September 1, 2026 | News
Spa-Francorchamps hosted the first Belgian round of the GT Summer Series, and provided a scintillating trio of races.
Thomas Westarp leaves Belgium within touching distance of securing the overall GT Summer Series title, after a weekend awash with challenges for both he and the CCS Racing Team. Westarp had to write-off Friday as a loss, as engine issues sidelined his Audi R8 LMS Evo2. Meanwhile, his rivals took part in testing, practice – and of most significance – the two qualifying sessions that determined the grid for all three races.
The first race of the weekend took place at lunchtime on Saturday. Happily, Westarp’s CCS Audi was ready to race, but would start from the rear. Pole position was in the hands of Antoine Berberich-Martini, who had set a 2:18.366 in the #109 Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3. Alongside him on the grid was Hermann Speck, aboard his #7 DB Motorsport Porsche 992 GT3 R. For the first time, Speck was entered into the GT3 PRO-AM class, as he would share the weekend’s driving duties with Alfred Renauer. Przemyslaw Bienkowski (4F PTT Mercedes) and Martin Hansen (Porsche 991.2 GT3 R) rounded out the top four.
The 30-minute race was a cut-and-dry affair at the front of the field. Antoine Berberich-Martini drove away from the field in the GT3 PRO-entered Ford, and would ultimately lead home Hermann Speck by some 55.848 seconds. Speck would win the GT3 PRO-AM class, ahead of Przemyslaw Bienkowski, who also rounded out the overall podium. Third overall marked a mission accomplished for the Polish racer, who declared such a result his “dream” ahead of the weekend.
GT3 AM winner Martin Hansen finished in fourth overall, ahead of Cup 2 winner Urs Frick. Frick’s SA Performance teammate Mike Janser was less fortunate, logging a non-finish and losing his Cup 2 points lead.
Just under halfway through the race, Janser was comfortably leading the Cup 2 class. He was caught by Thomas Westarp, who was marching through the field from the back of the 18-car starting grid. The pair approached the Bus Stop chicane side-by-side, with Janser on the inside. Westarp turned in, and clattered into the side of Janser’s Porsche 992 Cup. While Westarp continued, Janser’s race would end moments later owing to steering damage. The #911 XR Racing entry of Marco Reinbold took second in class, despite being tapped into a spin at La Source on the first lap. With the result came the Cup 2 points lead, thanks to Janser’s DNF.
Westarp was punished for his role in the Janser collision; he served a drive-through penalty on his way to sixth overall and second in GT3 AM.
GT4 AM honours went to Tristan Gschwendtner in his Porsche Cayman GT4 RS CS, while his East-Racing Motorsport teammate Helge Tamm won the Cayman Trophy class.
Race two:
The second race, held in the early part of Saturday evening, was heavily affected by the Ardennes’ infamously confounding micro-climate. Over the course of the 30-minute sprint, the circuit would go from dry to wet, with all parties on slicks.
Mateusz Lisowski of 4FF PTT Racing started the race from pole position, joined by fellow GT3 PRO-AM entrant Alfred Renauer in Hermann Speck’s DB Motorsport Porsche. The second row consisted of race one winner Antoine Berberich-Martini, and Cup 2 pole-sitter Paul Hochberger (XR Racing Porsche).
From the front, Lisowski dominated proceedings. In the first three laps of the race, he built a five-second lead over Renauer in second. As the precipitation and dampness intensified in the final half of the race, this gap grew to almost 20 seconds. Lisowski crossed the line to claim a first Summer Series victory for PTT, a team with one of the most extensive résumés in the sister GEDLICH Racing GT Winter Series.
Alfred Renauer was only just able to hold second place in the DB Motorsport Porsche. Antoine Berberich-Martini and the Haupt team had set the Ford Mustang for wet conditions, which allowed the young German to mount a late challenge. However, the race one winner had to settle for third overall.
