News and quotes after 23 hours

There has been little change at the front over the past two hours. Everyone is focused on getting their car to the finish. Luca Stolz, currently leading the field in the Ravenol Mercedes-AMG #80, remains under the greatest pressure. Mirko Bortolotti in the Abt Lamborghini must also keep a close eye on second place, as he still needs to make up time lost to a compensation penalty. The final hour is now under way, with the last pit stops still to come.

#3 Verstappen / Auer / Gounon / Juncadella (Mercedes-AMG GT3)

1:15 p.m. - Daniel Juncadella: "The race was going so well for us! We had a good start, great stints, and the decision to go on wet tyres came at exactly the right moment. We had built up a two-minute lead over everyone else. It was simply a dream race, but unfortunately for us it was 3 hours too short and 3 hours too long. But that’s just how motorsport is."

1:17 p.m. - Lucas Auer: "Things were going really well until we had to park the car. I’m really proud of the team because we did a great job."

#34 Krognes / Drudi / Thiim / Fernandez Laser (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO)

1:29 p.m. - Nicki Thiim: "I’m completely surprised by where we are, to be honest. I really wasn’t expecting anything from this race. We’re giving it everything the car has. It’s a shame for Max, because he was driving in a league of his own. But that’s life."

#36 Reeh / Lachenmayer / Walkenhorst / Scherer (BMW E89 Z4 (EVO 2013))

1:16 p.m. - Christian Scherer has handed the car over to Henry Walkenhorst. He said: "The race was very turbulent. At the beginning everything worked out perfectly, then unfortunately we had a technical defect during the night. Sadly, we didn’t have the spare part here, so someone we know from the region, who also has a Z4 GT3 in his workshop, took parts off his car, we installed them in ours and somehow managed to make it work. I thought that was really cool of him. Many thanks again at this point."

#61 Adelson / Arnold / Green / Van der Zande (HWA EVO.R)

1:23 p.m. - Lance David Arnold: "There had already been signs that we might run into a gearbox problem. I lost second gear. After that I drove everything in third gear, so I didn’t shift down any further. In our position that didn’t really matter. We wanted to look after the car to bring it home. But the gearbox had other plans. We’ll see now. The goal is still to make it across the finish line."

#65 Haupt / Kolb / Schumacher / Caresani (Ford Mustang GT3 EVO (2026))

1:58 p.m. - Pit stop

#67 Olsen / Mies / Vervisch / Stippler (Ford Mustang GT3 EVO (2026))

1:40 p.m. - received an 87-second time penalty for speeding under double yellow flags.

#69 Glock / Scheider / Dörr / Kirchhöfer (McLaren 720S-GT3)

1:40 p.m. - was pushed back into the pits by the team.

1:43 p.m. - Timo Scheider: "It looks like a wheel bearing failure at the front left. The guys now have to see whether we can repair it quickly. We’ve got the right spare parts, but it’s not something that can be fixed quickly."

#80 Engel / Stolz / Schiller / Martin (Mercedes-AMG GT3)

1:25 p.m. - in the pit lane.

1:59 p.m. - Luca Stolz will take over the leading car at the next pit stop for the final stint.

#81 Klingmann / de Wilde / de Phillippi / Verhagen (BMW M3 Touring 24h)

1:20 p.m. - Team principal Thorsten Schubert: "We’re quite happy with the result. We wanted to finish in the top 10. If we can keep going now, it looks like that can all work out. So it looks like we can stay in the top ten and definitely bring home the class win in SP-X as well. That means we’ve already achieved what we set out to achieve."

#90 Schwarze / Cartelle / Sagrera / Pierre (Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2)

1:24 p.m. - is trying to limp back to the pits with technical issues but keeps coming to a halt.

#99 Harper / Hesse / Van der Linde / Vanthoor (BMW M4 GT3 EVO)

1:24 p.m. - was in the pit lane.

#123 Rump / Bünnagel / Brundle (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26)

1:10 p.m. - Mühlner Motorsport has just announced that it will also line up for the third round of the IGTC. Since last year, the 24 Hours of Spa has been a partner event of the 24h Nürburgring.

#300 Kriese / Geilfus / Neumann / Becker (Dacia Logan)

1:57 p.m. - is expected to rejoin the race shortly.

#415 Köppen / Rings / Arend / Arnold (Porsche 911 Carrera*)

1:58 p.m. - Pit stop

#520 Miyazono / Kawabata / Matsuyama / Horino (Toyota Supra*)

1:57 p.m. - routine pit stop.

#830 Basseng / Lauck / Bastian / Azcona (Hyundai Motor Company ELANTRA N TCR)

1:23 p.m. - routine stop for a brake pad change.

#900 Hardt / Hites Michelson / Koslowski / Meijer (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992))

1:16 p.m. - Benjamin Hites: "It has been really great. We started the weekend with a crash in qualifying one. Now we are close to the end and leading our class. The team and my team-mates have done a great job. Now we just need to bring the car home."

#952 Kraus / Saltvedt / Koch / Lindloff (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (Typ 982))

1:57 p.m. - is being pushed back into the pit garage.

#979 Maximilian / Surzyshyn / Brown / Coen (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (Typ 982))

1:39 p.m. - Damon Surzyshyn: "It was good. The conditions are okay. It’s still a little damp out there, but it’s good to drive on slicks. It was pretty warm in the car, but overall things went really well. I had surprisingly clear track a lot of the time – I was often out there all by myself, which on this circuit is a real luxury you hardly ever get. I really enjoyed it. That was my last stint in this race. Yesterday evening I did a double stint, and in total I had three runs – basically in the car, out again, back in, back out. I’m really pretty exhausted now."

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