GirlsOnly secure a narrow class victory in the AT3 class of the NLS 6h race
- MIKA BÖCKER
- Aug 19
- 6 min read
GirlsOnly’s Carrie Schreiner, Janina Schall, Beitske Visser and Patricija Stalidzane secured a closely fought class victory in AT3 at the NLS6 shortened 6h race. Jasmin Preisig's Audi was second and Michelle Gatting, returning to the Nordschleife, took third in class.
GirlsOnly’s Carrie Schreiner, Janina Schall, Beitske Visser, and Patricija Stalidzane secured a closely fought class victory in AT3 at the NLS 6h race. On a race weekend where they overcame adversities, the GirlsOnly team left all competitors in their class behind.
It was supposed to be a 6-hour classic and thus one of the highlights of the NLS season, but the notorious Eifel weather once again had other ideas: early in the morning, there was not only the familiar dampness on the track, but also very thick fog, with visibility below 50m. Starting practice at 8:00 a.m. was therefore out of the question. The fog lingered for much of the morning, forcing the NLS to reschedule: instead of the usual race starting time at 12:00 pm, qualifying—shortened to 40 minutes—took place at that time.
Due to the shortened session, all cars and teams took to the track as quickly as possible, as everyone wanted to secure at least one timed lap. This meant that the cars in the medium-speed classes, such as the GT4 cars in AT3, were repeatedly squeezed in traffic between the slowest and fastest cars. On the Grand Prix track, the GirlsOnly team’s BMW had to weave its way between various Porsches. The ambition to get an early lap proved to be the right decision.
As the track was still wet but drying, drivers pushing the limit on slicks repeatedly experienced offs, which led to Code 60s at Schwedenkreuz, among other places, and slowed the lap times of others. One such incident involved the #10 Audi TCR featuring Swiss racer Jasmin Preisig, also in AT3, which dug itself deep into the gravel at that spot.
The BMW prevailed in the AT3 class with a time of 9:34.078 and secured 51st place on the grid. The #420 Porsche of Michelle Gatting—returning to the Nordschleife after her debut earlier this year with the aim of securing the Nürburgring permit—alongside Alessandro Ghiretti and Robert de Haan, was second in class and 54th overall with a time of 9:41.695. Jasmin Preisig’s team would start the race only from 66th place overall after the accident at Schwedenkreuz and was therefore even further behind.
Because qualifying was postponed, the race start also had to be postponed, which created a new problem: the race was only allowed to run until 6 pm, meaning the planned race distance of six hours could no longer be met. The distance was therefore shortened to 4.5 hours to maintain the longest race of the year. With a start time of 2 pm, this also meant that the event could, as an exception, finish after 6 pm. It forced teams to adjust their strategies; in particular, teams with four drivers could no longer complete double stints without excluding team members.
Starting from the second starting group, Carrie Schreiner opened the hunt for the AT class victory. The start went smoothly, at least on the Grand Prix track. At Schwedenkreuz, a car lost control after contact, slid into the barrier on the outside, and eventually came to a stop in the gravel trap of the following right-hand bend. Directly behind this incident was Carrie Schreiner, who had to navigate the GirlsOnly BMW through the rising clouds of dust.
Due to the confusion in qualifying, some significantly slower classes had the opportunity to qualify ahead of the AT class cars. However, both Schreiner in the #146 BMW M4 GT4 and Hochwind in the #10 Audi were able to quickly leave these teams behind, securing 29th and 39th place respectively after the first lap.
Michelle Gatting had a more tricky start and was stcuk behind in 55th place overall. The accident at Schwedenkreuz resulted in a longer Code 60 to repair the guardrail. Apart from this and a few minor accidents and retirements, the first hour of racing remained relatively quiet. It was mainly characterized by the fast cars that hadn’t had much luck in qualifying. The GirlsOnly team made it into the top 20 before their early first pit stop.
