Winner at the last round of the 2026 GT World Challenge Europe season in Portimão, Team GetSpeed ends a long drought.
Hard to believe, but the Team GetSpeed Mercedes -AMG GT3 had yet to win a race in the GT World Challenge Europe. It took until the final round of the 2026 Endurance season for that to change, and then it did so by utterly dominating the Portimão event in Portugal.
Starting second on the grid, the #17 had to give way to the #2 and #80 Porsches in the first hour, but when Maximilian Götz handed over to Ralf Aron, the overcut was particularly effective, and the Mercedes-AMG took the lead and never relinquished it. Fabian Schiller, who had the honor of crossing the finish line as the winner, reflects on GetSpeed’s “long adventure” in GTWCE.
“It’s superb. It’s been a long journey; I’ve been in the GT World Challenge since 2017, and to finally finish with a victory after so much work with the GetSpeed team is superb. We had a fast car, Maxi and Ralf did an excellent job, and all I had to do was finish at the end of the race! As everyone in the paddock saw, we always had a fast car, but we couldn’t manage to win, and now we’ve done it, in the final round of 2026, and it’s incredible.”
For Maximilian Götz, this victory marked his first success in the Endurance Cup since 2013! A long wait of 13 years which saw the German driver go from young hope to confirmed figure in Grand Touring racing, and which now sees him reclaim the top step of the podium.
“I’ve been waiting 13 years for this, but I’m still here, and we’re still here! I’m just a little bit older! We suffered during the season, so it’s really great to be able to give something back to the whole team, who worked so hard. I’m very happy to win with these guys, of course I’m also thinking of Maxime (Martin, who is in Barcelona for the WEC – Ed.), but Ralf (Aron) did a superb job all weekend; he was fast as soon as he got in the car. Now we’re going to celebrate, because it’s not every day you get to win a race!”
For Estonian driver Ralf Aron, this was indeed his first attempt this season, returning to the Endurance Cup after last participating in 2024. Holding off the Porsches on the first Safety Car restart wasn’t easy, but he managed it: “When the Safety Car came out, it wasn’t great because I was starting to pull away. I tried to see the positive side, which was that there was no more traffic ahead! On the restart, it was intense at the first corner, but it went well.”
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- 18/10/2026
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Source: www.autohebdof1.com
