No. 3 Group Verstappen Mercedes leads the 2026 Nurburgring 24 Hours after six hours of racing.
On the finish of the six-hour run, the No. 3 automobile made a pit cease for moist tires because the rain turned heavier within the sixth hour, after which overhauled the Mercedes pushed by its sister automobile, the No. 80 Winward.
After being handed earlier than the cease, the No. 3 automobile pushed by Lucas Auer exited the pits chasing the No. 80 automobile and regained the lead early on lap 36.
On the finish of six hours, the No. 3 automobile led the No. 80 automobile, with the No. 81 BMW M3 Touring pushed by Conor De Filippi in third place, greater than two minutes behind.
4-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen took over the wheel of Winward’s No. 3 Mercedes on the finish of race time.
After overcoming a scare early in his first stint, Verstappen pitted with 20:30 remaining and constructed a lead of greater than 20 seconds earlier than being changed by teammate Jules Gounon.
Gounon left the pit lane for his first stint with simply over 20 seconds forward of the No. 911 Manthey Porsche with Kevin Estre on the wheel.
Estre took over Gounon’s lead on lap 25 and lower the result in lower than 10 seconds earlier than spinning into the obstacles at Brynchen and damaging the rear of his automobile.
Verstappen on the Nürburgring
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Estre was spun round by liquid dumped by one other automobile and suffered sufficient harm to be unable to proceed.
Shortly after, the No. 64 Haupt Mustang being pushed by Arjun Maini crashed into the identical patch of fluid, and his automobile was severely broken.
In direction of the top of that lap, Gounon misplaced the result in Dennis Olsen within the No. 67 HRT Ford, however the No. 3 was freed up once more when the Mustang pitted.
On the subsequent cease, Gounon rejoined Mattia Drudi’s No. 34 Aston Martin greater than 20 seconds behind, however because the race entered its sixth hour and the rain started to accentuate, Gounon continued on on slicks.
The No. 3 automobile dropped again to 3rd place earlier than the Winward Mercedes pair went into the moist pits simply over half-hour into the sixth hour.
On the finish of six hours, Auer’s No. 3 automobile was simply 0.3 seconds behind Fabian Schiller’s No. 80 automobile.
The No. 34 Aston held on to 3rd place, with the No. 99 Lowe Racing BMW and the No. 81 BMW M Touring rounding out the highest 5.
Verstappen on the Nürburgring 24 Hours
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Max Verstappen reacts to his first stint as a rookie on the Nürburgring 24
After his first stint on the Nürburgring 24, Verstappen stated:
“At first I used to be caught in a little bit of visitors, so it was a bit troublesome to overhaul vehicles.
“I cleared a number of instances there after which the climate improved and the situations had been slippery for a number of laps.
“I feel that’s the place we made the distinction and the automobile was good.
“You attempt to keep out of hassle, however on the identical time you need to push the boundaries. It is at all times troublesome to discover a center floor. Nevertheless it labored out.”
