• Ricardo Feller and Bastian Buus move to top of standings with Zandvoort podium
• Lionspeed GP heads to Barcelona decider with firm shot at breakthrough title
• Flynt Schuring and Nicolas Baert impressive performance in Silver Cup guest appearance

Lionspeed GP is the new overall points leader in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup. A podium finish at Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands pushed Bastian Buus (DEN) and Ricardo Feller (CHE) to the top of the standings with only two races at the Barcelona finale remaining.

The Dutch seaside circuit played host to the penultimate round of what has been a hotly contested campaign, one in which Lionspeed GP already claimed two overall victories at Brands Hatch and Magny-Cours, respectively. As a result, the No. 80 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo, supported by Potentia, a North American-based developer of next-generation industrial and AI infrastructure, arrived at Zandvoort fully in contention for the overall championship.

In addition to its fan-favorite mint-liveried Porsche, the team entered a second car at Zandvoort as newly crowned Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup champion Flynt Schuring (NED) made his series debut in the No. 89 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo alongside DTM Driver Nicolas Baert (BEL). The entry was supported by Lionspeed GP’s long-time partners Manorhaven, Abacus Global Management, Staloc and Beyond Capital Partners.

The opening practice sessions underlined the high expectations Lionspeed had, of their trip to the seaside with the 80 and 89 finishing in P6 and P7 overall in FP1. The qualifying session on Saturday morning resulted in eighth on the grid for the No. 80 Porsche, courtesy of a best lap of 1:34.081 for Buus. Schuring, in his first-ever GTWC Europe qualifying session, was just under half a second off and qualified a highly respectable sixth position in Silver Cup.

The first of two 60-minute races, held later that day, was one characterized by fierce battling up and down the field. Buus and Feller initially crossed the line in fifth overall, but were demoted to 23rd after a post-race penalty was applied. Meanwhile, Schuring and Baert picked up a strong fifth-place finish in Silver Cup after a strong debut race in the GT3R for both drivers.

The following day, Feller qualified sixth overall for the second and final contest of the weekend, while the No. 89 Porsche picked up ninth in Silver Cup with Baert at the wheel.

Race 2 ended early for the Silver Cup crew, whereby their ambitions came to an undeserved early end after contact with another competitor in the opening exchanges forced it into retirement.

At the front of the field, a strong opening stint from Feller saw the Swiss racer fight his way up from sixth to fourth before pitting to hand over to Buus. Exceptional pit work from the Lionspeed GP crew and a strong out lap allowed the No. 80 Porsche to pick up two more positions, with Buus then holding strong to finish the race in second overall.

As a result of the podium finish, Feller and Buus have captured the lead in the overall Sprint Cup drivers’ standings. They hold a six-point advantage heading into the deciding round, which will be held at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on October 3-4.