• Lionspeed GP returns to GTWC Europe Endurance Cup for third season
• Three-time Endurance Cup champion Alex Fontana joins Bronze Cup crew
• Bashar Mardini steps up to Endurance Cup competition for second season with Lionspeed

Lionspeed GP is preparing to embark on its third season in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup with more ambition than ever. The team will expand to a two-car effort, presenting a lineup of highly experienced Porsche racers for its continuing Bronze Cup lineup.

In its two years competing in the world’s most competitive GT3 championship, Lionspeed has proven itself capable of regularly fighting for class victories at the highest level. Last year, the team was a Bronze Cup front runner in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa and secured a class podium at the Nürburgring en route to second in the overall Bronze standings.

The Bronze Cup entry returns in 2026 as part of an expanded, two-car Endurance Cup effort. While more details of the full effort will be revealed at a later date, the team is excited to reveal that experienced GT3 racer and multi-time GTWC Europe champion Alex Fontana will join the team for the first time to share the No. 89 Porsche 911 GT3 R with team principal Patrick Kolb and the returning Bashar Mardini as part of the team’s continuing Bronze Cup effort.

Fontana, 33, brings a wealth of racing experience to Lionspeed. Early in his career, he competed in GP3 and Formula 2, was part of the Lotus F1 junior roster and even briefly raced in Formula E before moving on to sportscar racing. Fontana went on to forge a particularly successful career in GTWC Europe Endurance Cup, winning the Silver Cup title in both 2018 and 2021 as well as the Pro-Am title in 2023.

“It’s a return to GT World Challenge for me,” Fontana said. “I have a few titles there in Pro-Am and Silver Cup, but it’s been a few years since I’ve done the full Endurance Cup season. Lionspeed is a benchmark team in SRO competition, especially within the Porsche world. Therefore it’s really nice to join this combination in the highest level championship with one of the best teams out there.”

Fontana will share the No. 89 Lionspeed Porsche with a familiar face in Mardini, as the two drivers have previously teamed up elsewhere. Mardini returns to Lionspeed for a second season, having enjoyed a particularly successful debut season in Sprint Cup last year. Three class victories, including one on debut at Zandvoort, resulted in a title bid in Bronze Cup that only narrowly saw the team miss out on championship success and finish runner-up in the standings.

“It’ll be my second year with Lionspeed and in the same car, Nala,” Mardini said. “My teammates will be Patrick Kolb and Alex Fontana. I’ve already raced with Alex before and we’re a very good pairing. We did a GT Open race together in Monza and we won it very convincingly. I have a good feeling about it. We have a good program. We have some good testing in mind. I think we’re going to be more prepared this year than I was last year at this time.”

The Endurance Cup season kicks off with the six-hour season opener at Circuit Paul Ricard on April 11-12. A three-hour race at Monza (May 30-31) then leads into the biggest event on the calendar: the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa on June 25-28. The calendar wraps up with two further three-hour races at the Nürburgring (August 29-30) and Portimao (October 17-18).