Nürburgring 24h Preview: A guide to the Green Hell
- Benjamin Crundwell
- 2 hours ago
- 10 min read
Nürburgring 24h Schedule (all times in BST; CEST -1 hour)
Thursday
Qualifying 1: 12:45 - 14:15
Qualifying 2: 19:00 - 22:30
Friday
Top Qualifying 1: 09:15 - 09:45
Top Qualifying 2: 10:05 - 10:35
Qualifying 3: 11:00 - 12:05
Top Qualifying 3: 12:35 - 13:35
Saturday
Warm Up: 09:00 - 10:00
Race: 14:00 - 14:00 (Sunday)
When talking about the most demanding motor race, usual suspects such as the Monaco Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be mentioned plenty of times, but hidden in the Eifel Forest another kind of monster exists: the Nürburgring 24h.
The track, which twists through 25.378km of the Eifel Forest, is widely regarded as the most dangerous stretch of tarmac on the planet. To complete any 24 hour race is a ferocious challenge, but to complete the Nürburgring 24h is the ultimate feat of survival.
With 161 cars split across 23 classes, competitors must balance outright pace with constant traffic management, navigating huge speed differences between cars, while also preserving the machinery for 24 hours on one of the toughest circuits in the world.
The Nürburgring 24h is the second round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC), rather than a Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) round. The entry list, however, always mirrors the NLS grid, as that is the series which teams use to prepare.
The race will use the 24h layout, which is a combination of the full Grand Prix loop (including the fast chicane), and the Nordschleife. As a quarter of a metric century, the track takes over eight minutes to complete. Last years pole time was an 8:12.741, and race lap times are likely to be closer to nine minutes when the code 60s hit.
Code 60s are the Nürburgring's substitute of a safety car; when a car goes off, a code 60 is called in that area of the race track, but the rest of the track stays green. All drivers in a code 60 must follow a speed limit of 60kph, and will face severe punishment if they exceed it.
Where the slower cars have less technology available, their speed sensors are not as accurate so their limiters read slightly lower than 60kph to give a margin for error. Because no overtaking is allowed in a code 60, when a front running car is stuck behind traffic in one of these areas, they may lose time to the car ahead or behind.
The dangerous nature of the track draws in some of the planets best racing drivers, who are determined to master it; Julien Andlauer, driver for the No.17 Dunlop Motorsport Porsche, said: "The Nordschleife is one of my favourite tracks. When you are out there, you really appreciate what it’s all about. The mix of gradients, the circuit running through the forest, the different surfaces and the weather – it’s just a special place.
"With a fast car and the confidence to push, driving there is the best feeling ever."
41 GT3 cars will race in the top, SP9, class of the Nürburgring 24h. Although the track is considered ruthless, for 40 of the SP9 competitors perhaps the most ominous part of the 24 hour race will be the No.3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes, which will be run in tandem with Winward Racing.
The No.3 has gained a lot of attention this year in the NLS because four-time Formula One World Champion, Max Verstappen, has been using the series to prepare for his debut at the Nürburgring 24h; Verstappen will share the car with Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer.
In NLS 2, the No.3 Mercedes finished first on track, however was disqualified post race for using too many tyres across the weekend. Their fortunes didn't continue in the 24h Qualifiers, as they were leading the second race when they were forced to return to the garage with a broken front splitter. However, the team have proven that they will be one of the favourites when competitive action kicks off this week.
Outside of the challenge to survive 24 hours, the Verstappen Racing crew will not have it easy. Reigning Champions of the race, the No.1 Rowe Racing BMW is returning to defend its glory with Kelvin van der Linde, Raffaele Marciello and Augusto Farfus, but this time Jordan Pepper will replace Jesse Krohn.
The Rowe BMW won last year after the No.911 Manthey Porsche was hit with an enormous penalty for putting a back marker on its roof. The No.911 'Grello' is returning this year with an unchanged line up: Kévin Estre, Ayhancan Güven and Thomas Preining. Having led nearly the entire race last year, the three Porsche factory drivers are determined to get vengeance.
Estre, who earned the penalty last year, said: "As every year, this race is a major highlight of my season – perhaps even the biggest one this time. In the past, we have repeatedly shown that we are capable of winning, even if the ultimate success has eluded us in recent years."
