Manthey EMA celebrates a start-to-finish victory in the third race of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. Ayhancan Güven (Turkey) and Thomas Preining (Austria) secured their first joint NLS victory in the Porsche 911 GT3 R with starting number 911 at the 56th Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy. This continues Manthey EMA's run of podium finishes in endurance races at the Nürburgring since the start of the 2024 season.

The Eifel region welcomed the 132 cars that competed in the third NLS race of the season with bright sunshine. In Qualifying on Saturday morning, Ayhancan Güven managed a clean and fast lap on the 24.358-kilometre NLS variant of the Nordschleife and Grand Prix short circuit loop despite numerous Code 60 phases. This put the Grello in pole position for the four-hour race with a lap time of 7:52.856 minutes. The Turkish driver, who started the race in the cockpit of the No. 911 car, maintained this lead for the first 40 minutes of the race until the No. 15 car overtook the No. 911 in the Kesselchen section of the track. At the halfway point of the race, Güven handed over the wheel to his team-mate Preining, who initially laid in third place after the driver change and the second pit stop of the race, but had to relinquish this position to car number 3 with 75 minutes remaining. After all the other competing cars had pitted, the number 911 car entered the pit lane for the last time with 43 minutes remaining and rejoined the track in the lead. After a total of 29 laps, the Grello Porsche finally crossed the finish line as the overall winner, securing the 58th NLS victory for Manthey with six additional race wins for Raeder Motorsport.

"The first victory of the year on the Nordschleife and a very good weekend overall for us. We learned a lot during testing on Friday, which we were able to put into practice in the race today. Our strategy in qualifying was to go all-in very early in the session in order to set a good time quickly. We managed to do that on our second attempt after several Code 60 phases, and Ayhancan set a strong time to take pole position. The race also started very well for us. We only had to concede once to the Scherer Audi and once to the Falken Porsche. Thanks to an outstanding and consistent performance from both drivers and our strategy, which was the opposite of the other cars, we were able to win by a narrow margin in the end. Now we have the 24h Qualifiers coming up, where Kévin will also be getting behind the wheel for the first time this year. We are really looking forward to it and are confident that we will be well prepared for the 24-hour race.", explains Patrick Arkenau, Division Manager Racing at the Manthey Racing GmbH.

The Porsche 911 GT3 R with starting number 911 will next be seen in action on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife at the ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers from 23 to 25 May. Manthey will also contest the second race weekend of the DTM season at the Lausitzring on the same weekend.

Quotes on NLS3:

Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #911: "For Ayhancan and me, it was the last race before the 24-hour race, and it's obviously great that we finished it off with a win. Now we're full of anticipation and motivation for the big race here on the Nordschleife. Of course, we want to win. There are still a few small areas where we can improve, but we know exactly where we need to focus our efforts, and we're really hoping for a successful result at the highlight of the year in June."

Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #911: "Winning a race on the Nordschleife feels great. We finished on the podium in all of last year's races and in all of this year's races, so overall it's been a very successful campaign for us here in endurance racing. That's something to be proud of. For me, this was the last race before the 24-hour race and I feel very well prepared. Now we have some time to analyse and make sure we are completely ready for the race we have been working towards the whole year so far."

Mühlner Motorsport wins third PETN race in a row – W&S Motorsport takes victory in the Cup 3 class

In spring-like conditions, a total of 29 cars took to the grid for the third race of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PETN) 2025 as part of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS). Arne Hoffmeister, David Jahn and Tim Scheerbarth from Mühlner Motorsport (#921) celebrated their third consecutive victory in the Cup 2 class with a commanding win, while W&S Motorsport (#962) won their first race of the season in the Cup 3 class with Joshua Bednarski, Kai Riemer and Lorenz Stegmann. With the aim of utilising synergies between karting and the Porsche one-make series, Rotax RMC Germany was a guest at the event this weekend.

