NXT Gen Cup 2025 season review: Stiefelhagen's dominance & broken records

The 2025 NXT Gen Cup season was probably the most exciting of the three-year-old junior racing series. It was once again held as support series during the DTM race weekends. The championship title was secured by Dutchman Lukas Stiefelhagen, who dominated the entire season with impressive consistency. But his rivals also provided numerous highlights and unforgettable moments.

The 2025 season of the NXT Gen Cup came to an end on 24 August at the Sachsenring. And what a season it was! The drivers battled for victories and points in identical electric minis at four German racetracks. They raced at Oschersleben, the Norisring, the Nürburgring and the Sachsenring.

The starting field was a colourful mix: it included sim racers who were driving a real racing car on a race track for the first time (Sean Terre), a Paralympics participant who competed in a Mini specially converted for him (Andreas Kapfinger), a sister-brother duo (Viviann and Bennet Ehrl), the first female driver from Liechtenstein in the NXT Gen Cup (Linda Frey) and the 14-year-old Vera Jurland, who was the youngest driver in the history of the series.

Stiefelhagen's season of dominance

Dutch driver Lukas Stiefelhagen had already impressed at the pre-season tests in the Gellerasen Arena (Sweden) and went on to have an impressive season. In the first race at Oschersleben, the Dutchman secured pole position in the very first qualifying session. This was followed by podium finishes in all four races of the weekend, with victory in the third race. After winning the season opener, he embarked on a record-breaking run, winning all three races at the Norisring and the Nürburgring. Only on the last of the four race weekends at the Sachsenring did Stiefelhagen miss out on the podium in two of the four races. Thanks to his consistency with seven wins and eleven podium finishes in a row, he secured the title two races before the end of the season.

Female drivers made history

The women represented in the series also delivered: Swedish driver Siri Hökfelt wrote her name into the record books as the first female race winner of the series when she won the second race at the Sachsenring. On the same weekend, Latvian rider Patricija Stalidzane claimed a historic double pole position before securing her long-awaited and hard-fought first victory in the third race. Hökfeld finished the season in 8th place in the championship, Stalidzane in 4th place.

Rookies shone

German rookie Maxim Dacher impressed with three victories, including a dramatic home win in the season finale at the Sachsenring, which earned him both the championship runner-up title and the award for best rookie. Sim racing star Sean Terre and 14-year-old debutant Vera Jurland also caused a stir with strong performances and rapid progress over the course of the season. Terre finished the season in 14th place, Jurland in 18th.

It is currently unknown whether the junior electric racing series will continue to be part of the DTM supporting programme next year. NXT Gen Cup founder Fredrik Lestrup told e-Formula.news during the Berlin E-Prix that races on the Formula E race weekends were a wish for the future that the series was working on after this did not work out in 2024.