Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie

The Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie[1] (NLS) is an organisation of motorsport clubs of which each hosts one event of a nine-race series held on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie
Country Germany
Inaugural season1977
Official websitewww.nuerburgring-langstrecken-serie.de
Current season
Touring cars passing in front of the Nürburg castle in 2009

Participants of NLS races range from amateurs in small road legal cars with rollcages and harnesses to professional factory teams racing Group GT3 cars. The NLS series is closely associated with the Nürburgring 24 Hours, as it has similar rules (mostly), and mainly the same participants. In the calendar, several weeks around the 24h date in May/June are taken off to allow teams to prepare for the 24h, and to fix their cars afterwards. However, the 24h is no longer a part of the championship.

The championship is known for its large quantity of cars as well as its variety, with an average of 113 cars starting per race in 2023.[2]

As of December 2023, future of the championship is unclear, with the series' current right holders involved in a legal battle with Nürburgring owners over race dates for 2024,[3] and plans for a rival Nürburgring-based series currently under way.[4][5]

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 on the 'Ring

Name

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The series was formerly known as VLN (German: Veranstaltergemeinschaft Langstreckenpokal Nürburgring, Association of Nürburgring Endurance Cup Organisers) until 2020. The series was named "BFGoodrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft (BFGLM)" from 2001 to 2009.

History

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The VLN was founded in 1977 by several motorsport clubs, which are members of ADAC or Deutscher Motorsport Verband (DMV), in order to join forces. Previously, each club had run its own touring car racing event on the Nürburgring, lasting for 3.5 to 6 hours, with about 150 cars and 400 drivers taking part. The rules were unified and the races were made part of a series.

The winners of the series were awarded a Cup (German Pokal), sponsored by Valvoline and later Veedol lubrication products. Due to this, both organisation and races were simply informally called "Veedol-Cup" for many years. Since the change of sponsorship and the official recognition by Deutscher Motor Sport Bund (DMSB) as the German endurance championship (German Meisterschaft) in 2001, the former Veedol Langstreckenpokal Nürburgring was the BFGoodrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring. The championship was renamed the NLS in 2020, however the name of the VLN organisation stays the same.

Apart from the 24 Hours, the Rundstrecken Challenge Nürburgring (RCN/CHC) and GLP are related smaller events dedicated to non-professionals.

Races

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Each NLS race is held as a "one-day event" on Saturdays only, in order to limit costs. The mandatory drivers briefing is at 07:30, qualifying is from 08:30 to 10:00. Following a warm-up lap behind safety cars, the first of three groups starts the race at 12:00, followed by the other two a few minutes later, in time before the fastest cars complete their first lap in just over 8 minutes. After parc fermé is opened and the winners are honoured, the teams can travel home on race day. At some events, the schedule also accommodates additional sprint races of visiting other series, mainly classic cars and youngtimers.

The "Nürburgring 6 Hours" is considered the season highlight – in 1998, even Sir Jack Brabham took part, at age 72. Here, 2 to 4 drivers per cars are entered, while in all others races, a single driver can drive all alone for 4 hours, or up to 3 can form a team. There are two other standout races – the NLS-6 "Barbarossapreis", in which Michael Schumacher's success with Scuderia Ferrari in Formula One is honoured with all podium placegetters receiving red wigs; and the NLS-9 "Münsterlandpokal" or "Schinkenrennen" (ham race), where large pieces of ham from the Münsterland area are presented to class winners.

Most of the fans watch the race on the Nordschleife. To get to the favourite viewing points it is often necessary to take a walk. Several sections, including "Adenauer Forst", "Karussell", and "Wippermann", are up to a kilometre away from the nearest main road. Easy to reach and always well attended are sections such as "Breidscheid", "Brünnchen", and "Pflanzgarten". Around most of the Nordschleife no entrance fee is raised. A ticket for the price of €20 is needed for access to the paddock and grid walk, the grandstands on the Grand Prix circuit of the Nürburgring, and two spectator areas at the Nordschleife.

