Verstappen’s Mercedes Edges Ahead as Nurburgring 24 Hours Near Nine Hours

Max Verstappen, steering the Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, has put his team in contention for its debut Nurburgring 24 Hours win by taking a narrow lead in mixed conditions after almost nine hours. The #3 Mercedes sits about one second clear of the sister #80 AMG (Martin/Engel/Schiller/Stolz), with a tight fight behind including a Walkenhorst Aston Martin (Thiim) in third, Jens Klingmann’s Schubert BMW in fourth, and Max Hesse’s Rowe BMW rounding out the top five. Early incidents included Mirko Bortolotti’s Lamborghini puncture and Marco Mapelli’s 32-second penalty for a jump start, while Verstappen capitalized on clean laps and traffic management to extend his advantage into the night.