Under bright sunshine and dry conditions, qualifying started on Saturday morning at 8:30. With a lap time of 8:07.450 minutes, Tobias Müller put the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) with starting number 948 from 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON on pole position in the Cup 2 class. Alexander Fielenbach secured the first starting position in the Cup 3 class for the first time in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS (982) from speedworxx automotive (#955). Fielenbach has steadily improved his lap times in recent years and worked his way up from amateur driver classification to PRO-driver, until he set the fastest lap in the class in qualifying for the first time this weekend.

Mühlner Motorsport dominates Cup 2 class

After the start of the four-hour race, the pole-setters in the Cup 2 class, 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON (#948) with Tobias Müller, Noah Nagelsdiek and Carlos Rivas, initially pulled away at the front until Mühlner Motorsport (#921) with Arne Hoffmeister, David Jahn and Tim Scheerbarth took the lead. With a commanding performance, the trio led the race for a long time and finally crossed the finish line one lap ahead of pole setters Müller, Nagelsdiek and Rivas. Third place went to Christopher Brück and Michele di Martino from KKrämer Racing (#909).

„Everything went perfectly once again. We've had a flawless performance in the first three races of the season. Although we had no radio contact all day today, we managed everything with the pit board, but since we know the procedures, everything worked out great. I'm really happy and proud of the team and my teammates,” said David Jahn.

Peter Ludwig and Maik Rosenberg were once again the fastest in the PRO/AM classification with PRO-driver Alexander Hardt from BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN (#900). This secured them their second class victory in a row. Patrik Grütter and Oleksii Kikireshko with PRO-driver Fabio Grosse from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#901) followed in second place ahead of Alex Koch and Niklas Koch from Smyrlis Racing (#910). For them, third place also meant victory in the AM classification as the best-placed amateur driver pairing.

„Unfortunately, Klaus couldn't join us because he broke his arm. But apart from that, I'm really happy. We worked hard after the last races, sorted out mistakes and analysed a lot of data – that paid off, so we were on pace at NLS3. The weekend was really good, including the team-building event with the talent pool. It was great fun,” summarised Niklas Koch.

First win of the season for reigning PETN Cup 3 champion W&S Motorsport

After two retirements, the 2024 Cup 3 champion W&S Motorsport (#962) celebrated their first class victory of the current season. Starting from third on the grid, the trio of Joshua Bednarski, Kai Riemer and Lorenz Stegmann prevailed in the class and won the race ahead of Mühlner Motorsport (#939) with Nico Bastian and Janis Waldow.

„After a rough start with two retirements in the first two races, this was the right response before the season break. Of course, we benefited from mistakes made by our competitors, but we are really happy,” said Kai Riemer.

Third place went to Horst Baumann, Markus Schmickler and Stefan Schmickler from Schmickler Performance (#950), who also won the PRO/AM classification in the class. They prevailed against Stefan Beyer, Kasparas Vingilis and Finn Wiebelhaus from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#949), who also won the AM classification.

„Today's race was very enjoyable and the weather was fantastic. In the end, it was really close in the last few kilometres, so it was a real heart-stopping finish. It was incredible fun,” said Stefan Beyer.

The podium was completed by Nick Deißler, Stefan Kruse and Aaron Wenisch from Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels (#941).

Rotax RMC Germany visits PETN

During the third race of the season, the PETN was visited by Rotax RMC Germany. The Porsche one-make series and the Austrian kart engine manufacturer and organiser of renowned karting championships are pursuing the common goal of utilising synergies from both motorsport worlds and introducing young drivers from karting to the PETN. Selected juniors from Rotax RMC Germany were given an insight into Manthey's company premises in Meuspath and were able to take a look behind the scenes at the third race of the Porsche one-make series. On the Friday evening before the race, the juniors from the PETN Talent Pool also tested the Rotax E20 E-Kart in a team-building event and competed against each other on a designated course.

Next up for some PETN teams are the ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring and the associated Qualifiers. The cars can compete in the classes Cup 2 and Cup 3 under the same technical regulations, but the races do not count towards the Porsche one-make series championship. The next PETN championship race will take place on 16 August.