intent during an exceptionally tight Qualifying session on Sunday morning.
Heinemann produced a 7:51.957 to secure pole for the No. 44 Porsche. However, Müller came within just 0.023s of the benchmark in the No. 48 BLACK FALCON Porsche, while Menzel finished only 0.376s behind in third.
Frank Stippler completed the leading four aboard the No. 64 Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3, with only 0.460s separating the quartet. Schubert Motorsport followed in fifth with Saturday’s winning No. 77 BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
The session therefore produced an even closer contest than the previous day’s Qualifying, when Gamota Racing led the field. The official NLS event chronology confirmed Heinemann’s pole time and the remarkably small gap across the leading four cars.
Schubert’s NLS8 momentum ends early
Saturday winner Schubert Motorsport immediately became involved in the action when the race began.
Ugo de Wilde attempted to move past Menzel on the inside at the AMG Arena. The pair made light contact, forcing Menzel to alter his line before de Wilde subsequently encountered Daan Arrow’s No. 5 BLACK FALCON Porsche.
The contact dropped Schubert down the order and immediately disrupted the No. 77 BMW’s hopes of completing a double victory across the weekend.
Its recovery ended on lap eight when the BMW crashed at Brünnchen and retired. Despite the non-finish, Schubert retained a 38-point advantage in the NLS Speed Trophy with one round remaining.
The result represented a sharp reversal for the BMW crew after Klingmann, Jordan Pepper and de Wilde had won NLS8 by only 0.308s. Before the September double-header, Schubert had also finished runner-up to Winward Racing during the six-hour NLS7 race.
Falken controls race before rain changes conditions
While its rivals encountered difficulties behind, Falken settled into control at the front.
Heinemann and Morris Schuring rarely surrendered their advantage during the four-hour race, although pit-stop cycles temporarily changed the order. The No. 44 Porsche maintained enough pace to remain the principal victory contender as the field moved through the opening half of the contest.
Conditions then changed dramatically during the third hour when rain began to fall around the Eifel region.
Teams faced an increasingly difficult choice between slick and wet tyres as different sections of the Nordschleife offered vastly different grip levels. The situation became even more difficult during the closing stages as standing water developed around Breidscheid, Fuchsröhre and Schwedenkreuz.
Despite the worsening conditions, Falken maintained control. The official race classification also credited the No. 44 Porsche with the fastest lap of the race, a 7:54.745 set on lap two.
Schuring brothers battle at the front
NLS9 also produced an unusual family contest as Morris and Flynt Schuring ran first and second.
Morris shared the leading Falken Porsche with Heinemann, while younger brother Flynt partnered Menzel aboard the No. 17 Dunlop Motorsport entry. At different stages, the brothers occupied the leading positions as their respective teams negotiated the changing conditions and pit sequences.
Flynt entered the weekend as a GT3 newcomer at the Nordschleife, making the result particularly notable. His first GT3 weekend included racing on slick tyres in wet conditions before he and Menzel secured second overall.
Their father Gerwin Schuring, himself a former Nürburgring overall winner, watched from the pit lane as his sons occupied the top two positions.
However, Falken ultimately created a decisive advantage. Heinemann and Morris Schuring crossed the line 43.813s clear, giving the No. 44 crew its first victory of the 2026 season after coming within three tenths of winning on Saturday.
BLACK FALCON survives eventful race to win Pro-Am title
The No. 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON Porsche completed the all-Porsche podium despite an eventful afternoon.
Müller had already demonstrated the car’s pace by qualifying second, only 0.023s behind Heinemann. However, the race brought several setbacks.
He missed a Code 60 board and hit the rear of Thomas Schönfeld’s Volkswagen Golf GTI, damaging a wheel and earning a drive-through penalty. Shortly afterwards, Müller spun at high speed on the wet surface at Mut-Kurve but caught the Porsche without further contact.
BLACK FALCON responded strategically when conditions deteriorated, choosing to pit earlier as the circuit became too wet for slick tyres.
Assenheimer, Müller and Pereira ultimately recovered to third overall, completing 25 laps and finishing 1m04.912s behind Falken. More importantly, their result secured both another SP9 Pro-Am victory and the 2026 class championship. The NLS9 result sheet confirmed the No. 48 Porsche as the leading Pro-Am entry ahead of Walkenhorst Motorsport and Gamota Racing.
Walkenhorst and Gamota complete Pro-Am podium
Walkenhorst Motorsport followed BLACK FALCON home in fourth overall and second in SP9 Pro-Am.
Christian Krognes, Dennis Fetzer and Mateo Villagomez completed 25 laps in the No. 35 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO, finishing 2m28.332s behind the overall winner.
Gamota Racing took fifth overall and the final Pro-Am podium position. Antal Zsigo, Moritz Kranz and David Jahn could not replicate their NLS8 pole position but still completed a productive double-header aboard the No. 23 BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
Haupt Racing Team followed in sixth with Vincent Kolb and Stippler. The Ford Mustang GT3 completed all 25 laps after its NLS8 outing had ended following opening-lap contact.
Car Collection Motorsport placed seventh through Florian Spengler, Nico Hantke and Christer Jöns, completing the leading four Pro-Am entries in the full NLS9 classification.
BLACK FALCON adds SP9 Am victory
BLACK FALCON also claimed the SP9 Am victory with the No. 5 Porsche of Arrow, Mustafa Mehmet Kaya and Mike Stursberg.
The crew had also won its class during NLS8 after recovering from early contact and continued that momentum on Sunday.
