KENT, UK – The opening race of the 2026 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup delivered a spectacular but controversial afternoon of racing at Brands Hatch. While the race was initially won on the road by the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing entry, a flurry of post-race penalties saw the #50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer promoted to the top step of the podium.
The victory marks a milestone for Leclerc, securing his first-ever win in the series, but the result was overshadowed by the drama that unfolded both on the track and in the stewards’ room.
Lionspeed’s Early Command and Retirement
The race began with pole-sitter Ricardo Feller asserting his authority. Despite an early red flag triggered by a heavy crash for the #10 Boutsen VDS Porsche at Stirlings, Feller maintained a clinical lead once racing resumed. The #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche looked perfectly poised for a lights-to-flag victory, keeping a steady two-second gap over Arthur Leclerc.
However, the momentum shifted during the pit window. Lionspeed was among the first to trigger their stop, but the car developed a critical steering issue shortly after Bastian Buus took over. The mechanical gremlin forced the double pole-sitters into a heartbreaking retirement, ending a dominant weekend prematurely and leaving the battle for the lead wide open.
Verstappen Racing’s Bittersweet Performance
With the Lionspeed Porsche out of the running, the strategy battle intensified. Daniel Juncadella executed a brilliant long stint in the Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG, staying out two laps longer than the Ferrari to overcut the field. When Chris Lulham emerged from the pits, he held a net lead that he would not relinquish on track.
Lulham’s drive was nothing short of heroic. Despite being slapped with a five-second penalty for a pit stop infringement, he pushed the AMG to its absolute limit, extending his lead over Neubauer to 6.2 seconds by the checkered flag—effectively “clearing” the penalty to finish first on the road.
Post-Race Chaos: The Yellow Flag Penalties
The celebration in the Verstappen Racing garage was short-lived. Following the race, the stewards issued a wave of retrospective penalties for yellow flag infringements. The #3 Mercedes-AMG was one of nine cars—including the #46 and #30 Team WRT BMWs—hit with a drive-through penalty converted into a 30-second time penalty.
This massive sanction plummeted Lulham and Juncadella to 13th place, outside of the points. Consequently, the #50 AF Corse Ferrari inherited the win, followed by the #2 Boutsen VDS Porsche and the #32 Team WRT BMW, which had made an impressive charge from 12th on the grid.
Gold and Silver Cup Success
Despite the chaos, several teams secured clean results in the sub-classes:
- Gold Cup: AF Corse celebrated a double victory as the #51 Ferrari of Tommaso Mosca and Matias Zagazeta took the class honors, finishing 8th overall.
- Silver Cup: The #9 Pure Rxcing Porsche crossed the line first in class but was demoted by a penalty for a seatbelt infringement, handing the victory to the #5 Optimum Motorsport McLaren.