Car classes

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Three Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport overtaking a VT2 BMW 328i

A variety of cars compete at the same time during each race. In the 2023 season, cars in 22[6] classes competed in at least one race. Most of them can be classified in the following groups:[7]

  • The VLN production cars group is intended to allow relatively low cost racing with near-series cars. It consists of several classes of normally-aspirated cars (V3 to V6), several classes of turbo-charged cars (VT1 to VT3, with separate classes for front-wheel drive cars), plus one class for hybrids (VT Hybrid) and one class for electric cars (VT Elektro).
  • The 24h-Special group consists of pure race cars that may compete in other race series. It consists of the classes SP1 to SP8 differentiated by engine displacement with an optional suffix T for turbo charged engines, the SP9 class for FIA GT3 cars, the SP10 class for SRO GT4 cars, plus the SP-Pro class for prototype racecars over 3000cc, SP-X for "special vehicles" and AT (-G) for vehicles using alternative fuel sources.
  • The H (historic) group consists of cars made in 2008 and before. It consists of the classes H2 (up to 1999cc) and H4 (2000 to 6250cc).

A large portion of the field is made of TCR and Cup classes (BMW M240i, BMW M2 CS, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport) that do not fit in specific groups.

Safety

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A Code 60 flag

Due to the length of the track and championship's format, the NLS has unusual safety procedures compared to other modern professional racing series. Safety cars are not used, double yellow flags indicate a local speed limit of 120 km/h, and code 60 flags, used locally for conditions warranting a safety car on shorter tracks, limit the speed to 60 km/h.[8] It is common for course cars and vehicle recovery trucks to travel around the course under local double yellow flags.

Closing speeds between the fastest and slowest car classes is a common concern, as the track has many blind crests and corners.

Four drivers have died in accidents in the NLS, Wolfgang Offermann in 1986, Wolfgang Scholz in 1998, Carola Biehler in 2000 and Leo Löwenstein in 2010.[9][10][11][12] Two drivers have died of heart attacks at the wheel, Stefan Eickelmann in 1998 and two times drivers champion Wolf Silvester in 2013.[13][14] One marshal and one spectator have died after being hit by a car in 1977 and 2015 respectively.[15][16]

Championship standings and trophies

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Current teams champions, #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport

The NLS has the particularity of awarding its main championship, the drivers championship, based on group positions rather than overall positions. This means that championship contenders very often do not contend for overall wins or podiums, and do not race directly against each other. As of 2023, the last four drivers championships were won by entries in the slower production cars group, while drivers piloting entry level hatchbacks such as the Renault Clio, Opel Corsa or Suzuki Swift have won the championship in the past.

There is however an overall teams' championship, named NLS Speed-Trophy, based on overall results only, meaning that it is contested by the faster SP9 (GT3), or Cup 2 (Porsche 992 GT3) classes. Other trophies such as the Junior or Ladies trophy follow the same format as the drivers championship, while each class has its own individual drivers and teams championship.

