Verstappen’s co-driver Daniel Juncadella was at the helm of the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG when he began to slow.
Soon enough, his lead of near on 30 seconds vanished. With three hours and 27 minutes remaining, Maro Engel in the #80 Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol Mercedes-AMG GT3 overtook Juncadella.
Juncadella brought the car into the pit lane for an unscheduled pit stop at which point it was wheeled into the garage.
Crew members of the Winward Racing-run entry began looking under the right rear wheel arch where damage to the driveshaft was discovered.
After an extended period in the pit lane, Juncadella got out of the car while the team worked to remedy the issue.
The Max Verstappen/Lucas Auer/Jules Gounon/Daniel Juncadella Mercedes-AMG lost a lap to the new leaders and soon dropped out of the top 10.
A sting in the tail! Verstappen’s Merc is tumbling down the order.
📺 https://t.co/nRctemYlyf#IGTC | #24hNBR pic.twitter.com/iuau8gORww
— Intercontinental GT Challenge (@IntercontGTC) May 17, 2026
Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing boss Stefan Wendl detailed the issues.
“Just after the pit stop, Dani reported some noise from the rear right,” said Wendl.
“First of all, we had an ABS failure, which leads us to assume an electric failure – something we could reset. We tried to recover two laps and let them out because it was not so much influencing the driving.
“But then he recognised more noise, vibrations, and suddenly he had to slow down to save the car and limped it to the pits.
“In the pits, we saw that the whole rear axle had major damage resulting from a driveshaft failure, which needs us to change the rear axle, which takes 46 minute or an hour.”
Wendl confirmed the team would not rush to fix the car having conceded victory but would have it ready to complete the final few laps.
“We spoke with Max and the other three drivers and everybody is so much disappointed,” said Wendl.
“But we said let’s send this beautiful car out again at the last two or three laps and present it to the fans.”
With three hours to go, the #80 Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Maro Engel/Luca Stolz/Fabian Schiller/Maxime Martin) led the #34 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 (Christian Krognes/Mattia Drudi/Nicki Thiim/Felipe Fernandez Laser) to the tune of one lap.
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