NLS5 - Team Falken never surrender

The penultimate round of the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie promises to be a challenging affair, with unpredictable weather conditions set to test all participants as they battle for crucial championship points.

Photo: Marc Hilger www.nringinfo.de

QUALIFYING

The Nürburgring Nordschleife is a fierce circuit, both for the drivers and the cars. The Saturday morning qualifying session before the four hour race, would make it even harder for the drivers who are hoping for a positive finishing position in the race, as rain started to fall around the twenty-five kilometre long track.

Despite the challenging conditions, the infamous #3 Falken Motorsports Porsche 992 GT3 R of Klaus Bachler would claim pole position for the four hour ordeal, setting a 9:28.375, a mere minute and twenty seconds slower than the GT3 lap record set by Daniel Keilwitz during the 2023 24 Hours of Nürburgring. Question marks arose about Bachler, and if he would be able to start the race after crashing at Hohe Acht.  He approached a slower class car, which unexpectedly braked in front of him, resulting in Bachler having to take avoiding action by going onto the grass and into the barrier. Joel Eriksson in the sister #4 Falken Motorsports Porsche qualified in second place, fifteen seconds off the pole-sitter’s pace. Scherer Sport PHX’s #15 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Nico Bastian qualified third, three seconds slower than Eriksson’s time.

SP9 Pro-Am pole position was claimed by #17 PROsport Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Marek Böckmann and Maxime Dumarey, while fifth and sixth positions overall were occupied by Porsche Cup cars of #148 and #120 from BLACK FALCON Team 48 LOSCH and AVIA W&S Motorsport. Impressively, fan favourites of the Team BILSTEIN by BLACK FALCON BMW M4 GT4 of YouTuber’s Jimmy Broadbent and Steve Brown qualified seventeenth overall, and first in the SP8T class, with the next car in class in sixty-eighth on the grid.

Photo: Stalk3r__

RACE

NLS5 kicked off with a wet track, with Falken Motorsport locking out the front row. Despite the treacherous track conditions, all cars from starting group one navigated the AMG Arena cleanly. Frank Stippler in the Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8 attempted an aggressive move on the #4 Falken Motorsport Porsche into turn one, but was outpaced by the #17 PROsport Racing Aston Martin heading onto the rest of the grand prix circuit. By lap four, the #3 Falken Motorsport Porsche received a black and orange flag for GPS transmission issues, forcing a pit stop to repair. The team decided to gamble with a strategic switch to dry tyres, hoping the rapidly drying track would play to their advantage. Unfortunately for the PROsport Racing Aston Martin, their promising start ended in disappointment as the car retired after just six laps of the legendary Nordschleife circuit.

As the race progressed, the #4 Falken Motorsport Porsche, driven by Tim Heinemann, held second place until a critical mistake at Metzgesfeld forced him into the pits for repairs. This opened the door for others to contend for the podium positions. After an intense four hours of racing, the #3 Falken Motorsport Porsche, driven by Klaus Bachler and Alessio Picariello, clinched victory with an impressive margin of five minutes and twenty-four seconds. The Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8, piloted by Nico Bastian and Frank Stippler finished in second, followed by the #6 Team ADVAN x HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, driven by Michele Beretta, Dennis Fetzer and Jusuf Owega, who rounded out the podium.

Photo: Falken Tyres

In the Cup2 class, pole sitters Tobias Müller and Noah Nagelsdiek delivered a strong performance, securing the class win. Meanwhile, in the SP8T class, Team BILSTEIN by BLACK FALCON, consisting of popular drivers Jimmy Broadbent, Steve Brown and Manuel Metzger faced a tough race in the #150 BMW M4 GT4. Despite the challenges, they triumphed, winning their class by two laps. The race showcased a mix of strategy, endurance, and drama, with tyre gambles and unfortunate retirements playing key roles in the outcome. Falken Motorsports’ bold decision to switch to dry tyres paid off, while Tim Heinemann’s costly mistake ultimately prevented him from maintaining his podium position. The victory for Bachler and Picariello highlighted the importance of clean racing and reliable strategy in this endurance challenge.

The final round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, NLS6 takes place in under a month on the 16th November, under the fifty-sixth ADAC Barbarossapreis.