May 17 (Reuters) - Max Verstappen's hopes of winning the Nuerburgring 24 Hours endurance race on his debut were dashed by a late driveshaft failure that put him out of contention on Sunday after leading for several hours.
Red Bull's four-times Formula One world champion was sharing a Mercedes-AMG GT3 car at the German circuit with Spaniard Dani Juncadella, Andorra-based Frenchman Jules Gounon and Austrian Lucas Auer.
The Dutch driver's debut in the 54th edition of the endurance race had triggered huge interest with weekend tickets selling out for the first time in the event's history and organisers saying a record 352,000 attended.
Another Mercedes shared by Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin claimed the overall victory at the 'Green Hell' from 25th place on the starting grid.
It was the first for Mercedes in the Nuerburgring 24 Hours since 2016, when Engel was also part of the winning crew.
That same year, on May 15, Verstappen took his first grand prix win with Red Bull in Spain.
Verstappen and his teammates had been on course to win on Sunday until three hours and 20 minutes before the finish, when the number three car lost speed and returned to the pits for an extended repair.
They eventually went back out on track to be still running at the finish.
"We had a good start, great stints, the decision for rain tyres at the right moment. We had a two-minute lead over everyone else," said Juncadella.
"Just a dream race, but unfortunately it was three hours too short and three hours too long for us. But that's just the way it is in racing."
Verstappen said he hoped to return for another attempt, depending on his commitments elsewhere.
The Dutch driver now turns his attention to the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal next weekend.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)
