Race Highlights | 24 Hours Nürburgring + IGTTC 2026

And now we get the news, there is a jumpstart. The Mark Dover Pellet with the 1.30 car to head on. But Oksana Dimitrieva, Red Bull Banskars, will come back to buy them. Off the country, though, for lap number one. And then very quickly, indeed, caught those runners in start group three from the BMW 240i class, from SP7 as well. And the overtakes were coming thick and fast, including for Christian Engelhardt, who got his own back on Kevin Estre. Very early on, during Max Verstappen's possibly opening lap, maybe his second for his first stint, he was nearly in the wall and did very, very well to contain the speed of that car after the front wheels lifted off the ground. The same could not be said, though, for Thierry Vermeulen in the realised Condor Racing Ferrari, going to the high side of one of the Cup 3 Caymans, clattering into it and then, boom, into the Armco barrier, pushing that back by several feet. And the Ferrari 296 of Realize was out. That was one of the pre-qualified cars for top qualifying three. Alexander Sims clattered into the back of the KCMG Mercedes of Jesse Kroon as they were both exiting a Code 60. Obviously, a lot of attention on this young man, Max Verstappen, the four-time Formula One world champion, taking part in his first Nürburgring 24 hours. Hopefully, he'll be back in future years because it wasn't his year in 2026, despite having run really, really well and lap times comparative to someone like Kevin Estre, who sadly was sideways at Bründchen going off on oil. Dennis Olsen nearly followed him into the gravel trap at that famous corner. It's taken a number of victims through the years and the next one would only be a few moments later. Arjun Mahdi in the HRT Ford Mustang. Terrific battle to witness between the two AMGs and Conor Di Filippi's M3 Touring 24H. He went to the high side of one. He picked off the very next one down into the foxhole. Raffaele Marchiello misjudged where the 40 BMW Z4 was going to go and Maurice Schuring, likewise, tried to mount the kerb to overtake the 36 Z4, but his Falken Motorsport 44 Porsche would pirouette. It would ding the barrier. He'd get it as far as Hohe Act, but then it would be out of the race. And Alessio Piccardoiello, a very high-speed approach to Bergwerk, something like 230 km per hour. He went to the right-hand side of a mid-category Porsche and it went very, very wrong. Rain hit at Arenberg, not for the first time through the years, and the next car off into the gravel was Jens Klingmann. In the big BMW estate, sideways after a major tyre failure for the Dumourais Aston Martin number 37, and at very, very high speed, two-thirds of the way down the dotting of Hohe, that was the Goodyear-shot Vantage finished off. But thankfully for Falkenhorst Motorsport and other fans of Aston Martin, they would still be on course for a podium. A little bit wide, very wide for the 99 BMW. That car would eventually finish in fourth as Max Verstappen took over the number three Mercedes and immediately had to make a quick decision as to which side of the RPM Racing Porsche Cup car he would go. Tried to the right, then decided to leap on the brakes and went left instead. And that was not the only difficulty that Max found during this stint. A Porsche turned left right into his path would end in destruction for the Cayman, but thankfully the Verstappen car would continue, but not for a great deal longer. A major issue on the rear right for Danny Junkerdea in the Verstappen Racing car. Would see the car go to the finish, but something like 20 laps down. Dacia Logan, three wheels on the wagon. It would need to be towed back, but it did get a race finish. Then for Alessandro Chiretti in the Dynamic Porsche, a dramatic fire at Brunschen. And that was after contact with the barrier, but whether the fire would have happened anyway, maybe there was an oil leak in that car. 84 Lamborghini given a penalty late on. It decided not to serve that in the race and instead it was added to the race time, which might have given second place to Aston Martin were they not delayed for the final time down the Dottinger Hall. So Aston finished third. Lamborghini do finish second from pole position. That's the Team Apt crew going crazy at that news. But after a 10-year wait, AMG are back on the top step of the podium here at the Nürburgring 24 hours with Ravennault. And it's the Ravennault-sponsored car that takes victory. Congratulations to Mauro Engel, who brings the car home together with teammates, Lucas Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin, lifting the famous Ravennault 24-hour trophy as the champagne is sprayed. We hope you've enjoyed our coverage. If you're a first-timer to this race, please come back in 2027. Don't forget about our coverage of the domestic rounds of the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series as well. Thanks to all of the team across the piece. And we will see you next year right here on the Radio Show Limited network of channels for the 55th edition of the ADAC 24 hours of the Nürburgring. It's AMG that take the win. Bye-bye.