After starting from the boxes to the top: Buus / Feller / Preining celebrates victory in Spa
The winners of the 24-hour race at Spa- Francorchamps became Thomas Preining, Ricardo Feller and Bastian Buus.
Three drivers of the 911 GT3 R had to start the endurance classic on the Grand Prix of Belgium from the boxing alley as the penultimate on the grid after an unplanned engine replacement. Thanks to their return, the Porsche with the number 80 Lionspeed GP team gradually worked ahead. Around 8: 30 on Sunday morning, after two thirds of the racing distance, Thomas Preining took first place. Over the last five hours, the trio from Austria, Denmark and Switzerland has given up leadership during pit stops for a short time. After 541 rounds of 7 004 kilometers long Formula 1 circuit, they crossed the finish line with a jump of 12.3 seconds.
Ricardo Feller is also a second-year Porsche, with Lionspeed GP already helping him to several successes, now comes the biggest.
"I am very happy and I am incredibly proud of the whole team - they deserve this victory. Of course, the start from the boxing alley was bad. But we still believed we had a chance. That's what a strong team does. We were able to write a fantastic chapter in our history. In our sport, you experience more defeat than victory, so we will celebrate this success in style."
75 years of motoring sport Porsche: In the jubilee year 2026, the Porsche has been registered on the deed of honour since 1924. The last victory of the Sportwagenschmiede car in the classic endurance race in the Ardennes came in 2020. That's when British Nick Tandy, New Zealander Earl Bamber and Belgian Laurens Vanthoor won the 911 GT3 R team Rowe Racing.