The classes
Honest answer: there are nearly forty, so think in groups. SP9 is FIA GT3 machinery — the overall winners, split into Pro, Pro-Am and Am by crew rating. Below it sit SP10 for GT4, TCR, the SP3–SP8 brackets sorted by engine size (with turbo variants), and SP-X for the experiments. One-make Cup classes bring packed Porsche and BMW grids, the V-classes take near-showroom production cars, and Gruppe H keeps the historics in play. Fields routinely top a hundred cars, so every race is a dozen races run at once — and lapped traffic is the defining skill.
The races
Ten races from March to October, every one on the full combination of Grand Prix circuit and Nordschleife — over 24 kilometres a lap. The format is a one-day classic: qualify in the morning, race from noon, field released in start groups. Nine races run four hours; the Ruhr-Pokal round in August runs six. Crews are one to three drivers in the four-hour races — soloing a Nordschleife enduro is legal and genuinely done — while the six-hour demands two to four. The series doubles as the proving ground for the 24-hour race: same classes, largely the same teams, and the clean laps that earn a Nordschleife permit are banked here.
Points
Scored within your class, with the signature quirk: points depend on how many cars your class attracted. The top seven score 15-11-8-6-4-3-2 in a four-hour race — but the full scale only pays when at least seven started. Win a six-car class and you take 11, the same as finishing second in a full one; everyone else who finishes collects a single point. The six-hour race pays more, up to 19 for the win. Only your best results count at season's end — the worst scores are dropped.
The championships
The overall drivers' title is decided on class results, not outright finishing order — which is why NLS champions usually emerge from well-subscribed amateur classes rather than the GT3 podium. The front-runners have their own prize: the Speed-Trophäe, scored on overall results with 35 for victory plus 3-2-1 from qualifying, typically a straight GT3 fight. Around those sit the Klassensieger trophy, team trophies and Junior, Gentleman and Ladies awards — there is silverware at every pace.