Nurburgring 24 Hours: Max Verstappen leads as daylight breaks after 18 hours

Max Verstappen continues to lead at the Nurburgring 24 Hours after climbing into his Mercedes-AMG GT3 for what is expected to be his final stint of the race.

The four-time Formula 1 world champion was the class of the field during his nighttime stint, in damp and greasy conditions. But his stint wasn't without drama, with traffic providing a challenge with Maro Engel on his tail in the sister Winard Racing Mercedes. While attempting to navigate a series of cars, Engel attempted to take his chance, and went to the outside, but quickly ran out of road and put two wheels on the grass, narrowly avoiding disaster.

Behind the Mercedes pair, however, early rivals fell at a rate of knots, with the #911 Porsche 911 GT3 driven by Kevin Estre being caught out by oil on the track when lapping a slower car, and slamming into the barriers. Shortly after, the #64 Ford Mustang of Arjun Maini went off on the same oil slick, causing race-ending damage to his car. 

Under the cover of darkness, cars in the top SP9 class continued to drop out, with Alessio Picariello the most notable casualty, with a crash at over 230kph while overtaking traffic, destroying his Porsche 911 GT3.

In the early hours, Timo Glock, driving the Benetton-liveried #69 McLaren 720S-GT3, was handed two penalty points for ignoring a 60kph slow zone, being clocked at 112kph in the area of track. With points already on his licence, the German former F1 driver was disqualified from the event, and had his DPN licence revoked. However, the car remains on track, with his team-mates able to continue on. It currently laps in 14th place. 

Just before the 18 hour marker, Verstappen took over from Lucas Auer. The Dutchman is widely expected to complete a near-two-hour double stint, before handing the keys to Jules Gounon, with Daniel Juncadella bringing the car to the flag - if all goes to plan.

The Verstappen car holds a lead of 13 seconds over the #80 Winward Racing entry, with Patric Niederhauser third in the #84 Red Bull Team Abt Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Although over five minutes back on the leader, the position marks a strong recovery after a lap one puncture forced the pole-sitting car to quickly dive into the pits, and undo all the previous good work. 

Should the Winward Racing entries retain these positions to the flag, it would be the first one-two for a team since 2008, when Manthey Racing achieved the feat with a pair of Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs.

Rain has begun to fall once more, but Verstappen shows no sign of pitting for wet tyres, electing instead to remain on slick rubber. 

The chequered flag will drop at 2pm BST.