Lionspeed GP has revealed its full Sprint Cup line-up for the 2025 season. The German squad recently confirmed its return to the Endurance Cup with a single Porsche and has now added a two-car Sprint programme, which will be its first effort in the short-format series.
The #80 Porsche will be driven by Gabriel Rindone and Ricardo Feller, who will also represent Lionspeed in Endurance. Both drivers have previous experience in the Sprint Cup: Feller won the overall series title in 2023, while Rindone contested the 2024 season with Barwell Motorsport.
By committing to the full campaign, the #80 Porsche could book a place at the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours. The best-scoring Bronze Cup entrant across the season receives an automatic invite to the French enduro, an initiative that began in 2023.
The sister #89 Porsche will be driven by Bashar Mardini and Bastian Buus, both of whom are Sprint Cup newcomers. Mardini, who made a single Endurance appearence in 2023, brings experience of International GT Open and the Asian Le Mans Series. Buus, meanwhile, competed in Endurance with Lionspeed last term.
“Entering GT World Challenge Sprint, next to our endurance programme, is the natural next step after our successful maiden season with SRO in 2024 as an independent team," said team principal Patrick Kolb.
"Especially with our teams’ focus on the highly competitive Bronze Cup, adding the Sprint enables us as the only Porsche team to compete for the highly desirable Le Mans entry for 2026. We not only have strong bronze drivers with Gabi and Bash, but also are excited to have two Sprint-experienced Porsche contracted-drivers with Ricardo and Bastian.”
The Sprint Cup launches at Brands Hatch on 3/4 May, the sole event from which the Bronze class will be absent. This is followed by doubleheader meetings at Zadnvoort, Misano, Magny-Cours and Valencia.