Hochwind’s Audi wasn’t far behind; during the early pit stop, Schreiner handed over to teammate Patricija Stalidzane, and the team lost some valuable time—not only due to the special regulations for the AT classes in the alternative fuels. After the first hour of racing, the #10 Audi was leading the AT class in 22nd place overall, but still had to serve its first pit stop. Michelle Gatting, in her #420 Porsche in 53rd place overall, made gains and was only just behind the GirlsOnly team in 50th place.
The few major accidents did not mean that there were no incidents at all; rather, the consequences were less severe. There were repeated minor collisions and close calls in traffic, with the GT3 and Porsche Cup cars once again showing little respect for the smaller classes in their impatience, as one victim made very clear.
After her starting stint, Gatting handed over to Ghiretti.“I’m very happy to be here, it’s really a pleasure to bring some pink to the Green Hell,” she said after her stint. “I’m very proud to do so. To be honest, I cannot say it, but I’m sweating more here than I do in the WEC.” When asked about her plans after obtaining the permit, she explained: “You have to ask Porsche Motorsport about it. Hopefully I get the permit after the race and hopefully I come back next year in a GT3.”
In the meantime, Jasmin Preisig had taken over the #10 Audi and was trying to defend the class lead at the front of the field, although like all AT cars she lost a lot of positions in the overall standings during the pit stop as per regulations.
After the second hour—shortly before the halfway point of the race at this unusual distance—the Max Kruse Racing Audi was still leading the class, but the gap had shrunk. This left Preisig in 34th place, while Stalidzane managed to climb back to 42nd place.
The #420 car with Ghiretti at the wheel slipped to 60th place. The next few hours were remarkably quiet for an NLS race, apart from minor traffic skirmishes. However, the race couldn’t continue without a yellow flag: both the Hofor Racing car and the #514 Sorg Rennsport repeatedly broke down on the track, but were able to continue under their own power, albeit often after several minutes. As the race progressed, these cars alone triggered more than ten yellow-flag phases, forcing race control to intervene.
After the second stops, the order in the AT class remained unchanged, except for the drivers at the wheel. Christopher Lenz was now in the Audi, Robert de Haan in the Porsche, and Janina Schall in the GirlsOnly BMW. In particular, the Audi and the BMW moved ever closer together in 43rd and 45th place, with the Audi having a large time advantage. The Porsche was slowly moving up to 55th overall.
But the minor issues on the track didn’t let up either. After an accident, the #160 Toyo Tires car dragged itself to the pits, scattering debris across the Döttinger Höhe, which was removed under a Code 60.
The final pit stops were due in the last hour of racing. The #10 Audi had problems and almost lost a lap; they then switched to Hochwind again. The GirlsOnly team benefited from these issues and, switching to Beitske Visser, overtook the Audi.
The #420 Porsche was unable to close the gap, with de Haan staying in the car. As the race drew to a close, the #146 BMW was back in the class lead in 45th place overall, followed by the #10 in 47th, just under a minute behind.
Hochwind was faster in the Audi than Visser in the BMW, making up over ten seconds per lap, but in the end it wasn’t enough: the GirlsOnly team took the class win in 38th place overall—their first since switching from the SP8T class, apart from the victories at the 24h Qualifiers. The #10 Audi crossed the finish line just under 12 seconds behind in 39th place overall. Michelle Gatting’s team rounded out the AT class podium with 48th place overall.
“Of course, we were very happy about the win, especially because so much went wrong this year", Carrie Schreiner summarized. "Of course, it’s not the same as having eight cars in the class, and the cars are also different [she refers to the class’s car freedom of choice, which is unlike any other class], but nevertheless, we had a competitor who made it very close until the end, because unfortunately we also lost a lot of time refueling. We lost almost three minutes, or even more, at every pit stop.”
“So, it was definitely a nice success in the end. Every win is of course nice” the Saarland native concluded.
At the next race, on September 13th, she will once again be aiming for points in the ADAC GT Masters in Spielberg and hopefully give herself a birthday present with a good result on the Sunday of the same race weekend. During this time, her teammates will once again battle for the class win in the NLS, bringing Janina Schall closer to becoming the champion of the Ladies Trophy.
