ADAC Nordrhein has launched of its own ADAC 24 Hours Nurburgring Series for 2027, which will run under the same technical regulations as the iconic 24 hour classic, and the new venture puts the regional club in direct competition with the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS).
The proposed 2027 calendar features five events spanning six individual races:
2–3 April: 24h Nurburgring Prologue (Friday/Saturday)*
30 April–2 May: 24h Nurburgring Qualifiers (Friday–Sunday)
27–30 May: 24h Nurburgring (Thursday–Sunday)
30 July–1 August: Eifelrennen (Friday–Sunday)*
10–12 September: 1000km Rennen (Friday–Sunday)*
*Dates remain provisional.
All rounds are scheduled to run on the full 25.378-kilometre circuit layout. The two post-24-hour slots are set to be integrated into existing historic events forming part of the Deutsche Historische Langstrecken-Meisterschaft (DHLM).
The obvious question is: Why would an ADAC regional branch that helped rescue the NLS from the brink of extinction as recently as 2024 suddenly turn around and launch a competing product?
According to sources, this move is primarily a defensive land grab. ADAC Nordrhein appears keen to lock down prime calendar slots to protect its flagship race, should a rival promoter attempt to launch a competing 24-hour race on the ‘Green Hell’.
This move traces back to the 2023 courtroom clash between NLS rights holder VLN and circuit owner NR Holding.
Following an initial legal setback, NR Holding appealed, resulting in a January 2024 ruling mandating non-discriminatory access for all organisers.
Die NLS sieht sich zum zweiten Mal in drei Jahren einer Konkurrenzsituation gegenüber
Foto: VLN
That decision briefly split the 2024 calendar equally between the NLS and the short-lived Nurburgring Endurance Series (NES) which was a joint project between the venue and the AvD.
While the NES collapsed before it ever properly started, the legal precedent stands. With main proceedings dragging on indefinitely and potentially facing years in European courts the ADAC Nordrhein is taking preemptive action to safeguard itself.
Under current legal interpretations, if another heavyweight promoter stepped forward to host a rival 24-hour race, the incumbent organiser could theoretically be forced to rotate its flagship event, which could mean the ADAC Nordrhein could stage the race only every two or three years.
While no such rival promoter is currently on the horizon, ADAC Nordrhein is taking no chances. Yet, this is hardly a spur-of-the-moment reaction. The club quietly withdrew from the tripartite NLS rescue coalition – alongside fellow ADAC regions Mittelrhein and Westfalen – ahead of the 2026 season.
The result is a distinctly bizarre political landscape for 2027. Unlike the open hostility of 2024, this latest split pits the ADAC Nordrhein directly against a product kept afloat by its sibling regional clubs (Mittelrhein and Westfalen). Furthermore, ADAC Nordrhein and NLS continue to collaborate on technical regulations.
Whether the new series can attract enough participants, especially after the 24-hour race, remains to be seen.
The ill-fated NES met a wall of team and marshal boycotts in 2024, proving that a calendar slot alone does not guarantee a grid. The ADAC Nordrhein, however, could make these races way more attractive than the AvD ever could, possibly by guaranteeing participants in these races a slot at the 24-hour flagship event, which exceeded its capacity at this year’s event.
Meanwhile, without a deep-pocketed ally, the NLS is left battling for annual bank guarantees just to secure calendar slots at the Nordschleife. Once again, the future of racing on the Nordschleife finds itself in limbo due to Eifel politics.
