{"id":1443,"date":"2026-05-14T23:00:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T23:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/?p=1443"},"modified":"2026-05-14T23:00:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T23:00:23","slug":"van-der-linde-and-bmw-master-the-rain-in-nighttime-qualifying-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/van-der-linde-and-bmw-master-the-rain-in-nighttime-qualifying-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Van der Linde and BMW Master the Rain in Nighttime Qualifying 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

N\u00dcRBURG, Germany<\/strong> \u2013 While Qualifying 1 was a display of outright speed, Qualifying 2 (Q2) at the 2026 N\u00fcrburgring 24 Hours was a test of survival and strategy. Under the cover of darkness and battling volatile Eifel weather, Kelvin van der Linde<\/strong> emerged as the pace-setter in a rain-affected three-and-a-half-hour session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driving the No. 1 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo<\/strong>, Van der Linde clocked a 9:19.884<\/strong> midway through the session. While his time was nearly a minute slower than Fabian Schiller\u2019s dry Q1 benchmark, it was the definitive lap of the night as the track transitioned from damp to wet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hail, Rain, and a Drying Line<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The session began with treacherous conditions following a heavy downpour and hail just before the green flag at 8:00 PM local time. As the daylight faded, a narrow drying line began to emerge, allowing for a brief window of improved lap times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van der Linde took full advantage of this window to go four seconds clear of Laurin Heinrich<\/strong> in the No. 24 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo<\/strong>. Heinrich\u2019s performance was particularly notable as his team worked tirelessly to repair the car following his heavy crash in the morning session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the “window” slammed shut in the final hour when a second heavy rain front moved over the Nordschleife, effectively ending any hopes of late-session improvements and forcing the field back onto full wet tires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Night Mandatory Laps and Tactical Shifts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Q2 is mandatory for all drivers to ensure they meet the minimum night-lap requirements. Despite the pressure, the field remained remarkably disciplined compared to the morning’s chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Max Verstappen<\/strong> and the Team Verstappen Mercedes-AMG<\/strong> focused on consistency rather than glory. Sharing the wheel with Dani Juncadella<\/strong>, the No. 3 car finished the session 5th fastest with a 9:34.713. Verstappen used the session to gain critical experience in the wet-to-dry transition, a phase he noted as being “one of the toughest challenges” of the Green Hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mixed Fortunes for Porsche and Lamborghini<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Porsche occupied several spots in the top five, with Thomas Preining<\/strong> taking 3rd for Manthey Racing<\/strong> and Klaus Bachler<\/strong> placing the Falken Motorsports<\/strong> entry in 4th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the No. 80 Winward Mercedes-AMG<\/strong>, which dominated Q1, had a more subdued evening. After setting the early pace, they focused on long-run data, finishing outside the top ten as the rain intensified. The session was also an “eventful” one for the No. 17 Dunlop Porsche<\/strong>, which saw both Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Picariello suffer minor off-track excursions at Galgenkopf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Road to Top Qualifying<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With the night sessions complete, the aggregate standings still see Fabian Schiller\u2019s 8:14.957 (Q1)<\/strong> as the time to beat. Attention now turns to Friday morning\u2019s high-stakes Top Qualifying<\/strong> shootout. The revamped knockout format (Top Q1, Q2, and Q3) will finally determine the starting grid for the 161-car field, with the fastest 12 cars fighting for the overall pole position in the final one-hour sprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RESULTS Q1 + Q2<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

N\u00dcRBURG, Germany \u2013 While Qualifying 1 was a display of outright speed, Qualifying 2 (Q2) at the 2026 N\u00fcrburgring 24 Hours was a test of survival and strategy. Under the cover of darkness and battling volatile Eifel weather, Kelvin van der Linde emerged as the pace-setter in a rain-affected three-and-a-half-hour session. Driving the No. 1 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-endurance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1446,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443\/revisions\/1446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}