RAVENOL Mercedes-AMG tops Thursday qualifying for 24H Nürburgring; Verstappen third-fastest

Typical Eifel weather characterized the first day of the 54th ADAC RAVENOL 24H Nürburgring.

The No.80 RAVENOL Mercedes-AMG set the fastest time of 8m14.957s in the first, somewhat drier qualifying session in the afternoon, a time that stood. The second qualifying session was characterized by heavy rain at times and increasingly adverse conditions, and so the frontrunners retained a 3.112s lead over the defending champions in the No.1 Rowe BMW. Third place went to the No.3 Verstappen Mercedes-AMG ahead of the second Rowe-BMW, the No.99. The starting grid for the leading group will only be decided in the three-stage Top Qualifying on Friday, which will set the tone for the second day of this motorsport classic.

Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin are in the cockpit of the day’s fastest Mercedes-AMG.

“We’ve completed all the necessary laps, but of course it’s a challenge in this weather," said DTM driver Engel. "There are sporadic showers or hailstorms every now and then, and then it just gets very, very wet and dangerous very quickly. Fabian put in a superb lap. I don’t think you can read too much into the times yet. You have to wait for the top qualifying session, and I would even go so far as to say you have to wait for the race."

n the second-placed Rowe BMW, Jordan Pepper is supporting last year’s winners Augusto Farfus, Raffaele Marciello and Kelvin van der Linde. Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen is sharing his Mercedes-AMG on his 24-hour debut with current DTM drivers Lucas Auer and Jules Gounon, as well as former DTM driver Dani Juncadella. The No.99 Rowe BMW is being driven by Dan Harper, Max Hesse, Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor. The Manthey Porsche No.911, the “Grello”, was the best non-Mercedes or BMW in fifth place, followed by Abt’s best Lamborghini, the No.130. From other manufacturers, the HRT Ford No.64 finished eighth and the Scherer PHX Audi No.16 ninth in the top 10.

Following Qualifying 1 in the afternoon, which had already seen rain for long stretches and even hail, conditions became even more difficult for the 161 starters in Qualifying 2 that evening. At times, parts of the track were under water, whilst elsewhere the ideal line was still dry. Drivers even reported aquaplaning at a leisurely pace of 40 km/h. As a result, no further time improvements were possible during the night practice session.

For the second day on Friday, the focus is on the three-stage Top Qualifying, where pole position and the best starting positions are decided in a direct battle between the strongest teams. In the first two rounds, starting at 10.15 am local time, only the fastest cars will progress. It is only in the decisive Top Qualifying 3 (from 1.35 pm) that the fastest drivers will battle it out for pole position in individual time trials. In between, all other classes have their final chance to improve their times and thus their starting positions in Qualifying 3 (12:00) – the top teams are not eligible to compete in that session.

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