Falken celebrates a double victory at the season finale on the Nordschleife and wins the NLS Speed Trophy

Falken Motorsports ends this year's ADAC Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) season with another double victory: In the last race of the year, the inaugural NLS Sportwarte Trophy, the Japanese tire brand's team celebrated its fifth overall victory of the season. Nico Menzel and Dorian Boccolacci triumphed in the #4 Porsche 911 GT3 R ahead of their sister car with start number 3, driven by double starter Menzel and Joel Sturm. Falken Motorsports thus also defended its title in the NLS Speed Trophy.

However, the morning qualifying session did not go as planned for the two distinctive Falken Porsches, as heavy traffic and several yellow flag phases hampered the final time chase and ruined a better starting position for the four-hour race: Joel Sturm qualified the #3 Falken Porsche in fifth place, while Dorian Boccolacci put the sister car #4 in seventh place on the grid.

But right from the start of the race, the two Falken drivers took command: both Menzel and Boccolacci got involved in the battle for the lead early on. After a minor collision with a competitor, which gave him the lead but also caused damage to the front of his car, Boccolacci had to make an early pit stop and initially fell behind in the overall standings. Meanwhile, Menzel continued to battle at the front and, like his teammate, benefited from the strong performance of the Falken slick tires, which offered impressive grip even on a wet track.

As the race progressed, changing weather conditions with high humidity and light fog made for challenging conditions, even requiring the use of Falken rain tires. However, even with these, all three drivers made no mistakes and took a commanding double lead by the halfway point of the race. In the second half of the race, the two teal-and-blue Falken Porsches controlled the pace at the front, making the fifth victory of the season ultimately a mere formality. In addition, Nico Menzel was crowned “Driver of the Race” for his outstanding performance as a double starter.

This success crowns an outstanding season for Falken Motorsports on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife: the team achieved a total of five victories this year, including four double wins, a total of twelve podium places, and two pole positions. Falken successfully defended the NLS Speed Trophy title it had already won last year, with the #3 Falken Porsche finishing ahead of its sister car.