Nurburgring 24 Hours, 18:00-21:00: Verstappen Racing defends lead

Published on 16 May 2026 by Stefan Meens

Following a successful opening phase at the Nurburgring 24 Hours in which Verstappen Racing took the lead at the three-hour mark, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer have kept the team in first place after six hours at the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG  GT3.

Three and a half hours into Verstappen Racing’s and Max’s first ever Nurburgring 24 Hour race, the Dutchman heads to the pits with a 23s lead to hand over to Jules Gounon. The entire top six in the race also opt to pit, meaning Gounon emerges from pitlane back in the lead, ahead of the #911 Manthey Racing GmbH.

The Manthey Porsche driven by Kevin Estre quickly closes the gap to under six seconds as the conditions get cooler and rain affecting different parts of the circuit. However, Estre loses control of his Porsche due to oil in the circuit and crashes. Although unharmed, the #911’s race is over.

Estre’s DNF propels the #67 HRT Ford Racing into second place. Its driver, Dennis Olsen is clearly enjoying the conditions and takes the lead off Gounon. Soon after, the #34 also overtakes the Andorran-Frenchman, throwing Verstappen Racing back to third.

The team briefly regains the lead following pitstops from the #67 and #34 outfits, before Gounon heads to the pits to emerge back in second. The subsequent stint is shorter (five laps) with Gounon loosing two places before handing over to Lucas Auer. The Austrian joins the race in third and moves into second following another pitstop by the #34.

Auer immediately finds pace and has set his sights on race leader Fabian Schiller in the #80. Slowly but surely Auer reduces the gap before overtaking Schiller and giving Verstappen Racing a one second lead at the six-hour mark.

Nurburgring 24 Hours - Classification after 5 hours, at 20:00