Lionspeed GP ready to kick off landmark season with six-hour battle in Paul Ricard

Lionspeed GP kicks off Endurance Cup campaign with night race at Circuit Paul Ricard
First outing for Pro entry, Bronze Cup effort returns with eye on championship
NLS effort welcomes Adam Adelson, Bruno Spengler and Joel Monegro

Lionspeed GP is primed and ready to kick off the biggest season in team history with a six-hour race at Circuit Paul Ricard, which hosts the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup season opener.

GTWC Europe has been the home for Lionspeed across the previous two seasons, with the team regularly proving that it belongs on the highest level of European GT3 racing with consistently strong performances and convincing results.

For the third season in the series, the team will take on its biggest challenge to date with a two-car effort in Endurance Cup, premiering a Pro effort for Porsche drivers Bastian Buus (DEN), Ricardo Feller (CHE) and Thomas Preining (AUT). All three drivers are proven, world-class talents and will take turns behind the wheel of the No. 80 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo.

Supported by partner Potentia, a North American-based developer of next-generation industrial and AI infrastructure, the car’s distinctive mint and white take on Lionspeed’s iconic livery is already on track to become a fan favorite at the first race of the season.

On the other side of the Lionspeed garage, the No. 89 Porsche returns to Bronze Cup with a clear goal: to fight for the championship. Bashar Mardini (CAN) stays on with the team after a convincing debut season in Sprint Cup last year, in which he proved himself as a race winner and title contender.

He will be joined by Lionspeed team principal Patrick Kolb (GER) and team newcomer Alex Fontana (CHE). Fontana joins Lionspeed with proven credentials in GTWC Europe, having taken three Endurance Cup titles with three different manufacturers across his career.

In addition to the pair of cars in the main Endurance Cup race, Lionspeed will also have a presence in the debuting GT3 Revival Series in what promises to be a packed but exciting weekend for the team.

The team will enter a single Porsche 997 GT3 R, which underwent a bare shell restoration during the off-season and has been fully restored ahead of their return to the circuit. Tim Mol will share driving duties with Jose Garcia.

Meanwhile, some thousand kilometers to the north, Lionspeed will also contest the 57th Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. For the NLS season, the team fields two Porsche Cayman GT4 CS as part of its ongoing Permit-A program.

Adam Adelson (USA) returns to the team after NLS1 was originally canceled due to adverse weather and will share driving duties with Bruno Spengler (CAN). The Canadian driver is best known for his lengthy and successful tenure in DTM, which included winning the drivers’ championship in 2012. The second Cayman will be driven by Joel Monegro (DR), who has previously competed in single-make Porsche competition.