Close to 50 cars already confirmed for inaugural 992 Endurance Cup

With just over three months left to go before the green flag is flown, just under 50 cars have already been registered for the inaugural Michelin 992 Endurance Cup powered by Porsche Motorsport on 6-7 September.

The 12-hour event, the first endurance event dedicated to Porsche’s 992-generation GT3 Cup, is set to feature 48 cars representing 27 teams from across Europe and the Antipodes. A field that includes Porsche Carrera Cup and Mobil 1 Supercup race winners and champions, and even a 24H SERIES record holder.

Five-time 24H DUBAI winner Black Falcon is one of 14 different teams to have confirmed a multi-car entry for Spa-Francorchamps. The German team, a multi-time VLN champion and winner of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup in 2018, has entered three Porsche 992 GT3 Cups.

A high-profile addition to the 992 Endurance Cup, Black Falcon scored its first major international race win at the 24H DUBAI in 2012, and went on to establish a new 24H DUBAI record with four further wins in 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2020. The Nürburgring-based squad even added two wins at its home 24-hour event in 2013 and 2016.

A Porsche customer since 2004, Mühlner Motorsport is also set to run three Porsche 992 GT3 Cups at Spa. As of late 2023, the Belgian team has secured close to 170 wins since its racing program began in 1989, a run that includes title wins in the German Endurance Championship and the Nürburgring Endurance Series. Since embracing LMP prototype racing in 2018, Bernhard Mühlner’s eponymous outfit also took ‘Trophy’ and ‘Junior’ title honours in the CREVENTIC/ADAC co-organized Prototype Cup Germany in 2022.

Interestingly, Mühlner Motorsport is one of two teams registered for the 992 Endurance Cup that has also contested the Prototype Cup Germany. The other being MRS GT-Racing, which has registered the most entries so far (four). A Porsche customer for all but five years since its foundation as ‘Molitor-Racing-Stuttgart GmbH’ in 1993, MRS GT-Racing has competed in myriad Porsche Carrera Cups across Europe and North America, and been a category frontrunner in both the ADAC GT Masters and the 24H SERIES. The German team also boasts one of the most tenured runs in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup’ 31-year history, having competed regularly between 2004 and 2021.

The Netherlands’ Team GP-Elite has confirmed two entries for Spa-Francorchamps. Founded in 2013, the Dutch team is a two-time Teams’ champion in both the Porsche Supercup and Carrera Cup Germany, a champion in the GT3 Carrera Cup Middle East, and a frontrunner in several of Porsche’s regional Sprint Challenges. A class winner on its 24-hour race debut in Dubai in 2022, GP-Elite took its first overall win in the 24H SERIES at the European season opener in Mugello.

HRT Performance and Speed Lover have similarly registered three cars apiece for the 992 Endurance Cup. Fittingly, HRT, a former class winner at the 24H DUBAI and currently concentrating its efforts on Carrera Cup Germany, took 992 class victory earlier this year at CREVENTIC’s 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS.

Fellow 24H SERIES staple Bas Koeten Racing will also field three 992 GT3 Cups at Spa. While Bas Koeten’s eponymous outfit has enjoyed great success, and several class championships, in the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup, BMW M2 CS Racing Cup Benelux and Supercar Challenge in recent years, the Dutch team recently committed to a more ambitious, Porsche-heavy campaign in 2024 with entries in the Benelux regional Sprint Challenge and Carrera Cups.

KKrämer Racing completed its first international endurance racing program with CREVENTIC earlier this year, and returns to competition with the Dutch promoter at Spa-Francorchamps with a two-car line-up. The German team, founded in 2016 by owner Karsten Krämer, made its first endurance racing start at the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2018, and has since secured two class wins at the event, plus a CUP 2 title win the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring.