Undoubtedly, the No.3 Mercedes and No.911 Porsche will be the major competitors blocking Rowe from retaining the No.1 for next year. Marciello said: "we will do everything we can to defend the number one on the car. We know that the competition is very strong, but we have every chance of finishing at the front again."
Of the other 19 SP9 Pro competitors, five of them are Porsches, one of which is the No.24 Lionspeed GP, which will be driven by Porsche powerhouses, Laurens Vanthoor, Laurin Heinrich and Ricardo Feller. Last year Vanthoor was racing a Scherer Sport Porsche, but failed to make the start after suffering a massive accident at Aremberg in qualifying.
Nürburgring regulars, Falken Motorsports, will race the No.44 car with Klaus Bachler, Tim Heinemann, Sven Müller and Morris Schuring. Müller is optimistic of Falken Motorsport's chances at challenging for a Nürburgring 24h win for the first time : "We’ve been putting a lot of work into getting everything ready, both on and off track, and I’m feeling positive heading into the race week."
Although Bachler regarded preparations for this years race to not be the "easiest", he went onto agree with his team mate: "we managed two really strong test days, which made a big difference. All things considered, the build‑up has come together well.
"2026 is going to be something special. Wheel‑to‑wheel, flat out whether its midnight or midday – that’s what this race is all about. It’s going to be incredible."
In the past, two Falken Motorsport cars have raced, but since their merger over the winter, Dunlop will take the second entry. Although many cars will use, and have used Dunlop tyres in the past, this will be Dunlop's first Nürburgring 24h entry as an actual team. Dorian Boccolacci, Julien Andlauer, Nico Menzel and Alessio Picariello will drive the No.17 Porsche, whose number is paying homage to the old Group C Dunlop prototypes from the 1980s.
Boccolacci's target for the Dunlop car is simple: "Our goal is clear - we want to win, but first we have to finish. It’s a demanding and unpredictable event. We just have to find the limit and not go over it. At the Nordschleife, anything is possible!"
Outside of the No.1 Rowe entry mentioned earlier, BMW have two more SP9 Pro entries: Marco Wittmann, Philipp Eng, Charles Weerts and Robin Frijns will race the No.77 Schubert Motorsport M4, and Dan Harper, Max Hesse, Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor will race the sister Rowe car. A week after their maiden WEC Hypercar win, BMW are searching for their 22nd Nürburgring 24h win.
If the No.3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes isn't the lead three-pointed star, then it will be the No.80 Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol car. Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin will be joined by 2016 winner, Maro Engel. This year marks 10 years since Mercedes last won the Nürburgring 24h, the Stuttgart team are bringing four cars to the SP9 Pro class in an attempt to break their drought.
Engel and Martin currently lead the IGTC Drivers' Championship, as they shared the No.888 Team GMR Mercedes at the first round of the season, the Bathurst 12h, and won.
Although Audi stopped their endurance racing endeavours to focus on Formula One, Scherer Sport PHX will still race the No.16 Audi R8 LMS which they have had so much success with in the past. Alexander Sims and Ben Green will race with Christopher Haase, who is searching for his third win after making headlines in the NLS this season.
From the 53 previous iterations of this race, only nine of them have been won by non-German cars, five of which were by Ford. 38 years after they last won, with the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, Ford returned to the Nordschleife with the Mustang in 2025 to attempt to return to the top step.
HRT are bringing three Fords, two will compete in the SP9 Pro class and the other in SP9 Pro-Am. Three time Nürburgring 24h winner, Frank Stippler will race the No.67 with Arjun Maini, Fabio Scherer and David Schumacher, each of who are yet to take their first win.
Stippler is optimistic he can challenge for a fourth win: "Ford Racing and HRT prepared the Ford Mustang GT3 in the best possible way, and I'm hopeful that we'll have a chance to fight for the podium."
As well as Chrysler, the only other non-German car to win the Nürburgring 24h is the prancing horse. Ferrari have dominated every corner of the motor racing industry, but have only managed success on the Green Hell once, in 2023. Their chances of winning in 2026 are slim, as only one Ferrari will compete.
Three other Italian cars will compete in the SP9 Pro category, all Lamborghinis. Red Bull Team ABT have entered two Huracan GT3s, while Konrad Motorsport is responsible for the third. The strongest of the Lamborghinis is the No.130; Marco Mapelli will be joined by one-time winner Nick Yelloly and two time winner Nicky Catsburg.
