Lionspeed GP’s victory in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa was not a surprise breakthrough, but the moment everything finally came together. After already winning in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup powered by AWS, the German team had been waiting for its Endurance season to reward the work behind the scenes. At Spa, it finally did.
For team owner and driver of the sister car Patrick Kolb, the moment the #80 Porsche 911 GT3 R crossed the line at Spa-Francorchamps was difficult to describe.
When asked by GT REPORT what went through his head, Kolb said: “Everything and nothing. It’s so difficult to put it into words. This team basically started in 2024 as an independent team.”
A result years in the making
Behind the victory – and Kolb’s own third place in Bronze Cup with the #89 Lionspeed GP Porsche – was a project built step by step. Lionspeed GP had already been winning races in the Bronze Cup last season and carried that momentum into its first full-Pro year, showing immediate pace in Sprint Cup. In Endurance, however, the result had not yet matched the team’s potential.
“Everyone has put so much blood, sweat and tears into this entire project,” Kolb continued. “We’ve had so many highs, we’ve had so many lows over the last 36 months, and this year we made the step into Pro.
“All of the partners, all of the sponsors saw the potential while we were in Bronze class the last two years, of where this team could stand. We all knew it, but then the start to the year was super difficult because we had two technical issues which took us out of contention for probably a very secure podium or even win.
“In Endurance, we also got taken out in Monza on the first lap, which was a devastating start to the year after all of the work everyone’s put into it,” Kolb said. “And now winning the biggest GT race in the world is incredible.”
Proof at the best possible moment
The #80 Porsche of Thomas Preining, Ricardo Feller and Bastian Buus had to start the 24 Hours of Spa from the pit lane after an engine change before the race. From there, Lionspeed GP fought back through the field and executed a race that Kolb felt showed the level the team had reached.
“I couldn’t be more proud,” he said. “The team did 48 faultless pit stops over both cars and didn’t put one foot wrong. We ended up third in Bronze Cup, and in the first race we actually finished in GT World Challenge Endurance as a Pro entry. So that’s an incredibly special day which everyone will remember, and I think it’s put Lionspeed in a special place on the map.”
For Kolb, the Spa victory also brought relief. Not because Lionspeed GP had suddenly discovered it could fight at the front, but because the team finally had the result to prove what it already believed.
“I think it’s definitely a relief. First of all, it’s a payback to all of the guys who have put everything into this and have believed in the project. I think now we’ve proven it.
“We knew it, but the outside world didn’t really. Some had obviously realised where we were, so it is definitely a relief. We can now just focus on us. The momentum obviously was there, but on paper everything looks nice until you have the result, and we got the result at the best occasion we could have got.”
Creating the team
Kolb pointed to the people behind Lionspeed GP as one of the main reasons the project reached this level so quickly.
“I think essentially it came from us choosing very specifically the people we work with,” Kolb said when explaining the team’s rapid rise. “Both Robin Heijnen and Sébastien Breuil, who have been leading this project, have put together a team which has an incredible amount of experience.
“The amount of wins which the entire crew have had here amongst different classes and also overall wins in GT World Challenge is incredible, and that cannot be beaten by anything.
Spa was a milestone because it showed that Lionspeed GP had turned that collection of experience into one working unit.
“Obviously you can put a load of individuals together, but you have to make it a team. And this is a big milestone of making it.”
After Sprint Cup success, Endurance frustration and a pit lane start at Spa, Lionspeed GP’s first full-Pro season now has the result that changes everything. The pace was already there. At the 24 Hours of Spa, so was the proof.
Shanna Lutgert contributed to this report
