Lionspeed GP Porsche claimed victory at the 79th running of the Spa 24 Hours after starting from pitlane, beating Winward Mercedes and AF Corse Ferrari.
In front of a record 132,000 spectators, the triumph marked the biggest achievement in Lionspeed GP’s histroy, as Ricardo Feller, Thomas Preining, and Bastian Buus took the chequered flag after an incredible comeback race in which they had originally started from the pitlane.
The result marks the first overall victory for the 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 R at Spa, and the German manufacturer’s first win at the event since 2020.
With all three drivers celebrating their maiden victories at the world’s biggest GT3 race, it was the second overall Pro-class win for Lionspeed in GT World Challenge Europe, following its Sprint Cup success in race two at Brands Hatch.
Starting from the pitlane, the #80 Porsche steadily sliced through the field during the opening stages. The team then capitalised on a flurry of night-time full-course yellows and safety cars to position itself at the front of the field, as the 911 GT3 R (992) grew increasingly competitive.
The race ultimately came down to a final three-and-a-half-hour sprint. The Lionspeed entry had already established the lead an hour prior during a cycle of pitstops.
When the race restarted for the eleventh time, Preining immediately pulled clear while his pursuers fought hard over second, allowing the 2023 DTM champion to build a comfortable gap, which he managed through the final three hours.
Photo by: SRO/JEP
The battle for second place was fierce, featuring a thrilling three-way scrap between the #48 Winward Mercedes of Lucas Auer, Maro Engel and Luca Stolz, the #51 AF Corse Ferrari of Alessio Rovera, Tommaso Mosca and Nicklas Nielsen, and the #22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche of Ayhancan Guven, Matt Campbell and Frederic Makowiecki.
The #48 Mercedes came out on top less than one second ahead of the #51 Ferrari, with the #22 Porsche just missing out on the rostrum.
Double puncture for Ferrari
The #51 endured a rollercoaster of a race. In the scorching heat at the start of the race, the Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo was the undisputed pacesetter. However, a puncture just four and a half hours in dealt the team a big blow, costing it one and a half laps.
The Italian squad managed to climb its way back onto the lead lap during the night with clever tactics. During the transition from FCY to safety car, the #51 car bypassed a pitstop under FCY to gain a lap back and by waiting until the field had bunched up behind the safety car to make its stop, it successfully remained on the lead lap.
Just as it rejoined the fight for the lead, Mosca suffered another puncture in a duel with Luca Stolz. Despite the second setback, the car was able to stay on the lead lap and the final safety car brought it right back into contention. But the dominant pace of the opening hours had vanished as ambient temperatures dropped below 30 degrees Celsius in the closing stages.
With one hour remaining, Rovera forced his way past Guven at Les Combes with a robust elbows-out move. AF Corse then attempted to undercut with an early final pitstop, but Rovera emerged just behind the #87 Winward Mercedes. Unsurprisingly, Gabriele Piana proved far from cooperative, making the Ferrari work hard to get past and allowing the #48 to stay ahead.
Photo by: SRO/JEP
Intra-Brand Drama for Porsche
Prior to this, Guven had found himself at the centre of controversy following a fierce, stint-long intra-brand battle with Morris Schuring in the #2 Boutsen VDS Porsche.
On the final lap before their scheduled pitstops, Guven launched a late divebomb into La Source. The move resulted in contact that damaged the front bumper of Schuring’s car, effectively knocking the #2 entry out of podium contention.
In the #48 Mercedes Maro Engel got caught behind the lapped #30 WRT BMW of Amaury Cordeel at the final restart, instantly losing three seconds to Preining.
The subsequent in-fighting with the Ferrari and the Schumacher CLRT Porsche cost too much time, allowing the Lionspeed Porsche to escape up the road.
None of the cars finishing from fifth place downward had the pace to challenge for the victory. The #50 AF Corse Ferrari of Arthur Leclerc, Lilou Wadoux and Sean Gelael recovered from light contact with the barriers on Saturday evening to finish fifth, but lacked the ultimate firepower of its sister car.
Behind them, the #46 WRT BMW of Dan Harper, Max Hesse and Valentino Rossi crossed the line in sixth. The entire fleet of BMW M4 GT3 Evos lacked that final fraction of speed this weekend.
After the #46 hit the front on Sunday morning during the mandatory technical pitstops, it was unable to defend the position. The #98 Rowe BMW of Augusto Farfus, Jake Dennis and Raffaele Marciello finished ninth, while the #32 car of Kelvin van der Linde, Jordan Pepper and Charles Weerts eventually ended up 12th after suffering an issue with oil and power steering on the final lap.
Between the BMWs, the #34 Walkenhorst Aston Martin of Jamie Day, Christian Krognes and Henrique Chaves came in seventh place. The Aston’s race almost ended in a major first-lap pile-up, but Day managed to limp back to the pitlane.
The team repaired the Vantage without any lingering performance deficits, allowing the car to run almost continuously in the top 10, even if its ultimate pace was not enough to challenge the leaders.
Class winners at the 2026 Spa 24 Hours (overall position)
Pro-Cup: Lionspeed-Porsche #80 (Feller/Preining/Buus) (P1)
Gold-Cup: Rowe-BMW #998 (de Wilde/Tramnitz/Klingmann) (P11)
Silver-Cup: Rinaldi-Ferrari #45 (Duran/Medler/Balzan/Perel) (P14)
Bronze-Cup: Kessel-Ferrari #74 (Blattner/Tuck/Jaubert/Marschall) (P10)
Pro-Am-Cup: JMR-Corvette #0 (J. Ibrahim/A.B. Ibrahim/Love/Green) (P29)
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– The Autosport.com Team
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