3,178 photos later and the long wait has begun. In the words of Steve McQueen: “Racing is life. Everything else is just waiting.” Waiting for the next ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring.

The 54th edition of the endurance classic on the Nürburgring Nordschleife and Grand Prix circuit was a race full of records. Was it because of Max Verstappen? No idea. But since the COVID-19 pandemic, spectator numbers have only gone one way: upwards!

In 2023 there were around 235,000 spectators, in 2024 the organizers reported 240,000, in 2025 it was 280,000, and now in 2026 a new record of 352,000 spectators over the entire weekend. A total of 161 cars and 584 drivers took part.

Of these 161 racing cars, 92 were equipped with KW Racing dampers — across all classes. Insane! This included not only the factory-homologated vehicles with KW Racing suspensions such as the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo, BMW M240i, BMW M2, BMW M4 GT3, BMW M4 GT3 Evo, BMW M4 GT4, BMW M4 GT4 Evo, Mercedes-AMG GT4, Mercedes-AMG GT4 Evo, Porsche 911 GT3 R, Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo 2023 and Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo 2, but also many additional cars.

As in 2025, when Rowe Racing’s BMW M4 GT3 Evo (#98) won ahead of Manthey’s Porsche (#911) and Dinamic’s 911 GT3 R (#54), our GT3 customer teams were once again among the favorites in 2026. But the Green Hell remains the toughest and most demanding racetrack in the world.

And so we look back on the 54th ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring with one eye laughing and one eye crying. Many of our top customer teams fell victim to accidents. Of the 161 cars originally entered, 159 started the race, and only 111 survived the ordeal through the Green Hell.

Thanks to a flawless race and perfect strategy, Walkenhorst Motorsport took 3rd place overall with their Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo (#34) equipped with KW V6 Racing dampers. Christian Krognes, Mattia Drudi, and Nicki Thiim shared driving duties in the winning car.

Behind them, one of Rowe Racing’s BMW M4 GT3 Evo (#99) crossed the finish line in fourth place. Daniel Harper, Max Hesse, Sheldon van der Linde, and Dries Vanthoor delivered the best BMW result of the weekend.

A big surprise was delivered by the BMW M3 Touring 24H (#81), also running on KW V6 Racing dampers. The estate car stormed through the entire race. Jens Klingmann, Ugo de Wilde, Connor de Philippi, and Neil Verhagen not only won the SP-X class with the “family bomber” (which famously originated as an April Fools’ joke), but also brought it home in an excellent 5th place overall.

The Touring shared the SP-X class with the HWA EVO.R cars, which were also fitted with KW Racing dampers. All three “Evos” finished the race successfully.

Sixth place went to the Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R (#24) with Laurin Heinrich, Laurens Vanthoor, and Ricardo Feller.

Seventh place was taken by Dinamic GT SRL’s Porsche 911 GT3 R (#54) driven by Bastian Buus, Michael Klitgaard, Joel Sturm, and Loek Hartog.

The third BMW in the top 10 was Schubert Motorsport’s BMW M4 GT3 Evo (#77) in ninth place. Marco Wittmann, Philipp Eng, Charles Weerts, and Robin Frijns shared the cockpit.

Tenth place went to the “48 Losch Motorsport by Black Falcon” Porsche 911 GT3 R (#48) with drivers Daan Arrow, Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Müller, and Dylan Pereira.

Overall, our KW Racing customers celebrated 13 class victories as well as numerous podium finishes in their respective classes.

• Class BMW – SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#878, BMW M2 Racing)
• Class BMW M240i – Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels (#650, M240i Racing Cup)
• Class Cup 3 – W&S Motorsport (#962, Porsche 718 Cayman GT3 Clubsport)
• Class SP 10 – Riller & Schnauck powered by Cemy Motorsport (#145, BMW M4 GT4 Evo)
• Class SP 3T – MSC Sinzig e.V. (#317, Audi TT S)
• Class SP 4 – Ingo Oepen (#152, BMW 325CI)
• Class SP 9 PRO/AM – 48 Losch Motorsport (#48, Porsche 911 GT3 R)
• Class SP 9 AM – Black Falcon Team EAE (#5, Porsche 911 GT3 R)
• Class SP-PRO – Manthey (#992, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup MR)
• Class SP-X – BMW M Motorsport (#81, BMW M3 Touring 24H)
• Class V5 – Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels (#444, Porsche Cayman CM12)
• Class V6 – Christian Weber (#448, Porsche Cayman S)
• Class VT2 Hecka. – Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhattan Wheels (#500, BMW 330i)