- Lionspeed GP ends GTWC Europe season on a high with second place in Portimao finale
- Bastian Buus and Ricardo Feller finish runner-up in overall standings
- Bronze Cup crew has hopes of strong finish dashed by contact
Bad Homburg, October 20, 2026 / PRESS RELEASE – Lionspeed GP has brought its GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS season to a close in fine style, finishing second in the three-hour Endurance Cup finale at Portimao at the end of what has been a historic and memorable pro entry debut for the team.
For Lionspeed GP, the 2026 season will be remembered as one in which the team reached new and historic heights. It represented Porsche in the Pro category of the world’s most competitive GT3 championship for the first time. It won the world’s biggest GT3 Race, the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa in June and captured the overall Sprint Cup drivers’ title with drivers Bastian Buus (DEN) and Ricardo Feller (CHE).
For the Endurance Cup finale, which was held at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao for the first time, Buus and Feller were reunited with Thomas Preining (AUT). The trio would line up one more time aboard the No. 80 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo, powered by Potentia, the North American-based developer of next-generation industrial and AI infrastructure.
Bashar Mardini (CAN), team principal Patrick Kolb (GER) and Alex Fontana (CHE) teamed back up at the wheel of the No. 89 Porsche, supported by long-time team partners Manorhaven, Abacus Global Management, Staloc and Beyond Capital Partners. They too were looking for a strong end to the season, a highlight for which had been a class podium in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
An unusual, altered schedule for the last Endurance Cup fixture meant that all three Free Practices plus qualifying took place on Friday, with the three-hour race starting on Saturday at 17:00 local time.
A fine qualifying performance by Buus, Feller and Preining meant that the mint-liveried No. 80 Porsche lined up third overall, thanks to a combined time of 1:42.250. The No. 89 Porsche, meanwhile, posted a 1:43.656 and lined up tenth in Bronze Cup.
The race on Saturday evening, contested by a field of 61 GT3 cars, was one defined by razor-sharp battles up and down the pack. At the very front of the field, the No. 80 Porsche was a threat for overall victory throughout the race as it was engaged in fierce fights at several points mainly between the #17 Getspeed Mercedes, #2 Porsche and the charging #3 Verstappen.com Mercedes which for the first time in GT World Challenge started with the four time F1 World Champion Max Verstappen himself. When the checkered flag dropped on the race, and the GTWC Europe season with it, Buus, Feller and Preining finished a fine second overall, to secure their 5th overall podium in 10 race weekends. Unfortunately, the No. 89 Porsche failed to reach the finish, retiring after a multi-car incident in the closing stages of the race.
Lionspeed GP proudly looks back on what has been a historic season, successfully representing its Partners and Porsche at the highest level of European GT3 competition. Across the course of the GTWC Europe season, the team scored three victories, including the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, and a total of 9 podiums across all of its entries throughout the 10 race events.
In addition to winning the overall Sprint Cup drivers’ title, Feller and Buus finished Vice Champion in the combined overall drivers’ championship and third in the Endurance Cup drivers’ standings. Furthermore, Lionspeed GP ended the season third in the overall team standings as the best-placed Porsche team in the championship.
The No. 80 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R also started from pole position three times across the season – another landmark achievement in a championship where hundredths of seconds often make the difference.
Lionspeed GP’s plans for the 2027 season will be revealed at a later date.
