Porsche won the 24 Hours of Spa from dead last on the grid
Last to first over 24 hours: the comeback that defines endurance racing
This is what makes endurance racing so special. Lionspeed GP's Porsche 911 GT3 R has won the 2026 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa after starting from the pitlane, the very back of a 69-car field, and fighting its way to the top over 24 hours. It is the kind of result that no amount of qualifying pace can teach you to predict.
How they did it
The number 80 Porsche, shared by Ricardo Feller, Thomas Preining and Bastian Buus, was forced to start from the pitlane after an engine change, effectively handing it the worst possible starting position. From there the team drove a patient, intelligent race, climbing steadily through the field and using overnight Full Course Yellow and Safety Car periods to gain track position. The Porsche grew stronger as the race went on, took the lead during a pit-stop cycle roughly an hour from the end, and Preining managed the final stint to bring it home.
The podium
Behind the winning Porsche, the Winward Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Lucas Auer, Maro Engel and Luca Stolz ran a near-flawless race to finish second, while the AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessio Rovera, Tommaso Mosca and Nicklas Nielsen completed the podium in third. The Ferrari started from pole but was hit by setbacks along the way. In the cup classes, ROWE Racing's BMW took Gold Cup honours, with Ferrari winning both Silver and Bronze Cup and a JMR Corvette taking Pro-Am.
A milestone win
The victory carries real significance. It is the first overall Spa win for the current 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 R, and Porsche's first triumph in the race since 2020. For Lionspeed GP it is comfortably the greatest result in the team's history, and a maiden Spa 24 Hours win for all three of its drivers. The 79th running of the race also set a new attendance record, drawing 132,000 spectators across the five-day event in the Ardennes.
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A win from the pitlane in a 24-hour race is the purest illustration of why endurance racing beats a sprint every time. Qualifying counts for nothing if you cannot manage tyres, traffic, weather and a long night, and Lionspeed GP managed all of it to perfection. That it happened at Spa, in front of a record Ardennes crowd, makes it even sweeter. This is exactly the kind of underdog story that keeps people coming back to the 24 Hours of Spa, and a fitting result for the biggest GT race in the world.
We previewed this race in our look at the 70-car Spa entry list, and Aston Martin marked its own Spa heritage with the Vantage S Spa-Francorchamps.
