Historic victory for Lionspeed GP in GTWC Europe Sprint Cup opener at Brands Hatch

Lionspeed GP dominates Sprint Cup season opener at Brands Hatch
Ricardo Feller and Bastian Buus take historic victory aboard No. 80 Porsche 911 GT3 R
Team leads overall championship standings after first round

Lionspeed GP made history in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup opener at Brands Hatch. Ricardo Feller (CHE) and Bastian Buus (DEN) dominated the weekend with a double pole position and came away with a breakthrough maiden overall victory.

In front of 23,257 spectators at the iconic British venue, Lionspeed’s No. 80 Porsche 911 GT3 R was the car to beat for the weekend, building on the already strong potential the team had shown during the six-hour Endurance Cup season opener at Paul Ricard in April.

Qualifying then brought undeniable confirmation of Lionspeed’s raw speed with a double position. Feller grabbed pole for Race 1 with a best lap of 1:22.722, while Buus followed suit with a 1:22.470 to lead the second qualifying session. As a result, the No. 80 Lionspeed Porsche became the first Porsche to ever take both pole positions during a Sprint Cup weekend.

Both 60-minute races were scheduled for Sunday, with Feller taking the start for the opening contest. He dominated the opening stint before handing over to Buus. The No. 80 Porsche was then unfortunately struck by a power steering issue, bringing the race to a premature end.

The Lionspeed mechanics pushed hard to get the car repaired for the second race, which was due to start just a handful of hours later. It was fixed in time for Buus to take the start. This time, the No. 80 Porsche proved unstoppable. Buus controlled the race from pole position, with Feller maintaining the lead to take a historic overall victory for the team.

The win marked a huge milestone for the team, coming in just its third season as an independent GT racing operation. It had previously taken overall pole positions as well as three class victories in Sprint Cup, but this was the first time it stood on the top step of the overall podium.

The victory was made possible by the unwavering support of Potentia, a North-American based developer of next-generation and AI infrastructure, as well as long-time team partners Manorhaven, Abacus Global Management, Staloc and Beyond Capital Partners.

The combination of the Race 2 victory and the double pole position means Lionspeed leads the overall Sprint Cup standings with the first round completed. The Sprint season will resume at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on July 17-19.

Lionspeed’s GT3 program continues with the 54th edition of the ADAC Ravenol 24H Nürburgring on May 14-17, where Feller will share driving duties with Laurin Heinrich (GER) and Laurens Vanthoor (BEL) as part of a two-car effort for the team. The GTWC Europe season, meanwhile, is set to resume on May 29-31 with the three-hour Endurance Cup round at Monza.