Verstappen Wins in GT3 Race Debut at NLS9

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/Ferrari

Max Verstappen claimed overall victory in his GT3 race debut on the Nurburgring Nordschleife, with the four-time Formula 1 world champion and co-driver Chris Lulham taking a controlling victory in Saturday’s 57th ADAC Barbarossa Prize NLS round.

Lulham, the points leader in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Gold Cup, took the No. 31 Emil Frey Racing-run Ferrari 296 GT3 to a 24.496-second win over the No. 9 Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3 of Jann Mardenbough, in his GT3 return to the Nordschleife for the first time since his devastating accident in 2015 that resulted in the death of a spectator.

It came after a dominant opening double stint by Verstappen, who started third on the grid but quickly took the lead by the first corner of the four-hour contest and extended the margin by more than 1 minute and 10 seconds over the No. 6 HRT Mustang GT3 of Frank Stippler.

The 27-year-old Dutchman handed over his Verstappen dot com-sponsored Ferrari to Lulham during the second scheduled stop, just past halfway, and maintained the gap over the HRT Fords during his first stint.

However, Lulham appeared to lose some time shortly after making his second and final stop, likely due to the timing of Code 60s, and saw the gap come down.

The two HRT Mustang GT3s swapped positions following the final pit stop sequence, with the No. 6 entry of Stippler and Vincent Kolb completing the overall podium as the only SP9 Pro class entries finishing within the top 50 overall.

The No. 54 Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3 R of Joel Sturm and Bastian Buus, the only other all-pro GT3 entry in the field, failed to take the start of the race but eventually joined the action but multiple laps down.

Kolb held off a hard-charging AT1-class No. 22 Max Kruse Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Benjamin Leuchter, which finished fourth overall while running on E20 biofuel for the first time.

The overall pole-sitting No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo completed the top-five, winning the SP9 Pro-Am class.

Of note, Frikadelli Racing owner/driver Klaus Abbelen, 65, drove solo to a 13th place overall finish in his GT3-spec Ferrari, in what marked his final race on the Nordschleife.

Verstappen Targeting N24 Debut in 2026

When asked by NLS pit lane commentator Patrick Simon post-race on what’s next for him at the ‘Green Hell’, Verstappen said: “I would love to drive in the 24-hour race.”

He added: “If that happens next year, I’d say so.

“But we still need more experience. Hopefully, that would mean more NLS races next year.”

While next year’s Nürburgring 24 does not clash with F1, the first three NLS rounds, as well as the Nürburgring 24 Qualifiers, all fall on F1 weekends.

This year’s NLS season finale on Oct. 11, however, does not conflict with F1.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John