Pro-Am BMW on pole for 24h Qualifiers race one

The No.23 BMW took its first pole position of 2026 in the first of the two 24h Qualifiers | Credit: Luna Maas

The first competitive session of the 24h Qualifiers started at 08:30 local time. At 08:32, Walkenhorst's spirits were dampened when their No.35 Aston Martin stopped on the Grand Prix track, and the remaining spirits evaporated at 08:37 when their other car, the No.39 crashed at the Foxhole.

At 08:47 the red flag was called to clear the crashed car and repair the damaged barriers. The No.39 had severe damage to the front end, the Walkenhorst mechanics will struggle to get the car ready for the race this evening - but a later than usual start time will play in their favour.

After 53 minutes the red flag ended, and every car rushed back on track to set a lap time before anyone else found a barrier and caused a code 60 zone.

By the end of the session, the No.23 Gamota Racing BMW had set a lap of 8:09.488 to take a surprise pole position, with a two second gap to the No.11 SR Motorsport Mercedes, meaning the front row of the grid will consist of two Pro-Am cars.

Only six hundredths slower than the No.11, last weeks pole sitters, the No.47 KCMG Mercedes finished third, one spot ahead of the No.48 48 Losch Motorsport Porsche, which is also a Pro-Am entry.

The No.80 Team Ravenol Mercedes finished fifth and the No.3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes finished sixth, making it four Mercedes in the top six. The No.3 may be expecting a penalty, as Lucas Auer (who also set their quickest lap) tagged and spun round a Porsche Cayman GT4 CS.

If there is a punishment it is likely to be in the form of a grid penalty, so Max Verstappen will fight to redeem their race when he starts the car, by overtaking as many cars as quickly as possible.

The first non-German car is the No.84 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini in seventh. The No.16 Scherer Sport Audi is eighth, in a Lamborghini sandwich as the No.7 Konrad Lamborghini will start ninth. The top 10 is completed by the No.123 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche.

In terms of notable entries further down the grid, the popular BMW M3 Touring qualified in 24th overall, but pole in the SP-X class. The two HWA Evos were second and third in the same class, but 39th and 43rd overall. The BMW Z4 once again failed to achieve a positive result, finishing 54th overall, despite being an SP9 entry.

The four hour race will start at 17:30 local time (16:30 BST) this evening, and race past the sunset. The live stream can be watched for free on YouTube.