The No. 5 Porsche completed 25 laps to finish eighth overall, 7m35.211s behind Falken. That result placed it ahead of the No. 54 Dinamic GT Porsche, which took ninth overall with Loek Hartog, Michael Christensen and Loris Cabirou.
The sister SP9 Am entries from KKrämer Racing and Team Joos Sportwagentechnik finished further down the order, leaving BLACK FALCON with another clear class victory.
Sorg Racing breaks into overall top 10
The highest-placed non-GT3 car produced one of the standout results of NLS9.
Patrik Grütter and Fabio Grosse brought the No. 901 SRS Team Sorg Rennsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup home 10th overall and first in Cup 2.
They completed the same 25 laps as the leading GT3 cars, finishing 13m50.936s behind Falken. Their performance placed the Cup Porsche ahead of Max Kruse Racing’s No. 75 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II, which finished 11th overall and won AT1.
The official result placed BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN second in Cup 2 with Alexander Hardt, Benjamin Hites and Benjamin Koslowski, while Mühlner Motorsport finished third.
Oberheim completes remarkable Cup 3 comeback
Moritz Oberheim experienced one of the biggest turnarounds of the double-header weekend.
A practice accident prevented him from competing on Saturday, but he returned alongside Lorenz Stegmann in the No. 962 AVIA W&S Motorsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS for NLS9.
The pair secured Cup 3 pole before controlling the class throughout the race and finishing 16th overall. Their 24-lap performance gave W&S Motorsport victory over championship challengers Oskar Sandberg and Alexander Fielenbach.
Oberheim’s performance also earned him the event’s Driver of the Day award, selected by the ILN, race control and television commentators.
Sandberg and Fielenbach nevertheless secured crucial championship points by finishing second in Cup 3 and 17th overall. The race result placed their No. 953 Smyrlis Racing Porsche 39.948s behind the class-winning W&S Motorsport car.
Championship leaders suffer first scoreless race
The biggest championship development came away from the fight for overall victory.
Edoardo Bugane, Yannick Fübrich and Sven Markert entered NLS9 having won the BMW M240i Racing Cup class at every previous round. That consistency had established the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels trio at the top of the overall championship.
However, a technical problem ended their race after 15 laps and required officials to tow the No. 650 BMW from the circuit. For the first time in 2026, the championship leaders failed to score.
Sandberg and Fielenbach capitalised with second in Cup 3. Although they missed the class victory, their result reduced the championship deficit to just four points before the finale.
The official NLS report therefore confirmed that the overall title battle will continue into the final round, reversing the position from NLS8 when victories for both leading crews had left the gap unchanged.
Sorg takes Production Car Trophy lead
The Production Car Trophy also changed hands during the second half of the double-header.
Piet-Jan Ooms and Ionuc Catalin Timis entered the weekend level in the VT2-RWD standings with Adrenalin Motorsport’s Philipp Leisen, Philipp Stahlschmidt and Daniel Zils.
Their battle remained close during NLS9, but the No. 524 SRS Team Sorg Rennsport Toyota Supra ultimately secured the class victory.
Ooms and Timis completed 21 laps in 3h57m44.229s, only 10.385s ahead of the No. 500 Adrenalin Motorsport BMW 330i. The victory moves the Sorg pairing into sole possession of the Production Car Trophy lead by four points heading into the finale.
2026 NLS9 top 10 results
The complete provisional NLS9 classification recorded the following overall top 10:
- No. 44 Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R — Tim Heinemann / Morris Schuring — 25 laps — 4h02m39.386s
- No. 17 Dunlop Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R — Nico Menzel / Flynt Schuring — +43.813s
- No. 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO — Patrick Assenheimer / Tobias Müller / Dylan Pereira — +1m04.912s — SP9 Pro-Am winner
- No. 35 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO — Christian Krognes / Dennis Fetzer / Mateo Villagomez — +2m28.332s
- No. 23 Gamota Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO — Antal Zsigo / Moritz Kranz / David Jahn — +4m18.490s
- No. 64 Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3 — Vincent Kolb / Frank Stippler — +5m46.413s
- No. 22 Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II — Florian Spengler / Nico Hantke / Christer Jöns — +6m15.092s
- No. 5 BLACK FALCON Team EAE Porsche 911 GT3 R — Daan Arrow / Mustafa Mehmet Kaya / Mike Stursberg — +7m35.211s — SP9 Am winner
- No. 54 Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3 R — Loek Hartog / Michael Christensen / Loris Cabirou — +9m56.938s
- No. 901 SRS Team Sorg Rennsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup — Patrik Grütter / Fabio Grosse — +13m50.936s — Cup 2 winner
The race featured 107 starters, with 83 cars completing enough distance to earn classification. Two entered cars did not start.
Four points separate title contenders before NLS finale
The September double-header ultimately transformed the overall championship battle.
Bugane, Fübrich and Markert had strengthened their position through another BMW M240i Racing Cup victory during NLS8. However, their first retirement of the season one day later allowed Sandberg and Fielenbach to make a substantial gain.
Only four points now separate the two crews before the final round.
Falken also leaves the double-header with renewed momentum. Heinemann and Morris Schuring went from losing NLS8 by 0.308s to controlling NLS9 from pole, while Porsche filled every position on the overall podium.
The championship concludes with the 2nd NLS Sportwarte-Trophy on 10 October, where the series will decide both the overall title and the Production Car Trophy. The official NLS calendar and results archive lists the season-ending contest as another four-hour race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
