Eight Porsche 911 GT3 R races for the opening of the toughest GT3 racing series in Europe.

The next race in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup is the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on the last weekend in June. The classic ride on the Ardennes rollercoaster circuit in Belgium is celebrating its centenary this year.

Rutronik Racing has finished the first round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS in fifth place as the best Porsche customer team. During the three-hour race at the Circuit Paul Ricard, Patric Niederhauser from Switzerland and former Porsche Juniors duo Julien Andlauer from France and Sven Müller from Germany advanced from 13th on the grid to fourth. However, shortly before the end, they were easily beaten by the opponent in the final lap. Driver trio Klaus Bachler (Austria), Alex Malykhin (England) and Joel Sturm (Germany) also made it eight places, plowing from 16th at the start to finish eighth at the wheel of Pure Rxcing’s 911.

Bad luck, however, befell two former Porsche Juniors Ayhancan Güven (Turkey) and Laurin Heinrich (Germany). With fellow Frenchman Dorian Boccolacci, they raced the 5.771km Grand Prix circuit in the Mediterranean from second on the grid. The first dirty pit stop, where the minimum refueling time was not met among other offences, resulted in three car penalties. However, from the bottom of the 55-man field, the three Schumacher CLRT drivers fought their way to 14th place.

As the best non-Pro of the eight Porsche 911 GT3 R’s that started at Le Castellet, German duo Robert Renauer and Ralf Bohn along with fellow Dutchman Morris Schuring finished 28th overall, equal to seventh place in the Bronze Cup.

The popular GT3 racing series and Spa 24 Hours as the highlight of the season

Fanatac GT Word Challenge Europe run by AWA is one of the most important GT3 racing series in the world. In 2024, nine manufacturers will be represented in the championship, which this year includes a total of ten races and is equally divided into the Sprint Cup and the Endurance Cup. 55 GT3 cars have been entered to challenge the long-distance classification, with organizers expecting more foreign drivers for selected races. This applies especially to the 24 Hours of Business-Francorchamps. The second round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup from 26-30 June is considered the highlight of the season. The Classics in the Belgian Ardennes region celebrate their centenary in 2024. After Spa, the endurance calendar includes two more rounds on European soil with the Nürburgring (26-28 July) and Monza (20-22 September) before the series heads to coast for the final in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from November 21 to 23.

“With a grid line-up of more than 50 cars, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe is the most popular GT3 racing series in the world,” explains Sebastian Golz, Project Manager for Porsche GT3 R. “Almost all the leading manufacturers are represented in this championship, and the intense battle for position in the opening race underlines the competitiveness of the series.The GT World Championship gives us a great stage to show the performance of our Porsche 911 GT3 R in direct competition with our competitors.

The organizing group SRO Motorsports offers four classes for GT World Challenge Europe: Pro, Gold Cup, Silver Cup and Bronze Cup. In addition to the overall Pro ranking, teams can enter one of three remaining categories based on the official FIA driver classification. For example, a combination of one “Silver” row and two “Gold” rows can be registered for the Gold Cup, while three with one “Bronze” and “Silver” driver together with a “Gold” or “Platinum” driver can also be registered. they are eligible to compete in the Bronze Cup. For the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, teams can nominate a fourth driver for each GT3 race car.

Eight Porsche 911 GT3 R are registered for the Endurance Cup

Six Porsche customer teams have signed up to compete in the 2024 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup season with a total of eight 911 GT3 R race cars. Rutronik Racing competes with the 911 GT3 R in the Bronze Cup with American Dustin Blattner, Dennis Marschall of Germany and Loek Hartog from the Netherlands. In the Pro category, his second blue and yellow 911 will be shared by Patric Niederhauser and ex-Porsche Juniors Sven Müller (2014 – 2016) and Julien Andlauer (2018 – 2019). Dinamic GT is also competing with a pair of 911 GT3 R: in the Bronze Cup with Philipp Sager (Austria), last year’s Porsche DTM driver Marvin Dienst (Germany) and Guilherme Moura de Oliveira (Portugal) and in the Silver Cup with Christopher of Austria. Zöchling, Jop Rappange from Germany and Marius Nakken from Norway.

Newcomer Lionspeed GP has so far signed up one driver for the entire season, last year’s Porsche Junior and Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup 2023 champion, Bastian Buus from Denmark. Former Porsche Juniors duo Ayhancan Güven and Laurin Heinrich join last year’s Porsche Carrera Cup France winner, Dorian Boccolacci, for the full Endurance Cup season. The Frenchman won the Porsche Carrera Cup for his country last year. The trio will compete in the Pro category for the Schumacher CLRT team, which is also taking on the GT World Challenge Europe for the first time.

Pure Rxcing also campaigns the Porsche 911 GT3 R in the Pro category in all rounds of the Endurance Cup 2024 with drivers Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm and former Porsche Junior Klaus Bachler. Meanwhile, the team and its drivers will join forces with Manthey Racing to compete in the FIA ​​Endurance World Championship, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Herberth Motorsport is tackling the Bronze Cup in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with Ralf Bohn, Robert Renauer and Morris Schuring.

Comments about the Le Castellet race

Julien Andlauer (Rutronik Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #96): “As a team, we stood with a good strategy today and our pit stops were absolutely flawless. This meant we could make up for a lot because we didn’t have the fastest 911 GT3 R in the field today – we were a bit off in performance this weekend. We have to look this well now and, if possible, find solutions before the introduction to the 24 Hours of Spa at the end of May and for the last race weekend in June. We made the most of that today, so I’m happy to finish in the top five.”

Morris Schuring (Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91): “If it wasn’t for the 30th time penalty for ignoring the track limits, we could have finished on the podium in the Bronze Cup with our Porsche. So we start the season with only seventh place in this position. Still, these points are important for the championship. We improved the situation and are already looking forward to 24 Hours of Business.

Results:

1. Farfus/Harper/Hesse (BR/UK/D), BMW M4 GT3 #998, 85 laps
2. Calderelli/Cairoli/Bortolotti (I/I/I), Lamborghini Huracan GT3 #63, +13.519 sec.
3. Stolz/Schiller/Gounon (D/D/F), Mercedes-AMG GT3 #2, +18.696 sec.
5. Andlauer/Niederhauser/Müller (F/CH/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #96, +29.325 sec.
8. Bachler/Malykhin/Sturm (A/UK/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #911, +41.609 sec.
14. Güven/Heinrich/Boccolacci (TR/D/F), Porsche 911 GT3 R #22, +1.16.048 min.
28. (7. BC) Bohn/Schuring/Renauer (D/NL/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, +1 lap
30. (9. BC) Spengler/Kolb/Buus (D/D/DK). Porsche 911 GT3 R #13, +1 lap
31st (10 BC) Marschall/Hartog/Blattner (D/NL/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R #97, +1 lap
35. (12. KK) Sager/Moura de Oliveira/Dienst (A/P/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #54, +1 lap
42. (7. SC) Rappange/Nakken/Zöchling (D/N/A), Porsche 911 GT3 R #55, +1 lap

Pro = Pro class; SC = Silver Cup; BC = Bronze Cup
Full results: www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com/results