• Lionspeed GP works through busy weekend with three simultaneous events
• Patrick Kolb, Bastian Buus and Florian Spengler secure top ten finish in the Bronze Cup in the teams GTWC debut
• Antares Au, Thierry Vermeulen and Mikaeel Pitamber successfully obtain Nordschleife A-Permit

Bad Homburg, April 11, 2024 / PRESS RELEASE – Lionspeed GP secured a top-ten finish in the Bronze Cup class of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup as part of an ambitious and demanding weekend of racing that saw the team compete in three different events simultaneously in three countries.

Headlining the weekend for the team was the maiden outing in the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France. There, Lionspeed GP entered a Porsche 992 GT3 R with Florian Spengler, Bastian Buus and Patrick Kolb for a three-hour race at the fast yet technical Riviera circuit.

The event marked the series debut for the team, where it formed part of an impressive 54-car grid, entirely consisting of GT3 machinery. Despite the strong opposition in the most competitive endurance GT3 championship, Spengler, Buus and Kolb ran a clean race to finish ninth in the Bronze Cup – a 19 car class designed for lineups consisting of a Bronze/Silver/Platin driver pairing. With a strong top 10 result Lionspeed has proven its standing amongst established GT3 teams. Both the team as well as drivers Buus and Spengler have never competed in GTWC Europe prior to this weekend.

“Thanks for the hard work all weekend to everyone from my side,” said Buus. “I am very happy to be with the Lionspeed Family for the GTWC Endurance season. It is a very competitive championship with the best of the best competing. This weekend the team proved a great setup and organisation and showed the potential to perform well in the toughest GT Championship in Europe.”

While the team’s GT3 squad worked its way through a debut weekend at Paul Ricard, Lionspeed was also in action during the first two races of the NLS season at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Drivers Antares Au, Thierry Vermeulen and Mikaeel Pitamber successfully completed the pair of four-hour contests at the wheel of the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS, finishing eighth and seventh in the Cup 3 class. In the process, all three drivers achieved their goal of obtaining the Nordschleife A-Permit that will allow them to race GT3 machinery at the famous Eifel circuit.

At the same time, the Lionspeed Classics Division travelled to Italy for its opening weekend of the season. Uwe Kolb raced a 1965 Porsche 911 2L SWB in the 2L Cup and finished 14th during a 90-minute race at the fast and undulating Mugello Circuit. Sadly, Timmo Mol had to retire his Jaguar E-Type semi lightweight halfway through the two hour race in the Sixties’ Endurance race.

“After good improvements and a significantly improved qualifying, the race luck was not on the side of British manufacturer,” said Mol. “Rising temperatures paired with the track layout has taken its tolls on the Jaguars. Five out of the eleven Jaguars entered had to be retired before the end of the race including our #26.”

Lionspeed GP will return to the track for Nürburgring 24 Qualifiers at its home circuit, the Nürburgring Nordschleife, on April 13-14. Further down the line, the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup season continues with the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa on June 26-30.