When the Prototype Cup Germany was launched by the ADAC and Creventic, the organisers also hoped for the participation of young up-and-coming talents. One of them is 20-year-old Donar Munding, who shares a Duqueine with Matthias Lüthen at Mühlner Motorsport. Finishing fourth in the first round at Spa-Francorchamps, the duo only just missed the podium and now want to make up for it at the Nürburgring next weekend. 

Like many young racing drivers, Donar Munding spent a few years in karting. When it came to moving up to motor racing, the path of formula racing, which seemed logical at first, was not an option. "I simply lacked the necessary small change. And often in formula racing you meet rivals who have so much money at their disposal that they push the budgets even higher by, for example, going testing very often or contesting two championships at the same time." Munding oriented himself towards closed racing cars and raced in the Porsche Sports Cup and the Nürburgring Endurance Series, among others. "The prototypes, however, already excited me back then. After all, there were some exciting and formative eras in prototype history, such as the Group C era or the period when Audi competed with diesel engines." And when the regulations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans were then changed from 2023 in such a way that several manufacturers jumped on the Le Mans bandwagon, the topic also became interesting for the Stuttgart driver's active career. 

Munding left GT racing in 2021 and initially signed on in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, only to sign up for the new Prototype Cup Germany just one year later. "A German driver in a German series makes sense to me - especially as the ADAC is also involved and I still know from karting that ADAC series work well." But the Mühlner driver has also recognised another advantage: "If I want to invite sponsors or partners, who in my case are mostly from Germany, the journey to Hockenheim or the Nürburgring is much shorter than to Imola or Portimão, where the Le Mans Cup starts this season. And with rounds as part of the ADAC GT Masters or the ADAC Truck Grand Prix, we also race at proper events that have a media presence."

From a sporting point of view, an LMP3 racer demands a lot more from the driver than a GT racing car, something Munding also had to realise. "In LMP3 everything is much more direct, the cornering speeds are significantly higher and you have to drive cleaner. But I already knew a lot of that from karting and so the change was no problem for me. An LMP3 is a real race car, which you can also see in the cockpit design."
 

Incidentally, the connection to Mühlner Motorsport has existed for the Munding family for quite some time. "My father Marco already drove for the team in the early 90s, back then in the DTC and at the Nürburgring. And I did a test in a Cup Porsche from Mühlner at the end of 2019 or beginning of 2020. A little more than two years later, it has now come up that Bernhard Mühlner's team and I have come together and I am very happy about it. Mühlner Motorsport has been in the business for a long time, always puts top-prepared cars on the grid and works reliably. Even in stressful situations, which always happen in racing, they act in a calm and coordinated manner. They simply know what they are doing and that is very important for me."