The 54th running of the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring will be remembered as the race that F1 star Max Verstappen almost won. He and teammates Lucas Auer, Jules Gounon, and Daniel Juncadella were leading throughout most of the race until a driveline issue forced the car out after 21 hours. That handed the lead over to teammates in a fellow Mercedes AMG GT3, the RAVENOL Mercedes-AMG #80 car driven by veteran Maro Engel in the final stint to take the checkered flag for Mercedes-AMG. Verstappen’s presence caused quite a stir at the big race, with 352,000 fans packing the grandstands and filling the forests of the Eifel region to watch the four-time Formula 1 champion try for his first win at the ‘Ring. The event was sold out for the first time ever for Saturday, with organizers asking that no one who didn’t have a ticket show up.Max attacksAnd indeed, it looked like they would not be disappointed, as the Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing GT3 lead the majority of the race, circulating well ahead of the field with its teammate car, another AMG GT3, leading through the night and far into the next day.Then Verstappen pulled into the pits at 21 hours 30 minutes to hand the car over to Juncadella. But after only two laps out, Juncadella was back in the pits and out of the car, citing a driveline vibration. “We figured out that the driveshaft is broken and due to this damage, there has also been major damage and areas around the drive shaft which makes a longer repair necessary,” said Stefan Wendl, head of customer racing at Mercedes-AMG Motorsport. The #84 Lamborghini took the pole and finished second in the race.There was more drama right behind them.Second place looked like it would go to the #84 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Luca Engstler, Mirko Bortolotti, and Patric Niederhauser. That car had won the pole and started out front. But a time penalty incurred in the race of one minute 20 seconds for a Code 60 (local yellow flag) violation that had gone unserved during the official race time was to be added to the Lambo’s total time after the race. That would have bumped Lamborghini into third place and moved the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO up into second. Packed stands watch the start.Until the Aston was held up, literally at the last minute of the race, by a Code 60 for a broken-down back marker on the final stretch, reducing its lead to less than what the Lamborghini would have served as a penalty. That left Lamborghini in second and Aston in third as the race ended and rain fell over the Nurburgring.It was the first win for Mercedes at the N24 in 10 years, when race winner Maro Engel was also part of the decade-ago winning team. The Team Verstappen AMG GT3 did finally get repaired enough to participate in the finish and pose for a nice checkered-flag photo (see lead photo), with Verstappen at the wheel, 20 laps down.Max said he’d like to return, schedule allowing, next year, which will no doubt make for another sold-out event. So buy your tickets now.
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