•    Inaugural Prototype Cup Europe resumes on 3/4/5 July at Nürburgring GP track
•    Germany’s own Aust Motorsport leads Team standings ahead of Rd2 of season
•    Drivers’ battle topped by Belgian youngster Maxim Dirickx after Mugello opener
•    Three new teams join series – P4 Racing, Larea GT1 Racing and PURPLE SECTOR
•    Qualifying and both races to be streamed live online at Creventic Motorsports TV

Gennep, Netherlands (26 June 2026):
More than three months since the inaugural Prototype Cup Europe burst into life at Mugello in Italy with two excellent races, the LMP3-level championship is ready to resume just a week from now at Germany’s Nürburgring GP Circuit for round two of the 2026 season.

Featuring a mix of Toyota twin-turbo V6 powered Ligier JS P325, Duqueine D09 and Adess AD25 prototypes, the Adess set for its welcome series debut at the Nürburgring, the category enjoyed an exciting start back in March and the expectation is for more fabulous racing this time around.

Nürburgring offers an entirely different challenge to that of Mugello, and it will be incredibly interesting to see if the lead contenders can continue their momentum in the event’s twin 55-minute races – or whether the early season break will have bolstered the chasing competition.  

Belgian racer Maxim Dirickx, who drives for Germany’s own Aust Motorsport, leads the Drivers’ Championship going into the second meeting of the campaign and carries a seven-point lead in the overall title battle. Dirickx was seriously impressive at Mugello, winning the first race of the new Prototype Cup Europe era and then adding another podium with third position in race two.

Swedish brothers Emil and Linus Hellberg, who race as individual entries in Allay Racing’s No.48 and No.43 Ligiers respectively, will be looking to build on third and sixth on the overall title battle. Emil climbed the podium with an excellent second position in race two at Mugello and certainly had the bragging rights around the family dinner table post-event!

Mattis Pluschkell and Tobias Bille Clausen are the highest placed of the driver pairings in the outright standings, the German and Dane team-up in the striking pink No.8 Duqueine of home squad BWT Mücke Motorsport and share third in the championship with Emil Hellberg. In round one Pluschkell and Clausen raced to second in the first outing, then added fourth spot in race two.

Winner of the predecessor Prototype Cup Germany in 2024, Valentino Catalano, is another who got his season off successfully at Mugello with a third place finish in race one and fifth in the subsequent encounter for GMS Team. Catalano will be partnered by a new team-mate for round two, American driver Danny Soufi who should need no introduction as the 2025 Prototype Cup Germany Champion.

Quality entries keep coming with BWT Mücke’s No.18 Duqueine to be shared by the Danish-German combination of Mads Kjelde Larsen and double Prototype Cup Germany Champion Markus Pommer. Mugello wasn’t the happiest of starts for the duo in terms of reward, so look out for them to almost certainly move up a gear at the Nürburgring.

Pleasingly, there are five drivers set to make their Prototype Cup Europe season debuts, across three different teams. Germany’s Zino Fahlke will pilot a Duqueine as a sole entry for compatriot squad Larea GT1 Racing, and British team P4 Racing runs a Ligier for UK driver pairing Andrew Ferguson and Louis Hamilton-Smith who bring experience from the Michelin Le Mans Cup.

There will also be a small piece of history made in round two when the Adess AD25 prototype makes its season debut in the Creventic category. Created by Portuguese squad PURPLE SECTOR, the No.7 Adess will be raced by, intriguingly, Bulgaria’s Pavel Lefterov – who partnered the aforementioned Danny Soufi to the 2025 Prototype Cup Germany crown – and compatriot Boris Yonchev.

As well as the overall championship there are three other championship battles to follow. Prototype Cup Europe Trophy, which is for Bronze graded drivers, is led presently by Emil Hellberg after he took maximum scores from Mugello. His brother Linus is 10 points shy.

Unsurprisingly after the high standard of his Mugello performances, overall points leader Dirickx also tops the Prototype Cup Europe Junior standings by nine points. In the Team championship, Aust Motorsport has a five-point advantage.

After two CR Track Days at the Nürburgring on Wednesday, 1 July, and Thursday, 2 July, the drivers and teams will then have the benefit of two free practice sessions on Friday, 3 July, ahead of two qualifying sessions – the first at 14.55 local time and the second at 17.45. 

The first 55-minute race of the weekend will begin at 10.15 local time on Saturday, 4 July, with race two following on Sunday, 5 July, at 09.00. Qualifying and racing for the Prototype Cup Europe will be streamed live at Creventic Motorsports TV on YouTube.

Links for this and live timing will be available at www.prototype-cup-europe.com