Dominik Schraml took fourth place for SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm, in the German team’s first GT Summer Series weekend. Thomas Westarp rounded out the overall top five after starting last, and was victorious in the GT3 AM class. XR Racing’s Paul Hochberger narrowly defeated Mike Janser to win in Cup 2, while Tristan Gschwendtner held off W&S Motorsport’s Tom Kieffer for his second GT4 AM win of the day.
Helge Tamm won the Cayman Trophy class once again, wrapping up a very successful day for the East-Racing team that also prepares Gschwendtner’s car.
Race Three:
Sunday morning saw the third and final race of the weekend, the 50-minute pitstop race.
Alfred Renauer lined-up on pole position in the DB Motorsport Porsche 992 GT3 R, with Hermann Speck waiting in the wings to take over in the pit window. David Schumacher lined up second, aboard the Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3. Przemyslaw Bienkowski started from third aboard the 4F PTT Racing Team Mercedes, joined on row two by the #911 XR Racing Porsche of Cup 2 polesitter Marco Reinbold.
As the race began, David Schumacher found himself squeezed out on the exit of La Source, and dropped back to fourth on the long run to Eau Rouge. However, the ex-DTM driver was soon back up to second place, and latched onto the rear of Renauer’s Porsche. However, the yellow DB Motorsport entry remained in the lead until the pit window.
In the pitstop phase, Renauer arrived to the pits a lap prior to Schumacher. A fast in-lap from Schumacher allowed Antoine Berberich-Martini to take over the Mustang, and with it, the race lead. Berberich-Martini looked to be building a definitive lead, but this was all taken away in the final minutes. At Blanchimont, the Seyffarth Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT4 of Bernd Schaible ended up in the gravel, and this triggered a Safety Car.
Upon the resumption of racing, Lisowski made short work of Speck to move into second overall, and thus the GT3 PRO-AM lead. With two laps to go, Lisowski was under the rear wing of Berberich-Martini’s Haupt Mustang. The Polish racer nailed Eau Rouge and Raidillon, and drew alongside at the end of the Kemmel Straight. As the pair turned into Les Combes, Lisowski swept around the outside to claim the lead.
The 4F PTT Racing Team driver proceeded to drive away, and would ultimately secure an overall and GT3 PRO-AM win for he and Przemyslaw Bienkowski. Berberich-Martini took second overall in the GT3 PRO-entered Mustang, ahead of Hermann Speck in the DB Motorsport Porsche. Thomas Westarp once again worked his way up from the back of the field to secure fourth the GT3 AM win and fourth overall, ahead of Cup 2 winners Mike Janser and Joseph Warhurst (SA Performance).
Tristan Gschwendtner rounded out a perfect weekend, taking his third GT4 AM win at Spa. For him, an extra feather in the cap came in the knowledge that he’d beaten elder brother Leopold – making his competition debut – in all three races. SR Motorsport’s Dirk Kraus and Lennard Falk von Canal won the Cayman Trophy class, besting East-Racing’s Helge Tamm late in the race.
Coming out of Spa-Francorchamps, Thomas Westarp hold 190 championship points. With Hermann Speck in GT3 PRO-AM in Belgium, CCS Racing Team’s Westarp secured the GT3 AM title with a round to spare. Second in the overall championship now belongs to XR Racing’s Paul Hochberger and Marco Reinbold, on 162 points. This also places them in the Cup 2 points lead heading into Hockenheim, ahead of Mike Janser on 154.
In the hotly-contested GT4 AM class, Gökay Kutlu and Alexander Danzer remain as points leaders; the W&S Motorsport tandem now have 134 points on the board. Despite missing the opening round at Hockenheim, Tristan Gschwendtner now sits second on 120 points, ahead of Seyffarth Motorsport’s Bernd Schaible and Tobias Erdmann.
The GT Summer Series overall title will be decided at the season finale, to be held at the Hockenheim ADAC Racing Weekend from 02-04 October. Can Thomas Westarp hold on, or will one of his challengers from the Cup 2 class make a last-gasp effort to secure the ultimate prize?
