W&S Motorsport achieves top 15 finish and AM podium at fourth round of NLS

Summer temperatures and cloudless skies greeted the approximately 100 NLS participants on Saturday morning for the 90-minute qualifying session. David Jahn was able to take advantage of the conditions of the still clear track and set the fastest lap time of 8:09.928 minutes to put the AVIA racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 992 #120 on pole position in Cup 2, securing AVIA W&S Motorsport an additional championship point in the PETN. The start was taken by Tim Scheerbarth, who initially lost positions in the turmoil, but then quickly fought his way back to the top positions. Paul Harkema then climbed into the cockpit of the Cup car and followed Scheerbarth's pace. On course for victory, he handed the car over to David Jahn, who was still in the overall top 10 and on course for the podium, when a puncture forced him to make an additional pit stop about 15 minutes before the end of the four-hour race, thus ending all hopes of winning the class. In the end, 15th place overall and eighth in Cup 2 of the one-make cup were the maximum for the driver trio.

The AVIA racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS #960, shared by Marius Rauer, Finn Zulauf and Moritz Oberheim this season, qualified for second on the grid but had to start the race from last place in class after an outstanding penalty from the third NLS round. Despite the heat, starting driver Finn Zulauf kept a cool head and gained positions in the first corners and the fight for the podium in Cup 3 began. Marius Rauer then took over the wheel and kept the car on course for victory. Moritz Oberheim continued to lead Cup 3 towards the end of the race when he had to pit for a quick repair after contact with the crash barrier around 20 minutes before the end and the trio narrowly missed out on a podium finish in fourth place.

As a duo, René Höber and Sébastien Carcone started the chase through the hot Green Hell of the Nürburgring from eleventh place in Cup 3. The AM drivers of the Vöhringer Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS #961 set consistently fast lap times and thanks to a perfect strategy by the team of Patrick Wagner and Daniel Schellhaas, Höber crossed the finish line in fifth place in Cup 3 and third in the AM standings and the team was delighted with the drivers' best result of the season.

After a number of accidents occurred early on in qualifying on the almost 25-kilometre combination of the Nürburgring's Grand Prix circuit and the Nordschleife, the crew of the CMS Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS #962 failed to set a fast lap time. Therefore, Mauro Calamia started the race from eighth position in Cup 3. Technical problems forced him to bring the car into the pits after two laps and after almost an hour of repairs Niclas Wiedmann resumed the race and made up ground with an impressive pace. Philip Miemois also continued to gain positions in the final hour of racing and passed the chequered flag in seventh place in Cup 3 after a hectic race, thus still securing points for the trio in the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring.

On Saturday, 8 July 2023, the fifth NLS race of the season will be over the distance of six hours. Then W&S Motorsport will once again fight for points in the PETN. 

Quotes after the race 

Daniel Schellhaas, Team Principal W&S Motorsport: "We look back on a pretty sobering weekend. Until a few minutes before the end we were still in the fight for victory in Cup 2 and Cup 3 thanks to our strategies. But bad luck struck twice and the podium places were not achieved. Sébastien and René in the Vöhringer Porsche Cayman GT4 then achieved another great result for the team, finishing third in the AM classification as a duo. Great respect for that in these heated conditions! The other two Cup 3 cars had the pace to fight for the class win, unfortunately luck was not on our side. We will be back at the 6 hour race in three weeks to attack again."

David Jahn, Driver #120: "With pole position, the race started very well for us. Tim and Paul drove a strong stint and it also went very well for me in the hunt for the win. Unfortunately, the puncture so close to the end set me back, but that's racing sometimes. But next time we will go full throttle again for the victory. Many thanks to the team for the great job in the race!" 

Moritz Oberheim, Driver #960: "After the close qualifying, in which we were only seven tenths of a second off pole position, we started the race from second place. But due to a penalty, Finn then started from the last position, immediately went ahead with a super start and into the fight for the lead. Marius also drove a strong stint at the front of the field. Unfortunately, I had a ride out with contact with the crash barrier, so we only finished in fourth place. I am very sorry about that and at the next race we will try to win again. Thanks to the team for the good strategy and pit stops!"

René Höber, Driver #961: "We can look back on the day very satisfied. After a mixed qualifying we had to start from far back. The race was extremely challenging due to the extreme temperatures and strong competition. However, I got off to a really good start and quickly moved up to fourth behind our sister car. Sébastien did two very good stints and the team's excellent three-stop strategy brought us fifth place and third in the AM standings. We wish our driver colleague Jürgen Vöhringer a continued good recovery and hope he will be back on board soon."

Philip Miemois, Driver #962: "After early code-60 zones, our qualifying didn't go as planned and therefore we only started the race from eighth position. Mauro then unfortunately had to pit already on the second lap with problems and we lost a lot of time due to the long repair. But giving up was not an option and we went back into the race to secure some important points. Seventh place was certainly not the desired result, but in the end I am happy that we could still finish the race in this position."