Verstappen Racing secures P4 start spot for Nürburgring 24 Hours after dramatic qualifying shootout

Driving the #3 Mercedes AMG GT3 for Mercedes AMG Team Verstappen Racing, Juncadella posted an 8:12.005 around the 25.3 kilometre Nürburgring circuit, ending the session less than one second from pole position.

The final Top Qualifying 3 session featured a one car at a time shootout format, giving each driver two flying laps on a largely dry but still tricky track after earlier rain showers.

Juncadella initially sat P9 after the first runs before improving significantly on his second flying lap to secure a second row start for Saturday’s 24 hour race.

Pole position went to Luca Engstler in the #84 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 for Red Bull Team Abt with an 8:11.123, ahead of team mate Marco Mapelli in the sister Lamborghini. Christopher Haase placed the Scherer Sport PHX Audi third.

The #45 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Realize Kondo Racing with Rinaldi, featuring Thierry Vermeulen among its drivers, qualified fifth. The result capped a strong qualifying performance for the Verstappen Racing squad across all three sessions.

Lucas Auer guided the car through Top Qualifying 1, steadily improving from 14th before finishing fifth to advance into the second phase.

Verstappen then took over for his first ever Nordschleife Top Qualifying 2 appearance and immediately showed pace. His opening 8:14.459 briefly put the Mercedes fastest before a crash for Marco Engel triggered a lengthy Code 60 interruption.

When the session resumed for one final run, Verstappen improved to an 8:11.614. Although several rivals found quicker laps late in the session, sixth place was enough to send the team into the final pole shootout.

“I felt good in the car,” Verstappen said. “Of course, our goal was to get into the Top Qualifying 3. That isn’t an easy task with this level of competition. There are a lot of fast cars, but we managed to do it. The last lap was just fast enough. Luckily it was dry and the car felt good.”

Verstappen also reflected on his first experience driving the Nordschleife at night in difficult conditions on Thursday: “There were a lot of changing conditions and for me it was the first time in probably the worst circumstances with the rain and fog. But at least it gave me a good idea of what could be coming our way in the race.”

The 54th edition of the Nürburgring 24 Hours starts at 15:00 CEST on Saturday with more than 160 cars set to tackle one of motorsport’s toughest endurance races.