Nurburgring 24h Qualifiers: Ferrari on Pole as Max Verstappen lines up fifth

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The Kondo Ferrari #45 (Perel/Marschall/Vermeulen) will start the second race of the 2026 24h Nurburgring Qualifiers from pole position. In top qualifying, Thierry Vermeulen set the fastest time with 8:10.275 minutes – though by the smallest possible margin.

David Jahn, the pole-sitter from Saturday’s race, missed Vermeulen’s time by just one thousandth of a second in the Gamota BMW #23 (Zsigo/Kranz/Jahn).

“Many thanks to the team for such a car. We were able to improve again since the last NLS race,” said Vermeulen. “Yesterday, we still had a few problems, but overnight the team made some improvements. It was great to complete a lap without traffic.”

Starting third is the Scherer-Phx Audi #16 (Haase/Sims/B. Green), ahead of the Manthey Porsche #911 “Grello” (Preining/Campbell). In fifth place is the Winward Mercedes #3 (Verstappen/Auer), which was driven not by Formula 1 star Max Verstappen in top qualifying but by team-mate Lucas Auer.

The Prosport Mercedes #26 (Christodoulou/Grenier/Lulham), the Schnitzelalm Mercedes #11 (Heyer/Hartling/Fitje), the Black Falcon Porsche #48 (Arrow/Assenheimer/T. Muller/Pereira), the second Winward Mercedes #80 (Engel/Schiller/Stolz), and the second Black Falcon Porsche #5 (Kaya/Kiefer/Piana/Stursberg) completed the top 10.

As preparation for the main race, the cars in the top SP9 class took part in an individual time trial, where each driver was allowed two laps. Although the Nordschleife was still wet in the morning at the start of the second qualifying session, it largely dried by the time of top qualifying, so all cars ran on slick tires.

#3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, lines up fifth