Winward Crews Battle for Lead as N24 Reaches Six Hours

The Winward Racing Mercedes-AMGs battled for the lead of the Nürburgring 24 as it reached one-quarter distance, with Lucas Auer retaking first place in the Verstappen Racing entry approaching the six-hour mark, when rain arrived.

Max Verstappen had earlier moved the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo into the lead, but Jules Gounon did not look as comfortable after taking over from the Formula 1 champion and fell behind the No. 67 HRT Ford Mustang GT3 EVO of Dennis Olsen — which was on an off-kilter strategy — in the fourth hour.

While the Mustang lost a chunk of time with a sticking wheel nut and then Frederic Vervisch struggled to match Olsen’s pace after taking over, at the end of the fifth hour Gounon came under attack from stablemate Fabian Schiller in the No. 80 Mercedes-AMG that had started 25th on the grid.

Schiller made the move at the end of the Dottinger Hohe but did not pull clear from Gounon as the pair were also chased by Connor de Phillippi in the BMW M3 Touring 24h.

De Phillippi was on a charge at the start of the sixth hour and passed both Mercedes-AMGs on the same lap, going around the outside of Gounon at Schwedenkreuz and then getting Schiller at Fuchsrohre.

However, de Phillippi’s charge was halted when he had to serve a 45-second penalty at his next pit stop for a yellow-flag infringement, while the two Winward cars pitted for wet weather tires as the rain arrived.

A lap after making the tire switch, Auer — who had taken over from Gounon — reclaimed the lead at Schwedenkreuz as Schiller was slightly delayed by a backmarker.

The No. 34 Walkenhorst Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo had moved into the lead with its off-kilter strategy but Mattia Drudi stayed out for an additional lap on slick tires before making the switch, dropping him to fourth behind de Phillippi as he repeatedly skated off the track.

Rising to fifth was the lead Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo, the No. 44 Falken Motorsports entry of Klaus Bachler until a moment with the barriers at Brunnchen cost him two spots.

This meant the No. 99 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO was up to fifth despite also serving a 45-second stop-and-hold penalty for a yellow-flag infringement, while the No. 24 Lionspeed Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor was sixth.

Their progress was aided by a puncture for the No. 130 ABT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Nick Yelloly that had led the race in the opening hour.