• Bashar Mardini and Bastian Buus continue Sprint Cup title campaign with third place podium at Misano
• Strong pace with podium in reach goes unrewarded for Gabriel Rindone and Ricardo Feller
• Sprint Cup continues at Magny Cours on August 1-3

Lionspeed GP continued its GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup campaign with a hard-fought Bronze Cup podium at Misano. Bashar Mardini and Bastian Buus regained second place in the championship standings by finishing third in a red-flagged Sunday race, while teammates Gabriel Rindone and Ricardo Feller saw strong pace go unrewarded.

Lionspeed arrived at Italy poised for the second round of its Sprint Cup season, having kicked off its season at Zandvoort in May with a maiden victory for Mardini and Buus. At the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Mardini and Buus would once again share driving duties in the No. 89 Porsche 911 GT3 R, while Rindone and Feller returned to the cockpit of the No. 80 sister car for the first time since finishing fourth in class at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

The team would take its strongest result of the weekend on Sunday, with Mardini and Buus finishing third in class in a race that was headlined by a red flag. This was to be triggered by the frightening crash for Lamborghini driver Georgi Donchev, which eliminated Lionspeed’s No. 80 Porsche with Rindone after suffering damage by collecting Donchev’s stationary and burning car. Rindone, unharmed, was forced to retire Lionspeeds’ #80 after the collision. Thankfully Donchev was able to walk away uninjured after the serious incident.

In the melee before the red flag, which lasted for over two hours as circuit workers and championship officials worked to repair barrier damage, Mardini spun into the gravel, dropping the No. 89 car down the order to P9. However, after the race resumed, the #89 displayed strong pace and remained out of trouble as cars around got involved in incidents and received penalties to climb back up to third place and take home well deserved podium finish.

“This was a very dramatic race,” said Mardini. “The start was very exciting and I had an excellent start and I was up to third, but then I made a mistake and went off on the track at the same moment that the big accident happened. We were ninth and I thought that it was over and that the race was finished. Somehow after the restart, pitting correctly, good pit stop, good stint from Bastian, and then many penalties up the road and mistakes from other drivers, we were on the podium in third. So much drama, it’s amazing that all this happened in a 60-minute race. We took points from our closest competitors, which is the best result I could hope for. The weekend was not favorable to us and the Balance of Performance was not in our favor this weekend, but fifth and third is a very positive points haul for the weekend.”

As a result of their podium, combined with a fifth place during Saturday evening’s opening race of the weekend, Mardini and Buus have retained their second place in the Bronze Cup standings. After two rounds, they have gathered a total of 39 points, leaving them just seven points off the championship lead with two events in Magny-Cours and Valencia remaining.

“This was a bit of a chaotic weekend for us in some areas,” Buus added. “Not the cleanest race, but with the red flag interruption, we had a chance to get back. We took a bit of a risk with the pit stop. It worked out and we gained some time on the competition. Third for us in the end in the last race with our main rivals in the championship out of the race means good points were gained in the championship. Now in two weeks it’s the next round.“

For Rindone and Feller, meanwhile, their weekend was reflective of a trend that has come to symbolize their season thus far: terrific pace and strong performances, but poor fortune preventing them from securing the results they deserve. The speed of the No. 80 Porsche was on full display during Feller’s charging opening stint on Saturday evening, where he gained five positions in the opening exchanges. He then went on to climb to as high as fifth overall, running amongst the leading Pro runners as the best-placed Porsche, before handing over to Rindone.

Rindone, in turn, looked on course to secure the No. 80 crew’s first podium of the season before a late-race contact with CSA Racing’s No. 112 McLaren. Rindone received a converted drive through penalty for the incident, adding 45 seconds to its total race time and dropping it to eighth in Bronze Cup. The team would like to extend its apologies to CSA Racing and driver Isaac Tutumlu Lopez for the incident.

Rindone and Feller will seek to bounce back when the Sprint Cup campaign continues at France’s Circuit de Nevers-Magny Cours on August 1-3. There, both of Lionspeed’s Porsches will be in action, with Mardini and Buus looking to continue their Bronze Cup title assault.