Nürburgring 24 Hours 12Hr report: Max Verstappen retains lead after huge 270km/h scare
Max Verstappen leads Maro Engel through the night at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
Max Verstappen survived a huge moment in the 11th hour of the Nürburgring 24 Hours after making contact with Maro Engel while battling for the lead.
Verstappen climbed aboard the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 at 1:30am before catching and challenging Engel for the lead, bashing doors to send the #80 Mercedes onto the grass at 270km/h.
Lead battle sees Verstappen and Engel collide at 270km/h
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At the midway point of the event, Max Verstappen heads the field in the Winward Racing-entered Mercedes, with the team’s other car a close second.
They’d opened a comfortable gap to the #99 BMW M4 GT3 in third, which sat more than five minutes adrift of the front of the race.
Taking place entirely in darkness, the second six-hours of the race was headlined by several incidents.
A heavy crash for the #17 Porsche at Bergwerk saw its race end after dipping two wheels onto the grass and nosing heavily into the barriers.
The impact tore much of the front of the car away and resulted in a slow zone through that segment as the car was removed and the barrier repaired.
Engel was then fortunate not to suffer the same fate when he attempted to pass Verstappen on the Döttinger Höhe shortly after 2am.
Engel had led the race at his last pit stop, when he remained on the car, but was quickly chased down by the four-time world champion.
After several laps tucked up behind the Mercedes, Verstappen made his move down Döttinger Höhe, using the slipstream to ease around the outside ahead of the final complex at the end of the lap.
He quickly eased out to a 1.5s lead, only for Engel to claw it back through the second half of the following lap.
That left the pair nose to tail as they entered Döttinger Höhe, with Verstappen approaching two slower cars ahead as they ascended the rise at Tiergarten.
As Engel moved right to pass around the outside of the left-hand kink, Verstappen also moved left to avoid the traffic.
The two Mercedes made side-to-side contact at top speed, around 270km/h, pushing Engel onto the grass as he approached Hohenrain chicane.
Miraculously, Engel was able to hold onto the Mercedes and avoid further contact, rejoining the race still in second place.
At the end of the hour 11th hour, another stop saw Engel climb from the car while Verstappen remained in the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Earlier, a stunning opening stint from Verstappen saw him charge into the race lead in what was a dramatic opening start to the endurance racing classic.
Nürburgring 24 Hours: Standings after 12 Hours
1. #3 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Verstappen) —-LAP 75
2. #80 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Martin) +5.175
3. #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO (Drudi) +—-LAP 74
4. #99 ROWE RACING BMW M4 GT3 EVO (Vanthoor) +2:38.237
5. #81 BMW M Motorsport BMW M3 Touring 24h (de Phillippi) +2:48.973
6. #84 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 (Niederhauser) +4:21.341
7. #24 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26 (Feller) +4:33.215
8. #67 HRT Ford Racing Ford Mustang GT3 EVO (2026) (Olsen) +5:03.749
9. #54 Dinamic GT SRL Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26 (Sturm) +5:12.901
10. #48 48 LOSCH MOTORSPORT by Black Falcon Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26 (Arrow) +5:51.924
