THIERRY VERMEULEN SHOCKS GAMOTA BMW TO CLAIM SUNDAY 24H NüRBURGRING QUALIFIERS POLE POSITION
Thierry Vermeulen takes Nürburgring pole by just 0.001s! See how Verstappen Racing lines up for today’s race.
The Kondo Ferrari #45, driven by Perel, Marschall, and Vermeulen, will start Sunday’s second 2026 24h Nürburgring qualifiers race from pole. In top qualifying, Thierry Vermeulen nailed a lap in 8:10.275, just one-thousandth of a second ahead of the next-best time.
That next-best time came from David Jahn in the Gamota BMW #23 (Zsigo, Kranz, Jahn), who just missed repeating his Saturday pole by the slimmest possible margin.
“Thanks so much to the team for the car. We’ve kept improving since the last NLS race,” Vermeulen said. “Yesterday, we still had some issues, but overnight, the team really worked them out. It felt great to get a clear lap finally.”
Behind them, the Scherer-Phx Audi #16 (Haase, Sims, B. Green) will start third, just ahead of the Manthey Porsche #911 “Grello” (Preining, Campbell). Fifth spot went to the Winward Mercedes #3, where Lucas Auer handled qualifying instead of F1 star Max Verstappen.
Rounding out the top ten: Prosport Mercedes #26 (Christodoulou, Grenier, Lulham); Schnitzelalm Mercedes #11 (Heyer, Hartling, Fitje); Black Falcon Porsche #48 (Arrow, Assenheimer, T. Muller, Pereira); Winward Mercedes #80 (Engel, Schiller, Stolz); and Black Falcon Porsche #5 (Kaya, Kiefer, Piana, Stursberg).
Earlier in the day, the top SP9 teams each got two flying laps for time trials. The Nordschleife was still damp in the morning, but by the time top qualifying rolled around, the track was practically dry enough for slicks. Still, a few wet patches remained and tripped up Alessio Picariello in the Dunlop Porsche #17 (Picariello, Boccolacci). He went off on the warm-up lap and tapped the guardrail, limping back to the pits.
“I was just stupid,” Picariello said later. “The tyres weren’t up to temperature. I tried to get them as warm as possible, but lost the car mid-corner and couldn’t save it. It wasn’t a big crash, but enough to cause damage. Totally my mistake.”
Then it was Sven Müller driving the Falken Porsche #44 (Heinemann, Müller, Schuring), also with the Schnabl team, who slid off at Hatzenbach. His session ended early, and yellow flags slowed down the drivers behind him.
At first, it looked like only the five cars that got through before the accident could really fight for the pole. But on their second flyers, more drivers managed to improve, even with yellows in that section.
That mix kept things tense right up to the finish, but nobody could top the time Vermeulen set early on. For the record, he’s the son of F1 manager Raymond Vermeulen, who works with Max Verstappen.
MOTORSPORT WORLD MOURNS AFTER FATAL SEVEN-CAR NüRBURGRING CRASH CLAIMS JUHA MIETTINEN
Juha Miettinen, 66, has died following a seven-car crash at the Nürburgring. Get the latest details on this motorsport tragedy.
Max Verstappen expressed his condolences after the tragic passing of Juha Miettinen, who lost his life in a multi-car accident during qualifying for the 24 Hours of Nurburgring.
The incident occurred early in the weekend’s opening race, a four-hour event that started at 5:30 pm local time. About 25 minutes into the race, seven cars collided at a tight hairpin just before the Karussell section.
The race was immediately stopped with a red flag, and no replays of the crash were shown during the live broadcast. Some onboard footage from the #992 Porsche AT2, driven by Bjorn Griesemann, provided a glimpse of the scene, though technical problems with the cameras limited coverage there.
Misha Charoudin, a driver who was directly behind the crash, mentioned to Viaplay that “someone left fluid behind", causing six or seven cars to pile into each other. He noted, “You come into that stretch at 220 kph, and if you can’t brake…”
Race control later confirmed that Miettinen, 66, succumbed to injuries from the crash. Despite the quick response from emergency teams, paramedics were unable to save him. He was pronounced dead in the medical centre after all efforts to resuscitate him failed.
The other six drivers involved received precautionary medical evaluations, either at the medical centre or nearby hospitals, with none reported to be in critical condition.
Following the accident, the decision was made to halt the race. The FIA, while not the event organiser, was involved in several operational aspects and issued a statement expressing sorrow over Miettinen’s death during the first qualifying race of the ADAC 24h Nürburgring.
“Our thoughts go out to his family, friends, and all connected to the event,” the FIA said.
Verstappen, whose teammate Lucas Auer was driving the #3 Mercedes-AMG during the crash, also shared his thoughts that evening.
“Shocked by what happened today,” he wrote. “Motorsport is something we all love, but moments like this serve as a stark reminder of the risks involved. My heartfelt condolences go to Juha’s family and loved ones.”
FERNANDO MENDOZA AIMING TO JOIN RARE ELITE CLUB: HEISMAN AND NATIONAL CHAMPION IN SAME YEAR
Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza is the consensus No. 1 pick! See why the Raiders are locked in on their future franchise leader.
Everyone’s expecting Fernando Mendoza to go first overall to the Las Vegas Raiders in this week’s NFL Draft. The guy’s locked in, with absolutely zero distractions, just chasing his pro football dreams.
Mendoza’s coming off a run with the Indiana Hoosiers that put him on the verge of something rare. If he pulls it off, he’ll join the tiny handful of quarterbacks who’ve won both the Heisman and the National Championship, then gone first overall, all in the same year. He’s determined to do just that, and he’s made it clear nothing’s getting in his way.
He’s even talked openly about skipping out on dating. 'No time for a girlfriend right now,' Mendoza said. He’d end up giving her all his attention when really, he wants to be watching more film and working on football. He laid it out during the National Championship media day: right now, his phone just has LinkedIn and YouTube. No doomscrolling through football takes, and definitely no reading what random fans say about him. He tunes it all out, focusing on feedback from his coach and the other quarterbacks in the room. So far, it’s paid off; he played his best football through the playoffs, staying away from social media and deleting every app that could steal his focus. In the end, it helped him get that National Championship.
Even though the Raiders just brought in Kirk Cousins, Mendoza’s still the favourite to take the starting job as a rookie. Scouts see him as the clear top quarterback in this draft, though ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky has argued that Alabama’s Ty Simpson actually deserves the top spot.
Looking past this year, the 2027 draft is shaping up to be a stronger class for quarterbacks, with guys like Arch Manning, Dante Moore, LaNorris Sellers, Julian Sayin, and DJ Lagway all expected to throw their names in the hat. But right now, the spotlight’s on Mendoza, and he’s making sure nothing shakes his focus.
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