That is what you call a cinematic finish. As FormulaUno.it reports, the 3 Hours of Portimão in the GT World Challenge Endurance Cup delivered an unforgettable ending under the Algarve lights, where Maximilian Gotz, Ralf Aron, and Fabian Schiller took overall victory in the #17 GetSpeed Mercedes.
The race initially belonged to Porsche, with the LionSpeed GP squad (fresh off their Spa 24 Hours win) and BoutsenVDS controlling the opening hour with their 911 GT3-R machines. But the complexion of the race shifted dramatically at the first round of pit stops. Maxi Gotz handed the #17 Mercedes over to Ralf Aron, who cleverly leapfrogged both Boccolacci and Feller in the lane. Aron held firm before turning the car over to Fabian Schiller, who kept his cool through a frantic phase of the race. Not everyone survived the chaos, though; the #007 Aston Martin of Mattia Drudi, Nicki Thiim, and Ross Gunn was forced into retirement with technical issues. Drudi will at least have a quick turnaround for tomorrow's WEC 6 Hours of Barcelona.
Further down the pit lane, heartbreak struck the #46 WRT BMW. Roughly three quarters of the way through the race, a double retirement brought out the Safety Car: Marco Mapelli parked his #96 Rutronik Lamborghini Temerario in trouble, right alongside Max Hesse binning the #46 BMW in the gravel. It was a cruel end to a hard-fought recovery, especially after Valentino Rossi had been forced into an extra pit stop on the very first lap, followed by stints from Neil Verhagen and Hesse that had dragged the car back toward the edge of the top ten.
That late safety car turned out to be pure gold for none other than Max Verstappen. His #3 crew had plummeted all the way to 24th place after teammate Chris Lulham copped a drive-through penalty for punting Luca Stolz's #48 MANN-Filter Mercedes at turn seven. While the sister GetSpeed car cruised out front to take the checkered flag, Verstappen unleashed absolute chaos in the dark. In about thirty minutes, the four-time F1 champion carved his way from 24th all the way up to 9th.
The highlight reel came with just six minutes remaining on the clock, when Verstappen pulled off a stunning sequence of passes against Arthur Leclerc, Lucas Auer, and Kelvin van der Linde between turns one and five. Leclerc tried to bite back immediately, but Verstappen slammed the door shut with a brilliant defensive block the very next lap. A beaming Dutchman returned to the pit lane afterward, immediately sharing a word with Ben Barnicoat (who handled a solid opening stint for the Verstappen Racing-supported 2Seas Motorsports entry) and Chris Lulham, who apologized for his earlier tangle with the Mamba.
Class victories rounded out a chaotic weekend in Portugal. In the Gold Cup,Simon Birch, Malthe Ebdrup, and Frederik Schandorff drove the #71 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo to victory, capped by a heroic defense from Schandorff against the #58 McLaren of Thomas Fleming. Fleming was forced off track during the scrap, but still secured the category championship before turning his attention to tomorrow's 6 Hours of Barcelona at 12:00. Over in Silver, the #30 WRT BMW of Amaury Cordeel, Matisse Lismont, and Ignacio Montenegro claimed fifth overall and first in class, while 2Seas celebrated a Bronze Cup triumph courtesy of Kiern Jewiss, Charles Dawson, and Reece Barr in the #222 machine.
