Saturday’s NLS Round Postponed to November

This Saturday’s four-hour NLS race has been postponed to November because of expected snowy weather conditions at the Nürburgring in the coming days.

A statement from the VLN organization which runs the NLS championship confirmed that the decision has been made on safety grounds, with temperatures expected to drop below freezing and snowfall predicted on Friday.

The DMV 4 Hours has been rescheduled for November 4-5, making it the new final round of the season.

“The safety of our participants and helpers has top priority when conducting the NLS races,” said Michael Bork, NLS sporting manager and race director.

“According to several forecasts, snowfall is to be expected around the Nürburgring on Friday afternoon and evening.

“Freezing temperatures and precipitation are forecast for Friday and Saturday. Conditions await us under which, from the point of view of the race organizers, we cannot be responsible for holding the race event.”

The postponement comes as a blow to teams that are preparing for the Nürburgring 24 next month.

It leaves only one more NLS race, the Adenauer Trophy on April 23, before the N24 Qualifiers are held in early May.

The Nürburgring 24 is scheduled for May 28-29.

Some teams were planning to make their first Nürburgring appearances of the year this weekend, including TF Sport with its factory-backed Aston Martin Vantage GT3, Toksport WRT with its new Porsche 911 GT3 R and ROWE Racing with two BMW M4 GT3s.

“We didn’t take the decision to postpone the event early on lightly,” commented Ralph-Gerald Schlueter, managing director of VLN Sport.

“However, the imponderables cannot be calculated and it was important to us, especially at the present time, not to expect the teams to travel unnecessarily.

“Luckily we have arranged an alternative date with the race track operator, so that the season will probably include all eight planned races in the end.”

It is the second time in as many seasons that an NLS race has been called off due to cold weather conditions.

Last year’s opening round was canceled on the morning of the race with snow settling around the Nordschleife.