Nurburgring 24 Hours: Max Verstappen to start debut from fourth

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Max Verstappen will start his debut at the Nurburgring 24 Hours from fourth on the grid after co-driver Daniel Juncadella set an 8m12.005s behind a Lamborghini 1-2.

Juncadella’s time put the Verstappen Racing Mercedes 0.882s off top spot, with pole going to the #84 Team ABT Lamborghini thanks to Luca Engstler’s 8m11.123s.

Engstler, who shares his Huracan with Mirko Bortolotti and Patric Niederhauser, beat the sister Lamborghini driven by Marco Mapelli, who was 0.345s behind across the mandatory two laps.

Qualifying can be rather complicated at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, as Qualifying 1, 2 and 3 determine grid spots 50 to 161, with Top Qualifying 1, 2 and 3 deciding the front runners.

Each car must nominate a different driver for every TQ session and Lucas Auer was first out in the Verstappen Mercedes, taking fifth which ensured qualification to TQ2 - for which he needed a top 20 lap time.

TQ2 then saw Verstappen himself take to the track and the four-time Formula 1 world champion needed a top seven finish to progress to the final session and he edged in with sixth.

This left Juncadella as the man for TQ3 - the team’s fourth driver Jules Gounon not being selected - where the 35-year-old needed to complete two hot laps.

#3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO: Max Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, Lucas Auer

#3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO: Max Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, Lucas Auer

But he was never really in contention for pole, as the early stages saw him in the lower half of the top 10 after setting an 8m18.537s, which was 6.8s off the pace-setting Mapelli.