Member organisations

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Champions

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Current drivers champions, Philipp Leisen, Oskar Sandberg and Daniel Zils(#1 Adrenalin Motorsport Team Motec)
Year Driver(s) Car Team
1977   Ernst Thierfelder Simca Rallye   ETH Tuning (1)
1978   Hans Weisgerber BMW 2002 (1)   MSTC Erbach
1979   Wolfgang Kudrass
  Norbert Schiffbauer
Audi 50   Veytal Tuning
1980   Johannes Scheid Autobianchi A112   Scheid-Motorsport (1)
1981   Johannes Scheid (2)
  Reinhold Köster
Fiat 127 Sport   Scheid-Motorsport (2)
1982   Arno Wester
  Walter Jirak
Volkswagen Golf GTi (1)   Tannenkamp Motorsport
1983   Karl-Heinz Schäfer Opel Kadett GT/E (1)   Mich Tuning (1)
1984   Heinrich Sprungmann
  Dierk Meyer
Volkswagen Golf GTi (2)   VAG Sprungmann Essen
1985   Karl-Heinz Kuhlendahl Volkswagen Scirocco (3)   Nothelle Motorsport
1986   Herbert Kummle Ford Escort RS2000   Pontus Racing
1987   Ludwig Nett
  Jürgen Nett
Peugeot 205 GTi   Nett Tuning (2)
1988   Wolfgang Schrey
  Günter Schrey
Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16   Team Matter Sicherheit
1989   Lutz-Wilhelm Höhl Volkswagen Polo Coupé (4)   Veytal Tuning
1990   Heinz-Otto Fritzsche(1)
  Jürgen Fritzsche (1)
Opel Kadett GSi 16V (2)   Mantzel Tuning (1)
1991   Heinz-Otto Fritzsche(2)
  Jürgen Fritzsche (2)
Opel Kadett GSi 16V (3)   Mantzel Tuning (2)
1992   Dirk Adorf
  Guido Thierfelder
Citroën AX Sport   ETH Tuning (2)
1993   Heinz-Otto Fritzsche(3)
  Roland Senge
Opel Astra GSi 16V (4)   Kissling Motorsport (1)
1994   Johannes Scheid (3)
  Hans Widmann
BMW M3 (2)   Scheid-Motorsport (1)
1995   Johannes Scheid (5)
  Hans Widmann (2)
BMW M3 (3)   Scheid-Motorsport (2)
1996   Dirk Adorf
  Thomas Winkelhock
Opel Astra GSi 16V (5)   Günther Müller Sports
1997   Dirk Adorf (2)
  Heinz-Josef "Juppi" Bermes
Opel Astra GSi 16V (6)   Mühlner Motorsport
1998   Johannes Scheid (6)
  Sabine Reck
BMW M3 (4)   Scheid-Motorsport (3)
1999   Peter Zakowski
  Hans-Jürgen Tiemann
Chrysler Viper   Zakspeed Racing
2000   Jens Lührsen
  Uwe Unteroberdörster
Suzuki Swift   Fleper-Motorsport
2001   Klaus-Peter Thaler
  Heinz Remmen
Opel Astra GSi 16V (7)   Kissling Motorsport (2)
2002   Mario Merten BMW 318iS (5)   Bonk Motorsport
2003   Heinz-Otto Fritzsche (4)
  Jürgen Fritzsche (3)
Opel Corsa C (8)   Kissling Motorsport (3)
2004   Arnd Meier
  René Wolff
BMW 318iS (6)   SAX Racing
2005   Claudia Hürtgen BMW 320 (7)   Schubert Motorsport
2006   Mario Merten
  "Wolf Silvester" (Wolfgang Dess)
BMW 318iS (8)   Bonk Motorsport (1)
2007   Heinz-Otto Fritzsche (5)
  Jürgen Fritzsche (4)
  Marco Wolf
Opel Astra (9)   Kissling Motorsport (4)
2008   Alexander Böhm (1)
  Matthias Unger
BMW 325i (9)   Black Falcon(1)
2009   Alexander Böhm (2)
  Seán Paul Breslin
  Christer Jöns
BMW 325i (10)   Black Falcon (2)
2010   Mario Merten
  "Wolf Silvester" (Wolfgang Dess)
BMW Z4 (11)   Bonk Motorsport (2)
2011   Carsten Knechtges
  Manuel Metzger
  Tim Scheerbarth
BMW Z4 (12)   Black Falcon (3)
2012   Ulrich Andree
  Dominik Brinkmann
  Christian Krognes
Volkswagen Scirocco GT24 (5)   LMS Engineering
2013   Dirk Groneck (1)
  Tim Groneck (1)
Renault Clio (1)   Groneck Motorsport (1)
2014   Rolf Derscheid
  Michael Flehmer
BMW 325i (13)   Derscheid Motorsport
2015   Dirk Groneck(2)
  Tim Groneck(2)
Renault Clio (2)   Groneck Motorsport (2)
2016   Alexander Mies
  Michael Schrey (1)
BMW M325i Racing Cup (14)   Bonk Motorsport (3)
2017   Michael Schrey (2) BMW M325i Racing Cup (15)   Bonk Motorsport (4)
2018   Philipp Leisen (1)
  Christopher Rink (1)
  Danny Brink (1)
BMW 325i (16)   Adrenalin Motorsport
2019   Yannick Fübrich
  David Griessner
BMW M240i Racing Cup (16)   Adrenalin Motorsport (2)
2020   Philipp Leisen (2)
  Christopher Rink (2)
  Danny Brink (2)
BMW 325i (17)   Adrenalin Motorsport (3)
2021   Philipp Leisen (3)
  Danny Brink (3)
BMW 325i (18)   Adrenalin Motorsport (4)
2022   Daniel Zils
  Oskar Sandberg
  Sindre Setsaas
BMW 330i (19)   Adrenalin Motorsport (5)
2023   Daniel Zils (2)
  Oskar Sandberg (2)
  Philipp Leisen (4)
BMW 330i (20)   Adrenalin Motorsport (6)
Sources:[17][18][19]

Most overall race victories

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#3 Falken Motorsports, Porsche's latest overall race winners

Last updated 8 October 2023, listing drivers with 10+ victories only.[20]

