Anyone who assumed the political drama surrounding the NLS and the ill-fated NES marked peak Eifel absurdity clearly spoke too soon. The bombshell dropped by ADAC Nordrhein on 27 July 2026 when it unveiled plans for a rival Nordschleife series dwarfs any previous political squabbling.
The situation has descended into a convoluted web of competing interests, and the stakes are high. At risk is nothing less than the future of endurance racing on the Nordschleife, including its crown-jewel 24-hour marathon.
While the ultimate outcome remains anyone's guess, one thing is already clear: the sport itself will once again pay the price.
To understand the mechanics of this high-stakes standoff, one must first unpack the key players involved, their deep-seated motives, and their competing visions for the Green Hell.
1. VLN and the NLS
The organisational architecture of the VLN traces back to traditional German club culture of the 1970s. Despite multiple structural overhauls across the past 15 years, its core foundation remains unchanged.
The operational arm, VLN Sport GmbH & Co. KG, is owned in equal 12.5% shares by eight constituent motoring clubs:
- ADAC Westfalen e.V.
- MSC Sinzig e.V. (ADAC Mittelrhein)
- MSC Adenau e.V. (ADAC Mittelrhein)
- MSC Ruhrblitz Bochum e.V. (ADAC Westfalen)
- Dortmunder Motorsport Club e.V. (ADAC Westfalen)
- Automobilclub Altkreis-Schwelm (ACAS) e.V. (ADAC Westfalen)
- RG Duren e.V. (ADAC Nordrhein; switched from DMV in early 2026)
- MSC Munster e.V. (DMV)
Historically, each club promoted its own round of the championship. Currently, however, both Duren and Munster lack dedicated events on the calendar, leaving the remaining clubs to co-host multiple rounds.
Commercial operations are handled by a separate entity, VLN VV GmbH & Co. KG. Originally a joint venture between the VLN and circuit owner NR Holding, the partnership collapsed during the 2023 feud, leaving VLN Sport as the sole proprietor.
On the asphalt, the VLN-promoted Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) continues to champion its half-century identity: grassroots amateur racing blended with professional GT3 machinery.
At the helm of VLN Sport since late 2022 is former driver Mike Jager. Taking the reins following a heated leadership dispute, Jager instigated a fierce customer-first initiative that successfully halted a worrying slide in entry numbers.
2. ADAC and its regional fractures
The ADAC is the undisputed juggernaut of German motorsport, yet it is far from a monolithic entity.
At the top sits the Munich-based central organisation, which directly promotes marquee national championships like the DTM and ADAC GT Masters. On the Nordschleife, however, Munich's direct operational footprint is virtually non-existent.
Thanks to Germany's federalised culture, the ADAC is split into 18 autonomous regional clubs. These regional chapters wield vast independence, particularly regarding motorsport governance - a dynamic so fiercely defended that several clubs launched legal proceedings against the Munich headquarters in 2019 before settling internally.
In short: not all ADAC entities pull in the same direction.
For the Nurburgring saga, three regional heavyweights hold all the cards: ADAC Nordrhein, Mittelrhein, and Westfalen.
ADAC Nordrhein: The 24-hour heavyweight
Motorsport-wise, ADAC Nordrhein stands tall above its peers. Encompassing the western part of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolis, Aachen, and Cologne, it is the absolute powerhouse of the ADAC federation, boasting over three million members, 20 regional centres, and a staff of 500.
Crucially, ADAC Nordrhein is the sole organiser and promoter of the Nurburgring 24 Hours. While not a direct shareholder in the VLN, it maintains a technical partnership with the series.
Furthermore, its standalone 24h Qualifiers counted towards the NLS championship standings from 2024 onwards - an arrangement that appears dead in the water for 2027.
Under this technical arrangement, ADAC Nordrhein retains absolute authority over the top-tier GT3 ("SP") classes and Balance of Performance (BoP), while adopting VLN's production-based "V" class technical regulations for its 24-hour race.
However, ADAC Nordrhein leadership has long held the view that VLN's committee-driven structure is an outdated relic. In their eyes, eight separate club shareholders relying heavily on volunteer staffing breeds endless bureaucracy and political deadlock, rather than the agile, professional governance a world-class venue demands.
Alongside veteran sporting director Walter Hornung, day-to-day operational control has been steered since 2008 by Mirco Hansen, Head of Motorsport.
Under his tenure, the 24-hour race successfully transitioned to GT3 as its premier category, secured a landmark long-term broadcast partnership with Nitro in 2016, transformed the paddock into an entertainment hub, and secured high-profile grid additions—most notably spearheading the deal to bring Max Verstappen to the event.
ADAC Westfalen and ADAC Mittelrhein
With 1.6 million members, ADAC Westfalen ranks as another key player within the ADAC hierarchy. Represented within VLN Sport by Jurgen Hieke, Westfalen holds a unique position as the only regional club with a direct shareholder seat in VLN Sport, alongside its traditional promotion of the season-opening Westfalenfahrt.
Furthermore, three local member clubs (Bochum, Dortmund, and ACAS/Schwelm) hold individual shares in VLN Sport. While mostly autonomous, these local clubs naturally align with ADAC Westfalen when it comes to major political decisions.
ADAC Mittelrhein, counting 800,000 members, operates two major non-endurance fixtures at the venue: the International Truck Grand Prix and the GT World Challenge Europe round.
Represented by influential motorsport figure Rudi Speich, its two local clubs (Adenau and Sinzig) also hold shareholder seats in VLN Sport.
Frictions between the Westfalen/Mittelrhein bloc and the powerful Nordrhein branch are no secret in the paddock, having bubbled under the surface for years.
3. Circuit Owner NR Holding
Then there is the venue itself. Formerly state-owned by the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the circuit was plunged into financial chaos following the disastrous "Nurburgring 2009" amusement park expansion.
Insolvency followed in 2010, culminating in a botched 2012 sale process that remains the subject of ongoing litigation in Brussels. In 2014, Russian pharmaceutical billionaire Viktor Kharitonin acquired the venue via NR Holding.
Despite initial scepticism from the traditional racing community, track management earned considerable local goodwill by aggressively internationalising the Nordschleife brand, boosting regional tourism and hospitality.
However, NR Holding has long bristled at ADAC’s dominance over the venue's event calendar. Having initially miscalculated by viewing the ADAC as a unified organisation, NR Holding triggered the first major political crisis in 2023 when it partnered with AvD to launch the rival Nurburgring Endurance Series (NES) while attempting to oust the NLS from the circuit.
The gambit backfired spectacularly. The NES collapsed almost immediately amid paddock boycotts, and VLN took the track management to court, invoking the 2013 Rhineland-Palatinate Nurburgring Act - a law mandating non-discriminatory venue access for event organisers.
The court granted the VLN an injunction, designating the Nordschleife as an "essential facility" - legally equating the race track to critical public infrastructure like power grids or railway networks.
The ruling, formally upheld in main proceedings in 2025, was a major blow to NR Holding by severely restricting its commercial freedom and venue valuation.
Today, while NLS and track management maintain a working operational relationship, they remain locked in ongoing legal warfare. NR Holding is desperate to overturn the "essential facility" precedent, while VLN is fighting to keep its access to the Nurburgring for NLS.
With ADAC Nordrhein now launching its own series to lock down dates, NR Holding seeking an exit from its legal straitjacket, and the VLN fighting to protect its 50-year heritage, the stage is set for an unyielding Eifel showdown.
