•    Maxim Dirickx still leads series after win and second place at Nürburgring
•    Aust Motorsport driver partnered by Nigel Moore for successful Rd2
•    Race one victory taken by GMS duo Valentino Catalano and Danny Soufi
•    Prototype Cup Europe heads to Monza in Italy next for third event of 2026

Nürburgring, Germany (5 July 2026):
Aust Motorsport’s Maxim Dirickx maintained his position as Prototype Cup Europe points leader following his second win of the 2026 season at Germany’s Nürburgring this morning, the Belgian racer partnered by Britain’s Nigel Moore for an outstanding weekend in their Ligier JS P325.

Taking second position in Saturday’s race behind the GMS Team pairing of Valentino Catalano and 2025 Prototype Cup Germany Champion Danny Soufi, Moore made the most of first corner chaos in race two to grab the lead and built a strong advantage before Dirickx completed the job.

Catalano and Soufi finished a close second in race two, with Allay Racing’s Emil Hellberg making it a Ligier podium lock-out after a fantastic drive – earning the Swede a double Prototype Cup Europe Trophy win. Saturday’s overall podium was completed by the No.8 BWT Mücke Motorsport Duqueine of Mattis Pluschkell and Tobias Bille Clausen. Dirickx and Catalano shared Prototype Cup Europe Junior spoils.

Valentino Catalano – Race One Winner:
“It was an amazing race, the car was mega – GMS did a mega job with the car and I felt really comfortable. At the end it got tricky because the tyres were really worn, but I think the pace was still good. Danny [Soufi] did an awesome job in the first stint, so my life was a bit easier in the second stint. I’m really happy with the result, with the win, especially for the championship.”

Maxim Dirickx – Race Two Winner:
“I’m really happy, the team did a great job with the car. Nigel [Moore] did an amazing job at the start of the race, I just had to bring it home. Honestly I’m really happy, it’s been a great weekend for us with the championship.”

Following a fantastic performance in race one qualifying, Soufi made the most of pole position to surge into a strong lead at the beginning of Saturday’s race. Pluschkell was usurped from second by Dirickx, although the BWT Mücke driver hit back on lap three and then began to put some distance between himself and the Aust Ligier. 

Soufi reeled off a sequence of quickest lap times in the GMS Ligier and he continued at the front right until the latter part of the pit window, handing over a comfortable lead to Catalano after a faultless performance. All of their chief rivals had pitted sooner, and when Catalano headed out onto track he was 11 seconds clear with under 25 minutes remaining.

Clausen had taken over the No.8 Duqueine from Pluschkell at the pit-stops and was four seconds ahead of Moore in the Aust car, but the latter was very quickly on the tail of the BWT Mücke entry and pressured hard with 15 minutes to run. Locking up on more than one occasion, Moore was on a mission and on lap 22 he made his way by at Turn One after Clausen spun the Duqueine.

Pumping in consistent times at the front completely untroubled, Catalano cruised to a dominant near half-minute winning margin from Moore with Clausen maintaining third to the chequered flag, some 12 seconds adrift. 

Larea GT1 Racing’s sole driver Zino Fahlke finished his first race of the Prototype Cup Europe season a strong fourth, emerging successfully from a great three-way fight during the latter stages. Making several attempts to pass Emil Hellberg’s No.48 Allay Racing Ligier, while also under pressure from Markus Pommer in the No.18 BWT Mücke Duqueine, Fahlke made the breakthrough on lap 28.

Pommer followed Fahlke through to take fifth, meaning sixth for Hellberg which still gave the Swede the Prototype Cup Europe Trophy win. His brother, Linus, finished seventh in the sister No.43 Ligier which had escaped without drama from a lap two spin where he almost tagged Emil’s car. Series newcomer P4 Racing ended eighth, its Ligier shared by Louis Hamilton-Smith and Andrew Ferguson.

Air and track temperature was much cooler for Sunday morning’s race and at the rolling start, pole qualifier Pommer was matched by the fast-starting Catalano and Moore. Into Turn One, a slight lock-up for the lead BWT Mücke Duqueine caused chaos.

Catalano, on Pommer’s outside, was tagged into a spin in which the PURPLE SECTOR Adess AD25 of Pavel Lefterov, the Larea GT1 Racing Duqueine of Fahlke and the No.43 Ligier of Linus Hellberg were all caught up. Moore, meanwhile, was able to slice through unhindered on the inside of Pommer and duly scampered off into the distance.

By the start of lap six Moore’s lead stood at five seconds from Pommer, with the P4 Racing Ligier of Hamilton-Smith third having profited from the lap one drama. Catalano, fired up by the lap contact, mounted a star recovery and with 40 minutes to go he was back up to fourth. 

At the end of lap eight Pommer pitted from second with terminal damage to the front-left, a legacy of lap one, and Catalano then passed Hamilton-Smith at the start of lap nine. With 12 seconds to make up to race leader Moore, Catalano set about the task in hand with fastest laps.

Catalano was the first to pit for a driver change at the end of lap 13, handing over the GMS Ligier to Soufi. Next, Moore pitted with 25 minutes remaining to hand over the Aust car to Dirickx. When the race order levelled off after the mandatory stops, Dirickx led by three seconds over Emil Hellberg, while Soufi was third for GMS with seven seconds to make up. 

Pluschkell, installed in the No.8 Duqueine, was the fastest driver on track and instantly delivered fastest lap. With just over 15 minutes to go he had caught Soufi, while second placed Hellberg had moved to within just 1.8 seconds of leader Dirickx. The top four continued to close, with a real grandstand finish in prospect. 

Hellberg, driving superbly, came under major pressure from Soufi which enabled Dirickx to enjoy some breathing space. Soufi got the run into Turn One on lap 26 to seize second, before homing in on the race leader. Dirickx responded and just took the win on lap 28 by just 0.7 seconds from Soufi, Hellberg was a terrific third by a second from Pluschkell and Fahlke recovered to fifth.

Prototype Cup Europe’s 2026 season will continue just four weeks from now when the LMP3 cars make the journey to ultra-fast Monza in Italy for round three of the campaign, from Friday, 31 July, to Sunday, 2 August.

For all the latest from Prototype Cup Europe visit www.prototype-cup-europe.com