Max Verstappen narrowly advanced from Top Qualifying 2, posting the sixth-quickest lap to take the penultimate spot in Top Qualifying 3 ahead of Saturday’s gruelling Nürburgring 24 Hours at the Nordschleife. The session produced a tightly packed leaderboard, with fractions of a second separating the leading runners and the tone set for a competitive final shootout.
Top Qualifying 2 at the Nürburgring
#130 Red Bull Team ABT topped the session, the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 crew setting a benchmark lap of 8:10.485 that kept rivals within striking distance. Just 0.139 seconds covered first and second, underlining how small margins will matter once the race gets under way.
- 1st: #130 Red Bull Team ABT — Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 — 8:10.485
- 2nd: #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport — Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO — 8:10.624
- 3rd: #911 Manthey Racing — Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26 — 8:11.222
- 4th: #64 HRT Ford Racing — Ford Mustang GT3 EVO (2026) — 8:11.278
- 5th: #67 HRT Ford Racing — Ford Mustang GT3 EVO (2026) — 8:11.423
- 6th: #3 Winward Racing — Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Verstappen aboard) — 8:11.614
- 7th–10th: Close midfield battle featuring Lamborghinis, Mercedes and BMWs, with times expanding to the low 8:14s
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The result leaves a mixed picture for favourites and privateer outfits alike: manufacturers such as Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Porsche showed strong single-lap pace, while Ford’s HRT entries locked in competitive times that suggest they could influence the early order in the 24-hour race. Several established GT3 teams sit tightly bunched, meaning strategy and reliability will be decisive over race distance.
| Pos | Entry / Car | Drivers | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #130 Red Bull Team ABT — Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 | Marco Mapelli, Nicky Catsburg, Nicholas Yelloly | 8:10.485 |
| 2 | #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport — Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO | Christian Krognes, Mattia Drudi, Nicki Thiim, Felipe Fernandez Laser | 8:10.624 |
| 3 | #911 Manthey Racing — Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26 | Kevin Estre, Ayhancan Guven, Thomas Preining, Matt Campbell | 8:11.222 |
| 4 | #64 HRT Ford Racing — Ford Mustang GT3 EVO (2026) | Arjun Maini, Fabio Scherer, David Schumacher, Frank Stippler | 8:11.278 |
| 5 | #67 HRT Ford Racing — Ford Mustang GT3 EVO (2026) | Dennis Olsen, Christopher Mies, Frederic Vervisch, Frank Stippler | 8:11.423 |
| 6 | #3 Winward Racing — Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Max Verstappen, Lucas Auer, Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella | 8:11.614 |
| 7 | #7 Franz Konrad — Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 | Patricija Stalidzane, Maximilian Paul, Christian Engelhart, Pavel Lefterov | 8:11.937 |
| 8 | #26 PROsport racing — Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Adam Christodoulou, Christopher Lulham, Mikael Grenier, Marek Bockmann | 8:13.935 |
| 9 | #65 HRT Ford Racing — Ford Mustang GT3 EVO (2026) | Hubert Haupt, Vincent Kolb, David Schumacher, Colin Caresani | 8:14.147 |
| 10 | #77 Schubert Motorsport — BMW M4 GT3 EVO | Marco Wittmann, Philipp Eng, Charles Weerts, Robin Frijns | 8:14.528 |
| 11 | #75 Max Kruse Racing — Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II | Dominik Fugel, Marcel Fugel, Benjamin Leuchter, Tom Coronel | 8:14.760 |
| 12 | #44 Falken Motorsports — Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26 | Klaus Bachler, Tim Heinemann, Sven Muller, Morris Schuring | 8:15.689 |
| 13 | #99 ROWE RACING — BMW M4 GT3 EVO | Daniel Harper, Max Hesse, Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor | 8:16.541 |
| 14 | #11 Schnitzelalm Racing — Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Kenneth Heyer, Jannes Fittje, Jay Mo Hartling, Philip Ellis | 8:17.622 |
| 15 | #48 48 LOSCH MOTORSPORT by Black Falcon — Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26 | Daan Arrow, Patrick Assenheimer, Tobias Muller, Dylan Pereira | 8:18.088 |
| 16 | #54 Dinamic GT SRL — Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26 | Bastian Buus, Michael Klitgaard Christensen, Joel Sturm, Loek Hartog | 8:18.580 |
| 17 | #81 BMW M Motorsport — BMW M3 Touring 24h | Jens Klingmann, Ugo de Wilde, Connor de Phillippi, Neil Verhagen | 8:18.868 |
| 18 | #35 Walkenhorst Motorsport — Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO | Felipe Fernandez Laser, Mateo Villagomez, Dennis Fetzer, Stefan Aust | 8:23.897 |
| 19 | #24 Lionspeed GP — Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26 | Laurin Heinrich, Laurens Vanthoor, Ricardo Feller | 8:30.917 |
| 20 | #80 Winward Racing — Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller, Maxime Martin | — |
The final Top Qualifying session will decide the remaining grid positions and could reshuffle the order from this session. Notably, the #80 Winward entry did not record a time in Top Qualifying 2, which may affect its starting slot.
As teams turn their focus from single-lap pace to endurance setup, the next 24 hours will test more than outright speed: traffic management, pit strategy and mechanical resilience are set to determine who survives the Nordschleife’s relentless demands.
