GetSpeed secures its first victory in the GT World Challenge Europe – Max Verstappen 9th

Ralf Aron, Maximilian Götz and Fabian Schiller have won the season finale of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in Portimão. For GetSpeed, this marks their first victory in the prestigious SRO racing series. Furthermore, Ralf Aron and Fabian Schiller are also celebrating their first triumph in the series. For the experienced German driver, it is his first Endurance Cup victory in 13 years!

Second place went to the Lionspeed GP Porsche driven by Ricardo Feller, Thomas Preining and Bastian Buus – they finished 5.062 seconds behind the winning Mercedes-AMG.

Morris Schuring, Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Picariello rounded off the podium in the Boutsen VDS Porsche.

Ben Barnicoat, Chris Lulham and Max Verstappen finished the race in ninth place. Verstappen charged from 24th to ninth place during his 45-minute stint at the end of the race and was all smiles after the race.

After 20 minutes, a full-course yellow was brought out. At the exit of Turn 4, Dylan Medler in the Rinaldi Racing Ferrari was hit from behind by Oliver Söderström and spun off the track.

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After around 50 minutes, in a chaotic racing situation, there was contact between Simon Reicher in the Eastalent Racing Audi and Mikkel Mac’s Steller Corvette at the exit of Turn 13. The Audi retired following the collision.

After 74 minutes, another neutralisation was called to recover the Boutsen VDS Porsche 911 GT3 R after Gilles Magnus came to a standstill in the first corner.

At the halfway point of the race, Angus Whiteside in the Dinamic GT Porsche and Alex Malykhin in the Pure Rxcing Porsche collided. Whiteside spun out in the Dinamic Porsche at Turn 13 and struck the Pure Rxcing 911 GT3 R.

At the restart, there was an in-team collision within the Mercedes-AMG camp when Chris Lulham, in the Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, spun out Luca Stolz – who had already been confirmed as the Endurance Cup champion – in the Mann-Filter Mamba. Lulham was subsequently handed a drive-through penalty.

With 35 minutes remaining, Luca Engstler in the Rutronik Racing Lamborghini came to a halt at Turn 8. At the same time, Max Hesse in the WRT BMW M4 GT3 came to a standstill in the gravel trap at Turn 3. The race was neutralised.

Six minutes before the end of the race, a collision involving several cars occurred at the corner, including the #32 WRT BMW, which subsequently headed for the pits with damage. The Mann-Filter-Mamba also lost a few places in the incident.

GT World Challenge Europe Portimão Race Results (Top 10):

1. Ralf Aron/Maximilian Götz/Fabian Schiller – GetSpeed – Mercedes-AMG GT3

2. Ricardo Feller/Thomas Preining/Bastian Buus – Lionspeed GP – Porsche 911 GT3 R

3. Morris Schuring/Dorian Boccolacci/Alessio Picariello – Boutsen VDS – Porsche 911 GT3 R

4. Frederik Schandorff/Malte Ebdrup/Simon Birch – Selected Car Racing – Ferrari 296 GT3

5. Amaury Cordeel/Matisse Lismont/Ignacio Montenegro – WRT – BMW M4 GT3

6. Joseph Loake/Dean MacDonald/Jack Hawksworth – Garage 59 – McLaren 720S GT3

7. Ugo de Wilde/Tim Tramnitz/Jens Klingmann – ROWE Racing – BMW M4 GT3

8. Anthony Bartone/Aurélien Panis/Cesar Gazeau – GetSpeed – Mercedes-AMG GT3

9. Ben Barnicoat/Chris Lulham/Max Verstappen – Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing – Mercedes-AMG GT3

10. Albert Costa/Arthur Leclerc/Lilou Wadoux – AF Corse – Ferrari 296 GT3