Нюрбургрингтің төзімділік жарыстарының ұйымдастырушы клубтары

Organisation of motorsport clubs

The Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie (NLS) is an organisation of motorsport clubs of which each hosts one event of a nine race series held on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. 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. 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, and plans for a rival Nürburgring based series currently under way.

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.

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.

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.

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

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. 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. Two drivers have died of heart attacks at the wheel, Stefan Eickelmann in 1998 and two times drivers champion Wolf Silvester in 2013. One marshal and one spectator have died after being hit by a car in 1977 and 2015 respectively.

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.

ADAC Westfalen e. V.
Renngemeinschaft Düren e. V. DMV
AC Altkreis Schwelm e. V. im ADAC
MSC Adenau e. V. im ADAC
Dortmunder MC e. V. im ADAC
Rheydter Club für Motorsport e. V. DMV
MSC Ruhr Blitz Bochum e. V. im ADAC
MSC Sinzig e. V. im ADAC
AC Monheim e. V. DMV
MSC Münster e. V. DMV

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: