Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific customer team Phantom Global Racing made a strong debut at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, showing positive pace throughout the weekend.

Looking to build on their excellent performance at the Bathurst 12 Hour in February, Jaxon Evans and Joel Eriksson returned to the team, joined by reigning Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) champion Thomas Preining.

Following good showings from all three drivers in Qualifying, Preining took on Superpole on Thursday night, clinching 10th, which would become 18th on the grid following a penalty.

A solid and clean start to the centenary running of the event saw the Chinese squad circulate as the lead Porsche inside the top-10 in the opening stages, dealing expertly with multiple Safety Car periods on the 7.004 kilometre racetrack. Surviving a downpour of rain as the race entered the early hours of the morning, the crew continued to circle strongly despite falling off the lead lap.

Keeping out of trouble as daylight returned, the trio kept up the pace to the end, eventually completing the team’s first 24-hour race in 26th.

Meanwhile, in the Bronze class, Hong Kong racer Antares Au put in a strong showing at the wheel of the strikingly-liveried Lionspeed X Herberth Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). Teaming up with Porsche driver Alessio Picariello, Martin Rump and Alexander Fach, the quartet set competitive lap times across the 24 hours, finishing 22nd overall and seventh in class.

After a tough qualifying, which saw them line up 44th on the grid, Taipei-based squad HubAuto Racing were looking to come through the field to challenge at the front. Belgian racer Laurens Vanthoor made an excellent start on that goal, before a suspension issue while Patrick Pilet was at the wheel unfortunately put an end to their race before nightfall on Saturday.

Finally, Earl Bamber Motorsport’s race also came to an early end, when Malaysian driver Adrian D’Silva was involved in a collision on the run down to Eau Rouge.

Finishing positions:

P8 SSR Herberth: Jaminet, Campbell, Makowiecki
P9 Rutronik Racing: Andlauer, Müller, Niederhauser
P22 Lionspeed X Herberth: Au, Picariello, Rump, Fach
P26 Phantom Global Racing: Evans, Preining, Eriksson
P27 Dinamic GT: Rappange, Blom, Nakken, Nouet

Jaxon Evans, Phantom Global Racing: “We can be proud to make it to the finish in the team’s first time at the 24 Hours of Spa. Of course we wanted more, collectively we showed good signs, strong pace and it was a pleasure to work with the squad, Joel and Thomas. Hopefully we can come back in the future and show our true potential, but we should be happy with ourselves, to see the chequered flag is still a great achievement.”

Joel Eriksson, Phantom Global Racing: “A tough race for us in the end. Not what we aimed for but we should be proud, the team’s first Spa 24 and the car was flying all week since the Prologue. Some issues during the night and a couple of penalties cost us some time and the race just didn’t play out for us. Hopefully we will be back in the future for more!”

Thomas Preining, Phantom Global Racing: “This race had it all, it was chaotic from start to finish, with lots of Safety Car and Full Course Yellow interruptions. We had some contact, technical issues and a few other mistakes, in the end it wasn’t the race we hoped for, although the performance was strong. We just weren’t able to tie it all together to fight at the front. That’s Spa, it’s unforgiving, the competition is really tight, but we gave it a good go and can be pleased with our efforts.”

Laurens Vanthoor, HubAuto Racing: “Unfortunately a disappointing end to our weekend at Spa. We did our best as a team to resolve issues but a suspension failure early in the race meant we couldn’t continue. It wasn’t what we hoped for, but we did everything we could. Looking forward to being back at this race in the future and hopefully taking a better result!”

Patrick Pilet, HubAuto Racing: “A really difficult weekend, in the end it didn’t go as planned. An issue in the car while I was on track forced us to retire, I was lucky to avoid the wall but it’s obviously not the way we wanted our race to end. A big thanks to the whole team, who worked really hard all week to fix issues on the car. They rebuilt it completely, we were all pushing in the same direction but it just wasn’t our year.”

Kevin Estre, HubAuto Racing: “Sadly it’s a DNF for us after a tough week. Qualifying was difficult, but we were coming back in the race with strong pace before a suspension problem at Eau Rouge. I’m pleased Patrick managed to avoid hitting the wall, he then came in and we had to retire the car. It’s sad, but this is the way it goes sometimes in motorsport.”

Alexandre Gibot, Managing Director Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Ltd.: “I’m proud that Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific can support our regional customers to take on high profile events, such as Spa 24 Hours, and compete at the highest level. Well done to Phantom Global Racing for successfully completing their first ever twice-around-the-clock enduro, following their brilliant debut at Bathurst in February. We’ve seen how hard they, along with HubAuto Racing and Earl Bamber Motorsport, have worked in the lead up to this race and also at the track over the course of the week. It’s been a challenging Spa 24 Hours, but I know that we’ll come back next year stronger than ever.”