As the sun has set over the Nürburgring and the race enters its ninth hour, the 2026 ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring has already taken several dramatic turns. As Daniel Juncadella in the #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 leads the #80 Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol Winward Racing sister car of Luca Stolz, showers, rain and other typical Nordschleife challenges, are wreaking havoc among the competitors.
Top contenders drop out
Two absolute top contenders have already packed up after accidents took them out. First, Alexander Sims hit a car ahead of him, breaking the front end of the #16 Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8 LMS GT3 of Christopher Haase, Sims and Ben Green.
Not much later, approaching the four-hour mark, Kévin Estre went off-line at Brünnchen while overtaking a slower car, where he hit a patch of oil and spun hard into the barriers rear-first. A valiant effort to bring the car back to the garage was abandoned, as Grello was parked trackside.
Arjun Maini fell victim to the same patch of oil, spearing off into the same barrier Estre had hit moments earlier, severely damaging the #64 HRT Ford Racing Ford Mustang GT3 and retiring on the spot.
For Red Bull Team ABT, the race could also hardly have gone worse. After claiming a front-row lockout with its Lamborghini Huracán GT3s, Mirko Bortolotti’s #84 Lamborghini dropped from the lead on the opening lap with a puncture caused by contact, while Marco Mapelli was handed a 32-second penalty for jumping the start in the #130 Lamborghini. The #84 car is shared by Luca Engstler, Bortolotti and Patric Niederhauser, while the #130 features Mapelli, Nicky Catsburg and Nick Yelloly. Punctures and technical problems continue to trouble the Allgäuer team, leaving the #130 car well out of contention although the #84 Lamborghini is slowly recovering and back inside the top 10.
Last year’s winner, the #1 Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3, retired before midnight with a technical defect. Augusto Farfus, Raffaele Marciello, Jordan Pepper and Kelvin van der Linde had been running inside the top ten up to that point.
Another early leader has also hit trouble, as the #7 Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Maximilian Paul, Christian Engelhart, Patricija Stalidzane and Pavel Lefterov has developed power steering issues. Although still running, the problem has cost Franz Konrad’s team valuable performance and has dropped outside the top twenty.
Winward Racing holds the lead
Turning from the majestic bright golden sunset into the dark night, Winward Racing’s #80 Racenol Mercedes-AMG of Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin and #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG of Max Verstappen, Lucas Auer, Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella are running in formation seconds apart and trading the lead throughout their stints. They hold a lead of 1 minute 45 seconds over the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 of Christian Krognes, Mattia Drudi, Nicki Thiim and Felipe Fernandez Laser.
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