Max Verstappen, Chris Lulham, and Ben Barnicoat completed ninth within the GT World Problem Europe season finale at Portimao. The #3 Verstappen Racing entry was penalized after Lulham tipped the championship-winning #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Lucas Auer, Maro Engel, and Luca Stolz right into a spin shortly after a security automobile restart.
Following a drive-through penalty, Verstappen placed on a late-race cost, climbing from twenty fourth to ninth within the remaining 45 minutes.
The race started strongly for the two Seas Motorsport-operated Mercedes-AMG GT3. Having suffered from set-up points throughout qualifying, the automobile proved considerably extra aggressive in race trim with the tempo a lot nearer to the front-runners.
Barnicoat made up floor proper from the beginning. Following a quick Full Course Yellow (FCY) 20 minutes into the race, the Lexus IMSA SportsCar Championship common handed the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo of Mattia Drudi, Nicki Thiim, and Ross Gunn to maneuver into tenth place.
He subsequently gained two additional positions when Charles Weerts within the #32 Group WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo spun Lilou Wadoux within the #50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.
Barnicoat moved forward of the Ferrari instantly, and picked up one other spot when Weerts was handed a drive-through penalty for the incident, for which the Belgian promptly apologized to his workforce over the radio.
Barnicoat introduced the automobile into the pits from eighth place at hand over to Lulham. Verstappen Racing opted for a protracted first stint, executing an overcut technique that paid off.
Lulham re-joined in a internet seventh place and instantly handed the #64 HRT Ford Racing Mustang GT3 Evo of Thomas Drouet with a spectacular transfer across the outdoors at Flip 7.
Having improved to sixth, Lulham set a sequence of quick laps to shut the hole on the main quintet. A security automobile, triggered when two Porsches ended up within the gravel, erased the remaining margin.
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On the restart, Lulham tried to achieve additional floor, however a transfer into Flip 8 on Luca Stolz within the #48 Winward “Mamba” resulted in contact, spinning the championship-winning No. 48 Winward Mercedes round.
Lulham served the ensuing drive-through penalty earlier than handing the automobile over to Max Verstappen. The four-time Method 1 world champion took the wheel with 45 minutes remaining, returning to the monitor in twenty fourth place.
With the automobile down in twenty fourth, Verstappen set about mounting a restoration drive. A second security automobile—brought on by the simultaneous stoppage of the #96 Rutronik Racing Lamborghini Temerario GT3 of Patric Niederhauser, Marco Mapelli, and Luca Engstler and an off for the #46 Group WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo of Neil Verhagen, Max Hesse, and Valentino Rossi—additional compressed the sector.
The incident introduced a disappointing finish to a tough weekend for the #46 WRT BMW of MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi. After ranging from the again of the sector because of the cancellation of Rossi’s major qualifying lap, the automobile was compelled to pit on the finish of the opening lap of the race and completed within the gravel.
Verstappen restarted from nineteenth and swiftly started carving via the sector. Resistance from a number of non-Professional entries was restricted as they prioritized their respective class battles. With 17 minutes remaining, Verstappen had moved as much as fifteenth, instantly behind a prepare of Professional-class vehicles.
Verstappen then cleared six six Professional entries inside 10 minutes to maneuver as much as ninth. In a single sequence, he used the battling vehicles forward to go three Professional entries in a single transfer.
As soon as via the group, the hole to the leaders was too giant to make additional progress. Nonetheless, Verstappen accomplished his stint with 15 positions gained in 45 minutes of racing.
GetSpeed secures maiden total victory
After a number of near-misses, GetSpeed lastly secured its maiden total GT World Problem Europe victory. Maximilian Gotz, Ralf Aron, and Fabian Schiller drove the #17 Mercedes-AMG GT3 to victory for the Adam Osieka-led workforce.
The red-and-white AMG set the tempo over the race distance, taking victory forward of the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) shared by Ricardo Feller, Thomas Preining, and Bastian Buus, and the #2 Boutsen VDS Porsche of Morris Schuring, Dorian Boccolacci, and Alessio Picariello.
The opening stint was dominated by the 2 main Porsches, with Preining defending P2 below heavy stress from Gotz. Following the primary spherical of pitstops, an out-lap battle between Preining and Boccolacci value each vehicles time, permitting Aron to exit the pits cleanly forward of each vehicles.
Aron, who missed a good portion of the season recovering from a significant crash on the Bathurst 12 Hour in February, steadily constructed a lead following the primary security automobile restart whereas battles raged behind him.
Among the many standout performances was Joseph Loake within the #59 Storage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo shared with Dean MacDonald and Oliver Hawksworth. Loake executed three overtakes across the outdoors of Flip 1.
“That was a transfer my teammate Dean MacDonald beneficial to me, however I could not strive it till the race,” the 21-year-old mentioned. Regardless of the strikes, harm to the rear diffuser finally dropped the McLaren again to sixth on the end.
A second security automobile worn out a 10-second lead for GetSpeed, however Schiller remained untroubled on the remaining restart, pulling away within the closing minutes to cross the road 5.062 seconds away from the Lionspeed Porsche.
The 2027 GT World Problem Europe season is scheduled to begin on April 18 with the Circuit Paul Ricard 1000km at Le Castellet. Verstappen has expressed his intention to compete within the 24 Hours of Spa, going down from June 24–27, 2027.
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