Austrian Porsche team moves up to the top class at Zandvoort

At the race in Zandvoort, the Netherlands, razoon – more than racing will compete in the Pro class of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup. In Europe’s toughest GT3 sprint championship, the team from Eggersdorf near Graz will field a Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Forty-four GT3 cars are entered for the full season in this top-class racing series, which stages two one-hour races every weekend. The dune circuit at Zandvoort presents particular challenges, as sand is constantly blown onto the Grand Prix circuit from the North Sea coast, meaning grip conditions can change rapidly.

Porsche works driver Klaus Bachler will be competing for the team. The driver from Styria is regarded as one of the fastest and most experienced Porsche drivers in the world. In recent years, Bachler has won titles in the LMGT3 class of the FIA WEC, secured the GT3 class title twice in the Asian Le Mans Series and was crowned champion in the 24H Series last year. He has also secured race victories in the GT World Challenge Europe, the ADAC GT Masters and on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, amongst others. Danish driver Simon Birch will also compete in the Pro class for the team led by team owner Dominik Olbert and GT3 team manager Christoph Huber, completing the driver line-up. Birch is regarded as one of the greatest talents in GT3 racing and has already competed for the Austrian team in the GT2, GT3 and GT4 categories. In the ADAC GT Masters, Birch won two races with razoon – more than racing 2025. Last year, Klaus Bachler and Simon Birch made a guest appearance together in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup at Misano.

“In less than two weeks, the time will have come and I’ll be lining up alongside Simon and razoon at the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup in Zandvoort. I’m really looking forward to the weekend,” said Klaus Bachler. “It’s obviously great, as an Austrian, to be racing for an Austrian team that has now established itself on the GT3 scene. As we’re in the middle of the season and moving up to the Pro class, it’s not quite so straightforward, as we haven’t really been able to prepare properly due to the ban on testing. Nevertheless, we were aware of this, but we’re still preparing as best we can. The competition is, of course, fierce and we can’t afford to make any mistakes. Our aim is to drive flawlessly and achieve the best possible result in both races.”

Simon Birch adds: “I’m already really looking forward to the weekend at Zandvoort and, just like last year, competing alongside Klaus in the Pro class. It’s an honour for me that he’ll be racing alongside me again. It’s really cool that I have the chance to compete in the Sprint Cup with a Pro line-up. With such a strong team-mate, it’s a great opportunity for us. Now I’m looking forward to racing alongside Klaus again and hope for two strong results.”

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“For us, the race at Zandvoort will be a developmental outing, aimed at learning as much as possible whilst preparing for our planned racing programmes in the top-tier GT racing series. We’re delighted that Klaus, one of the world’s best Porsche drivers, will be racing for our team. We were already able to learn a great deal from his expertise last year. A top-10 finish would be a fantastic result and is our target, given that so far this year we’ve only competed in the Sprint Cup at Brands Hatch. Thanks to our experience in the ADAC GT Masters, we already know the circuit very well, which gives us confidence,” said team owner Dominik Olbert.

The GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup weekend at the Formula 1 circuit in Zandvoort will take place from 18 to 20 September. The two races will start at 2.45 pm on Saturday and at 2.15 pm on Sunday. The races and the morning qualifying sessions will be broadcast via the official livestream on YouTube; SRO offers the streams in several languages – including German and English.