Max Verstappen survives Nurburgring scare to cap off flawless display

Max Verstappen showed his world championship class on Saturday with another stunning performance at the Nurburgring.

Verstappen’s debut in the Nurburgring Endurance Series (NLS) is now behind him having driven the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport for Lionspeed GP.

The Dutchman finished seventh in the 65th ADAC ACAS Cup’s CUP3 class while also being top of the category for drivers with Permit B vehicles.

Verstappen competed in a special class designed for drivers without their full GT3 license, known as Permit A. To meet these regulations, his Porsche was tuned to 300hp instead of the usual 425hp, classifying it as a Category B car. He qualified sixth on Saturday morning and took a conservative approach at the start, completing 14 clean laps before gradually moving up the field.

It wasn't all plain sailing though for Verstappen who having had to take evasive action at the start also suffered minor brake issues during the race, forcing him to pit before shortly emerging onto the track again.

Max mission completed

After completing his 14 incident-free laps, Verstappen handed over the No. 980 Porsche to a team-mate Chris Lulham. Shortly after the change, a heavy downpour hit the Nurburgring. The young British driver spent a few challenging minutes on slicks before reaching the pits for a change to wet-weather tires.

Lulham soon crossed the finish line with Verstappen officially classified seventh in the CUP3 category and first among drivers in the reduced-power Porsches.

Although Verstappen had completed the required 14 laps, regulations demanded that his Permit A status be validated over two cars. He met this requirement by completing 14 laps in the No. 980 and then exiting the pit lane in Lionspeed GP’s sister car, No. 89.

This decisive move came just in time before Falken Motorsports duo Julien Andlauer and Joel Sturm secured the overall win.

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