Porsche customer team Lionspeed GP has confirmed it will return to the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup this season, with an expanded two-car effort.
The German outfit will field a pair of Porsche 911 GT3 Rs, and has already announced its first driver line-up.
In its #89 Porsche, Team Principal Patrick Kolb will be joined by Endurance Cup debutant Bashar Mardini and three-time champion Alex Fontana for an assault on the Bronze Cup class.
33-year-old Fontana, who is new to Lionspeed GP, has an impressive 50% class title win rate in his Endurance Cup career. The Swiss-born racer last participated in a full-season in 2023, when he secured the most recent of his titles, in Pro-Am with Car Collection Motorsport.
“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.”
Mardini competed in the Sprint Cup with Lionspeed GP last year, and claimed three victories on his way to second in the Bronze Cup drivers’ standings alongside Bastian Buus. The UAE driver also made a one-off outing in International GT Open’s Monza 500KM with Tsunami RT, where he and Fontana won the Pro-Am class in their first race together.
“It’ll be my second year with Lionspeed and in the same car, [named] Nala,” Mardini said.
“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 programme. 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.”
Silver-rated Kolb has been a regular in Lionspeed GP’s Endurance Cup line-up since the team debuted in 2024. The German, alongside Gabriel Rindone and Ricardo Feller, finished third in last year’s Bronze Cup drivers’ championship, with a best finish of second in class at the Nürburgring.
Further details about the team’s second entry will be announced at a later date.
The 2026 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup begins at Circuit Paul Ricard on 10th to 11th April 2026.
Image courtesy of Lionspeed
