Walkenhorst's two Aston Martin at NUR24 and NLS

Walkenhorst Motorsport will once again compete in this year's 24-hour race at the Nürburgring and in the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS). „The Nordschleife remains our motorsport home! This is where it all began before we ventured into international series“, says team founder Henry Walkenhorst. The team will compete in the Green Hell this year with two Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo cars.

📷 © Walkenhorst. Aston Martin Vantage #34 and #35 with 2026 livery

The top car will be driven by three Aston Martin factory drivers. Mattia Drudi from Italy, Christian Krognes from Norway and Nicki Thiim from Denmark, who won the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 2013, will drive the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 with start number #34. The three drivers already competed for the Walkenhorst team in 2025 and were fighting for overall victory before a technical defect on Sunday morning forced them to retire early. In preparation for the endurance classic in May, they will compete in the first NLS race and the ADAC 24h Qualifiers.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at NLS4 2025. Krognes-Pittard with #34 Aston Martin Vantage

The second Aston Martin Vantage GT3 will compete in the Pro-Am class. Felipe Fernandez Laser, who clinched a much-celebrated overall victory in the 24-hour race at the wheel of the Frikadelli Racing Ferrari in 2023, Dennis Fetzer and Mateo Villagomez will drive the car at the endurance highlight in the Eifel. After the 24-hour race, there will be a scheduled driver change, with Christian Krognes taking over from Laser. The car will compete in the entire season – with the exception of the third NLS race, which Walkenhorst Motorsport is unable to contest due to a scheduling conflict with the GT World Challenge Europe.

Another focus for Walkenhorst Motorsport is the team's comprehensive partnership with Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli. The Aston Martin racing team from Melle is one of the tyre manufacturer's development teams on the Nordschleife. Last year, this reference partnership got off to a successful start with two class victories and a pole position.

"We are proud of our line-up for this year's 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. Ever since the team was founded, it has been our goal to win the overall victory. With Christian, Mattia and Nicki, we have three very fast drivers in our line-up who already proved their potential last year. Our Pro-Am trio also consists of three fast drivers, so we are confident that we can fight for a strong result in the class," explains team boss Jörg Breuer.

Walkenhorst Motorsport will also compete for a customer in selected races with one of the new BMW M2 Racing cars in the corresponding Cup class. In addition, the team will continue the permit programme with the Hyundai i30N in the VT2 class, which drivers such as former Formula 1 driver and DTM race winner Jack Aitken, 24h Le Mans class winner Fabio Scherer and Ford works driver Seb Priaulx have already completed with the team.

Calender for endurance races at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 2026:

14.03. – NLS1
21.03. – NLS2
11.04. – NLS3
18.04. – 19.04. – ADAC 24h Qualifiers (NLS4 & NLS5)
14.05. – 17.05. – 24h Nürburgring
20.06. – NLS6
01.08. – NLS7
12.09. – NLS8
13.09. – NLS9
10.10. – NLS10

Related Info

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