The long Nürburgring night is slowly coming to an end as the 2026 ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring 24 Hours enters its nineteenth hour. After hours of darkness and cold conditions around the circuit, the first signs of sunrise are finally beginning to appear above the Green Hell.

At the front, the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 continues to lead the race ahead of the #80 Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL Mercedes-AMG GT3, while the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 remains in third place.

Early Morning Drama Continues

As daylight slowly returned to the Nordschleife, more incidents continued around the circuit. BMW M2 Racing Cup leader Tazio Ottis became stuck in the gravel, while Yuichi Nakayama in the #32 Toyo Tires with Ring Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, Dan Harper in the #99 ROWE RACING BMW M4 GT3, and Ugo de Wilde in the #81 BMW M Motorsport BMW M3 Touring 24h also went off the track in the same area.

Meanwhile, Frédéric Vervisch suffered a puncture in the seventh-placed #64 HRT Ford Racing Ford Mustang GT3, dropping the Mustang far down the order.

At the front, Jules Gounon continued a very strong double stint in the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. The French driver extended the lead to more than ten seconds over Fabian Schiller in the #80 Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Chris Lulham also continued making progress in the #26 PROsport racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, even making a pass through the grass while climbing back into ninth place overall.

After another seven-lap stint, both leading Mercedes-AMG GT3 cars returned to the pits. Lucas Auer took over the leading #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, while Fabian Schiller stayed inside the #80 Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL Mercedes-AMG GT3 for another stint.

Behind the leaders, Christian Krognes in the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 remained almost five minutes behind the leading Mercedes-AMGs. Dan Harper in the #99 ROWE RACING BMW M4 GT3 continued to close the gap quickly, while Ugo de Wilde in the #81 BMW M Motorsport BMW M3 Touring 24h stayed less than twenty seconds behind the battle.

Another major issue hit the #11 SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm Mercedes-AMG GT3. Philip Ellis, who had been running second in SP9 Pro-Am, appeared to suffer an engine failure during the night.

There was also a heavy accident for the #37 PROsport racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 after Guido Dumarey suffered a tyre failure on the Döttinger Höhe. The Aston Martin crashed heavily, although Dumarey was able to climb out safely.

Fight For Third Intensifies

The battle for third place became even closer as Dan Harper reduced the gap to Christian Krognes to only half a second.

Soon after, the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 came under investigation after Christian Krognes overtook one of the Dinamic GT Porsches under yellow flags while entering the Döttinger Höhe.

After the next round of pit stops, the Aston Martin temporarily lost third place to the #99 ROWE RACING BMW M4 GT3. However, Krognes later fought back ahead again, while Max Hesse lost more time.

At the front, Lucas Auer completed one more lap before handing the leading #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 back to Max Verstappen. Luca Stolz also remained inside the #80 Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL Mercedes-AMG GT3 for another double stint.

Traffic in sector seven then delayed Auer during the pit cycle, reducing the gap between Verstappen Racing and the #80 Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL entry to just over five seconds as Max Verstappen climbed back into the car with a little over six hours remaining.

Race control later confirmed a 32-second time penalty for the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 after the yellow-flag infringement by Christian Krognes.

Another setback later came for PROsport Racing when the #26 PROsport racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 was brought into the garage, dropping the car outside the top ten overall.

Verstappen Extends The Lead

Max Verstappen stayed inside the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 for a double stint and quickly rebuilt the advantage at the front. Over the next seven-lap run, the Dutch driver increased the gap from around five seconds to more than thirteen seconds over the chasing #80 Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL Mercedes-AMG GT3, now driven by Maro Engel.

With five hours remaining in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 continues to lead the race ahead of the #80 Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL Mercedes-AMG GT3 by more than twenty seconds.

Behind the two Mercedes-AMG entries, the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 remains in third place as the race enters its final hours at the Nordschleife.