Driver Overall wins Manufacturer Overall wins
1 Olaf Manthey 30 1 Porsche 226
2 Jürgen Alzen 29 2 Mercedes-Benz 62
3 Ullrich Richter 28 3 BMW 54
4 Marc Basseng 26 4 Audi 29
Arno Klasen 5 Ford 27
6 Edgar Dören 24 6 Opel 21
7 Peter Zakowski 22 7 Chrysler 17
8 Hans-Jürgen Tiemann 21 8 Alfa Romeo 4
9 Marcel Tiemann 19 9 V8Star-Jaguar 3
10 Frank Stippler 15 10 Ferrari 2
11 Uwe Alzen 13 11 Aston Martin 1
Marc Lieb 12 Lexus 1
13 Otto Altenbach 12 13 Toyota 1
Jürgen Lässig
Jürgen Oppermann
16 Timo Bernhard 10
Lucas Luhr

Most group victories

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Last updated 8 October 2023, listing top 10 drivers and maunfacturers only.[21]

Driver Group wins Manufacturer Group wins
1 Ralf Schall 67 1 Porsche 733
2 Edgar Dören 53 2 BMW 506
3 Jürgen Alzen 48 3 Ford 139
Olaf Manthey 4 Opel 120
5 Andreas Schall 45 5 Mercedes-Benz 108
6 Ulrich Richter 41 6 Audi 46
Johannes Scheid 7 Honda 43
8 Volker Strycek 40 8 Alfa Romeo 24
9 Arno Klasen 39 9 Renault 19
10 Paul Hulverscheid 35 10 Volkswagen 16
Sabine Schimtz

Most class victories

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Last updated 8 October 2023, listing top 10 drivers and maunfacturers only.[22]

Driver Class wins Manufacturer Class wins
1 Volker Strycek 135 1 BMW 2179
2 Johannes Scheid 134 2 Porsche 1532
3 Ralf Schall 105 3 Opel 884
4 Daniel Zils 99 4 Volkswagen 779
5 Andreas Schall 98 5 Ford 512
6 Peter Hass 97 6 Audi 452
7 Jürgen Nett 93 7 Honda 450
8 Heinz-Otto Fritzsche 89 8 Renault 282
9 Wolfgang Weber 77 9 Mercedes-Benz 268
10 Paul Hulverscheid 76 10 Peugeot 256

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Lloyd, Daniel (3 December 2019). "VLN Announces Series Name Change". sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  2. ^ "2023 season stats". Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  3. ^ "NLS 2024: VLN kündigt nach Gerichtsurteil acht Termine an". Motorsport-Total.com (in German). Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Interview mit Lutz Leif Linden: Wie es mit der NES klappen soll". Motorsport-Total.com (in German). Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Teamvereinigung ILN gibt Neutralität auf und stellt sich hinter die NLS". Motorsport-Total.com (in German). Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Redirecting to /analysis/result-analysis/" (PDF). nuerburgring-langstrecken-serie.de. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  7. ^ Daubner, Robert (2019), "58. EG-Fahrzeugklassen – Anlage XXIX zu § 20 IIIa Satz 4 StVZO (Auszug)", Überprüfung von Fahrzeugen und Fahrzeugführern, Richard Boorberg Verlag GmbH & Co KG, pp. 113–115, doi:10.5771/9783415066748-113, ISBN 978-3-415-06674-8, retrieved 8 October 2023
  8. ^ admin (1 February 2016). "Nordschleife: Detailed regulations published". Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Motorsport Memorial –". motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Motorsport Memorial –". motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Motorsport Memorial –". motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  12. ^ "Motorsport Memorial –". motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Motorsport Memorial –". motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Motorsport Memorial –". motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  15. ^ "Motorsport Memorial –". motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Motorsport Memorial –". motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Alle VLN-Meister auf einen Blick". nuerburgring-langstrecken-serie.de (in German). Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Brink und Leisen sind die lachenden Dritten in einem Finale voller Tragödien". nuerburgring-langstrecken-serie.de (in German). 9 October 2021. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  19. ^ admin (7 October 2023). "Adrenalin Motorsport holt sechsten Titel in Folge". Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (in German). Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  20. ^ "Statistik: Gesamtsiege. The best drivers from 40 years VLN". vln.de. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  21. ^ "Statistics: group victories". Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  22. ^ "Statistics: class victories". Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
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