Although never successful at the race, two British cars are in the SP9 Pro class. Dörr Motorsport will race the No.69 McLaren and Walkenhorst the No.34 Aston Martin.
Although less competitive, the more notable entry connected to the name Walkenhorst is the No.36 BMW Z4. Although it won't be ran directly by his team, Henry Walkenhorst will be driving the 2013 version of the car in the SP9 Am class. This is the first time the iconic BMW will be driven at the Nürburging 24h since 2019.
A second Z4 will also be entered by W.I.S Racing Team powered by Koopman Racing. The Koopman Racing BMW hasn't caught a break in the NLS season yet, it was forced to retire from NLS 3 with terminal suspension damage.
In April 2025 BMW made a joke about a BMW M3 Touring GT3, then decided to turn the joke into reality when they saw the positive response. Jens Klingmann, Ugo de Wilde, Connor de Phillippi and Neil Verhagen will debut the No.81 BMW M3 Touring 24h in the SP-X class. Despite a lack of notable results in the NLS this year, the car has shown strong pace at the hands of some of BMW's best drivers, and could be a genuine threat for the overall win if luck falls in their direction.
An all female entry features in the AT2 class (AT = Alternate fuel, eg. bio fuels or hybrid etc). Carrie Schreiner, Janina Schall, Michelle Halder and Fabienne Wohlwend will drive the No.146 WS Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. WS Racing have competed in the Nürburgring 24h every year since 2019 (with the exception of 2023), picking up one class win and three other class podiums.
The "YouTube car" will also compete in the AT2 class. Jimmy Broadbent, Steve Brown (aka SuperGT) and Misha Charoudin are competing for the third time, this time in the Black Falcon Porsche Cup car. Once again, they will be granted a touch of experience by their fourth driver, Manuel Metzger, who is a previous overall winner of the race.
Although they're popular with the fans, the YouTubers are narrowly edged out as the fan-favourites by the Dacian Logan. A lot would have to go wrong for the Dacia to even break the top 50, but its an annual highlight of the race. Last year the car suffered issues at the start of the race, and then crashed out a few hours later, so their target this year is to finish.
The 24 hour race will start at 15:00 local time (14:00 BST) on Saturday, but competitive action starts on Thursday. Qualifying 1 and 2 will take place in the afternoon, and then Top Qualifying and Qualifying 3 will be spread across Friday.
As per usual, cars will qualify for Top Qualifying depending on their pace in previous NLS rounds, or in Qualifying 1 and 2. This year however, a new Top Qualifying format has been introduced. It will be a three round F1 style knock-out, with the quickest cars advancing to the next rounds.
While the most crucial session is Top Qualifying, its important that you tune in with a cup of tea to Qualifying 2 on Thursday, as the late-evening session often provides high tension as potential front runners make last gasp attempts to qualify for Top Qualifying. Last year, Laurens Vanthoor was in that situation, bringing the broadcast nail-biting footage of his Porsche on the limit in the depths of the Nordschleife.
With a maxed out entry list full of stars, the 2026 Nürburgring 24h could be one of the most entertaining of all time. To throw more chaos into the turmoil, there is rain predicted throughout the week, including race day.
Mixed conditions bring an extra challenge to drivers at the Nürburgring compared to other tracks, as one part of the track may be bone try while another is hit with a deluge. Due to the near 10 minute lap time, conditions change dramatically every lap; the next time drivers come round, the area that was wet may be drying, while the dry area will be experiencing the downfall.
Outside of predicting which tyre is the most suitable for the mixed conditions, strategists have to face the challenge of the complicated pit stop regulations the Nürburgring maintain. Minimum pit times must be complied with depending on the length of the previous stint and the period of time left in the race.
This means a car may choose to pit early for a short pit stop, but will consequently be hit with a longer pit stop later in the race, unless they manage significant fuel saving.
The atmosphere in the run up to the Nürburgring 24h was summed up nicely by Falken Motorsport's driver, Klaus Bachler: "2026 is going to be something special. Wheel‑to‑wheel, flat out whether its midnight or midday – that’s what this race is all about. It’s going to be incredible."
The stage is set for a dramatic show on motor racing's most feared colosseum. The triumph is waiting for the car which reaches the chequered flag the quickest, but first they will have to defeat the Green Hell.
Click here for the full entry list. All sessions will be streamed live on YouTube.
Written by Benjamin Crundwell