Max Kruse Racing, co-founded by former German international footballer Max Kruse and World Touring Car Cup race winner Benjamin Leuchter, is set to make its endurance racing debut with CREVENTIC on 6-7 September. Initially a TCR competitor in the NLS, the German team embraced Porsche Cup competition for 2023, and has entered two Porsche 992 GT3 Cups for the 12-hour race.

EST1 Racing will also bring two Porsches to Spa. After several seasons of regional competition in Eastern Europe, the Estonia team expanded its program in 2023 with campaigns in both the GT Cup Open and Carrera Cup Benelux, as well as select starts in the 24H SERIES. Similarly, Neuhofer Rennsport, another 24H SERIES newcomer, has entered two Porsche 992 GT3 Cups. The racing arm of Markus and Felix Neuhofer’s Gröbenzell-based, family-operated car dealership was founded on ‘Porsche passion’ more than two decades ago.

SebLajoux Racing continues its affiliation with Luxembourg’s DUWO Racing with a two-car effort at, arguably, one of its toughest challenges to-date at the 992 Endurance Cup. The two Hans Weijs Motorsport-entered Porsche meanwhile, run by Junior World Rally Championship runner-up Hans Weijs Jr., took a 992-AM class podium on its 24H SERIES debut at this year’s 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, will hope to emulate the Dutch teams successes, both on the rally stages in its formative years and more recently in Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux.

Toro Verde GT rounds out the multi-car entries for Spa. After a maiden run in the GT2 European Series, the British team debuted in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB in 2022 and has since expanded to a two-car campaign for 2024, one that includes an entry in the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB. Toro Verde also took GTX Teams’ title honours in CREVENTIC’s 24H SERIES Middle East Trophy in 2023/2024.

12 more teams round out the field thus far, each of which has registered a single-car effort. Of those 12, half will be competing at a CREVENTIC event for the first time.

Former 24H SERIES champions Porsche Lorient Racing and Team Sorg Rennsport will have CREVENTIC fans behind them at Spa. Porsche Lorient Racing, the racing arm of the German brand’s Lanester-located dealership, is a two-time 911 Cup champion in the 24H SERIES, while Sorg Rennsport, an eight-time class winner at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, won the 24H SERIES’ Overall GT Teams’ ‘Continents’ title in 2020.

Manthey Racing’s solo Porsche will be entered as ‘Porsche Track Experience (PTE) operated by Manthey-Racing’ in a nod to the German brand’s track racing training program. Manthey, founded as ‘Olaf Manthey Racing’ in 1996, quickly rose to prominence with four consecutive championship wins in the Porsche Supercup, and has since secured high-profile Teams’ championships in both the FIA World Endurance Championship and the DTM, as well as 24-hour races wins at both the Nürburgring (seven overall) and Le Mans (five, LMGT).

EBM, the eponymous team of two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and 2017 FIA World Endurance Champion Earl Bamber, makes its return to CREVENTIC competition at Spa. EBM-entered and/or supported GT cars compete regularly in the German brand’s regional Carrera Cup and Sprint Challenges across Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, as well as multi-class programs in GT World Challenge and the 24H SERIES.

Belgium Racing Team has been a Porsche customer since 2010, and secured its most recent title last year in the Porsche Endurance Trophy Benelux. Germany’s Team Laptime Performance is a regular in the Porsche Sports Cup Deutschland and, more recently, Sprint Challenge Southern Europe.

Austria’s Elfer Motorsport, representing the Weiz-based Auto Köck dealership, and Belgium’s newly formed Sparx Group (entered as ‘SRX Competition’) are both set to start their first 12-hour motor races in September. Portugal’s P21 Motorsport meanwhile, a regular at CREVENTIC’s 6H ABU DHABI since 2021 and an official partners of Porsche’s Sprint Challenge Iberica, makes its return to CREVENTIC competition at Spa-Francorchamps, as does Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux frontrunner PGmotorsport.nl.

Poland’s PTT Racing, which is running two cars in the ESET Cup Series, and former Belgian GT Champion NGT Racing, currently competing in Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux, round out the provisional entry list so far.