Rutronik Racing secured another podium finish at the German round of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup, continuing its successful run.

The fourth race weekend of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup took place at the Nürburgring. Over 25,000 spectators flocked to the Eifel region over the weekend and were thrilled by the world's largest GT championship. Rutronik Racing entered two Porsche 911 GT3 R cars in the impressive field of competitors.

Over the race weekend at the Nürburgring, Rutronik Racing welcomed numerous guests who actively supported the racing team.

The three Porsche contract drivers Alessio Picariello, Sven Müller, and Patric Niederhauser drove the #96 911 GT3 R. The car started the three-hour race from eighth place on the grid. Exciting battles between two or more cars quickly developed in the high-caliber field, and the car was involved in several of them. Thanks to good driving, a great performance by the team during the pit stops, and a clever strategy, the car was able to gain positions.

Final driver Niederhauser initially saw the checkered flag in fourth place, but due to a time penalty against the Ford driving ahead of him, the team was classified in third place and the three drivers were able to celebrate on the podium in front of the fans on Sunday evening. With this podium finish, Rutronik Racing continues its impressive winning streak in the 2025 season of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS: the Porsche team from Remchingen has achieved a podium finish at every race weekend so far. In a field of high-quality and high-quantity competitors, this is an outstanding achievement!

The Bronze Cup car was driven by Antares Au with the two lightning-fast Dutchmen Loek Hartog and Morris Schuring. In the chaos at the start, Au slid into the gravel trap at the first corner and fell to the back of the field. The trio of drivers then embarked on a spectacular comeback, fighting their way up to fourth place in the highly competitive Bronze Cup, narrowly missing out on a podium finish. They were supported by a good strategic team performance. After a difficult 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps, the trio was able to score important points for a good championship position.

In the overall standings of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup, Alessio Picariello, Sven Müller, and Patric Niederhauser are now in second place in the championship ahead of the season finale in Barcelona. They are five points behind the leaders. Müller and Niederhauser also occupy second place in the combined overall standings of the Sprint and Endurance Cup, with the two long-standing Rutronik Racing drivers just four points behind the leaders. Antares Au and Loek Hartog moved up to seventh place in the Bronze Cup of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup.

In three weeks, the season finale of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup will take place in Valencia, followed by the Endurance Cup finale in Barcelona in mid-October.

Klaus Graf, Rutronik Racing team boss: "The streak continues! We've actually managed to get a car on the podium again. The fact that we achieved this at our home race makes it especially nice for us. It was an exciting race and we worked very well, especially strategically and in the pits. The guys then got the most out of the car on the track to get within podium range at the end. We didn't make any mistakes and executed very well in the end. I think that was the maximum we could have achieved in the race. Our Bronze Cup car also had a good race, finishing fourth. Considering their starting position, they can be very satisfied with the result. So it was a very good day for us, and I am very happy, especially with the team's performance. The race has made the battle for the championship even closer. Now we need to stay focused and continue to work hard to get the maximum out of the remaining races in Spain.
Many thanks to the numerous guests from Rutronik Racing who gave us their energetic support!"

Patric Niederhauser, driver of the #96 Porsche 911 GT3 R: "Third place at the Nürburgring is a great result for us! It's a very important result for the championship and for us. After starting from pole position last year and coming home empty-handed, luck was on our side this year. I don't think anyone really expected a podium finish, but we did a perfect job! We had a solid qualifying session, our pit crew didn't make a single mistake during any of the pit stops, our strategy worked well, and in the end, we had luck on our side with a full course yellow at just the right moment. But that was also thanks to our strategy, as we delayed the final pit stop slightly as planned. The weekend got off to a bit of a difficult start for us, but the whole team always does a great job from Thursday to Sunday and we're there when it counts. Barcelona should actually suit us quite well, as we saw last year with the victory. We're ready for the fight for the championship!"

Loek Hartog, driver of the #97 Porsche 911 GT3 R: "The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup race weekend at the Nürburgring is over, and I'm happy with the result. In many ways, we deserved it. We put in a consistently strong performance, with particularly good race pace, and we can be really proud of that. Fourth place wasn't quite our goal, and the last hour was pretty boring as an unfortunate safety car deployment took away our chance to fight for more. Nevertheless, we were spared any problems, had a bit of luck, and executed everything cleanly. Many thanks to everyone in the team for their great work and performance. Huge credit to the mechanics, engineers, management, and the entire team who put together a solid package for us. Now it's time to look ahead to Barcelona and pursue our goal of ending the season on a high note."