GetSpeed Wins GT World Challenge Europe Finale at Portimao, Verstappen Ninth on Debut, Arjun Maini 16th

The 2026 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup finished at the Algarve International Circuit in Portimao on 17 October, and the three hour race went to Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed. Maximilian Gotz, Fabian Schiller and Ralf Aron shared the winning number 17 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. Two Porsches completed the podium, with Lionspeed GP second and Boutsen VDS third, according to the series' own report.

The class results were spread around. Selected Car Racing came home fourth overall and won the Gold Cup on the day, but the Gold Cup title went to ROWE Racing, the squad that won this year's Spa 24 Hours. Team WRT took Silver Cup honours and 2 Seas Motorsport won the Bronze Cup.

Verstappen ninth in the dark on his GT3 debut

The reason this race drew a crowd was the number 3 Mercedes-AMG of Team Verstappen Racing. Max Verstappen made his GT World Challenge debut alongside Ben Barnicoat and Charles Lulham, and he took over with the car 24th after a mid race penalty. A safety car held him up further. He still came through to finish ninth as night fell, 18.556 seconds behind the winning car.

That is the headline, but the race was decided well ahead of him, and the official report is careful to point out that his car's penalty had already ended any podium hope.

Arjun Maini 16th in the Ford Mustang GT3

The Indian interest was in the number 64 Ford Mustang GT3 Evo of HRT Ford Racing, the Haupt Racing Team entry that Bengaluru's Arjun Maini has driven all season. Maini shared the car with Thomas Drouet and Fabio Scherer at Portimao and the trio finished 16th, 28.623 seconds off the winner, which tells you how close the field was after three hours.

Maini's listed team mates across the 2026 Endurance Cup season were Eduardo Coseteng, Drouet and Scherer, and the car ran as a full season Pro entry. He has been busy on two fronts this year. In the DTM, Maini finished the season eighth in the standings on 133 points for HRT Ford Racing, with a pole and a race win at the Lausitzring, before the title was settled for Thomas Preining at Hockenheim on 11 October.

For an Indian reader, this is the useful part. GT3 is the ladder that actually works for Indian drivers. The cars are production based, the seats are bought and shared between three drivers, and a strong Pro class season in Europe is what gets a driver looked at for Le Mans and the Asian Le Mans Series.

The series is now a YouTube habit

SRO said the Portimao weekend drew 9.7 million views across its live sessions, which it called by far the most for any event in the series' history. The championship's YouTube channel crossed 1 million subscribers during the event, up from 822,000 at the start of 2026, and 28,000 people watched from the circuit.

That matters here because GT World Challenge is still streamed free on YouTube, so Indian fans can watch the full three hours live without a subscription. The 2027 Sprint Cup season opens at Brands Hatch in Britain, with tickets already on sale as of 27 October.

Sources

• Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed triumphs in spectacular Endurance Cup finale at Portimao, GT World Challenge Europe
• GT World reaches new heights with 9.7 million live views of season finale at Portimao, GT World Challenge Europe
• Full race results: GT World Challenge Portimao, PlanetF1
• Arjun Maini driver profile 2026, GT World Challenge Europe
• 2026 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Wikipedia