Max Verstappen punishes Nürburgring GT3 rivals after first-lap heroics

Max Verstappen and Chris Lulham dominated from lights to flag in the latest four-hour race at the Nürburgring, as Verstappen jumped into the lead at Turn 1.

Verstappen out-braked both cars ahead on the grid to take the lead from the start, and dropped those behind by over a minute in the first half of the race, a gap which Lulham would extend even further, to take overall victory in the ninth round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie this season.

Max Verstappen and Chris Lulham win Nürburgring endurance outing

Having moved up to the Pro class after their four-hour race a fortnight ago, Verstappen qualified third on the grid for the race later on Saturday.

The four-time World Champion would also take on the first stint behind the wheel of the #31 Ferrari 296 GT3, lining up on the second row for the rolling start at the Nurburgring.

Getting a good slipstream behind the #34 car, Verstappen was able to make a move around the outside and out-brake both the leading cars into Turn 1, taking the lead at the first opportunity.

He quickly scurried ahead and built up a five-second advantage in the early minutes, coming up to lap traffic in different classes by the third lap as he navigated his way through slower machinery – his third lap of the race being 12 seconds faster than he managed in qualifying on a 7:57, extending the gap to Frank Stippler behind in the process, before improving even further still to a 7:51.5 later on.

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By the end of five laps, Verstappen held a 16-second advantage as he stretched his legs in the Ferrari 296 on his weekend away from Formula 1 duties.

After his sixth lap, Verstappen took his first stop with a 20-second lead at the front of the field, staying in the car as he double-stinted in his time split with teammate Lulham.

Well into his rhythm in his second stint, the Dutch driver kept extending his lead with impressive lap times of the Nordschleife, staying below the eight-minute mark as he only extended his gap at the front.

In fact, by the time he handed the #31 Ferrari over to Lulham for the second half of the race, Verstappen had opened up a whopping 62-second lead in his two hours behind the wheel.

For 22-year-old Lulham, then, his aim was to maintain or extend the advantage Verstappen built up in the first half of the race, with the perils of the Nordschleife and endurance racing itself never far away.

The young Briton was able to carry on the work of his teammate, however, extending the gap behind to over 70 seconds on his first laps, making the duo heavy favourites for victory at the Nurburgring.

Navigating multiple slow zones, yellow flags and traffic, Lulham kept his and Verstappen’s Ferrari on the road at pace to maintain a healthy advantage to the chequered flag, with the duo triumphing at the first attempt in the top class at the Nordschleife.

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