March 23, 2026 | News | GT Winter Series
Coming into the weekend, Orange Racing’s Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton held a four-point advantage in the points standings, with 178 points compared to the 174 of Kenneth Heyer and Jay Mo Härtling. From the Cup 2 class, Igor Klaja was also still in championship contention for PTT Racing, but would need a bevy of very strong class results to challenge the GT3 cars in the points table.
With a vast quantity of guest starters in the GT3 category, it would not be a straightforward weekend for either primary championship-contending outfit. Indeed, for race one, SR’s Kenneth Heyer would start the race from third place in the Mercedes, while Simon Orange qualified sixth in the McLaren. The front row of the grid was comprised of Guy Albag’s Antonelli Motorsport Mercedes on pole, with VSR’s Ignazio Zanon (Lamborghini) alongside.
For Simon Orange, the dramas started before the race even began. In wet conditions, Orange would spin the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo on the formation lap, and therefore dropped to the rear of the GT3 field. As a result, he would have start from the back, rather than sixth position.
Once the race started, green flag action would only last a few corners before a spin for Florian Scholze. At turn five, Scholze spun the Attempto Audi R8 under power application, and was unable to avoid the gravel. Additionally, Jon Lancaster – racing a GTX-class MZR KTM – would also spin at the same corner, but avoided the barriers and gravel to continue in the race.
Once the Safety Car came in, Simon Orange began climbing through the field in the #67 McLaren. With less than 20 minutes left in the race at the time of the Safety Car releasing the pack, the British driver knew time was of the essence, and quickly picked off several positions. Ultimately, the Orange Racing McLaren would finish the race in fifth, marking a remarkable salvage job from the eponymous pilot.
At the front, Guy Albag performed an impressive drive to win the race by five seconds for Antonelli Motorsport, finishing ahead of VSR’s Ignazio Zanon. Kenneth Heyer finished third overall, ahead of Sendom Racing Team’s Seweryn Mazur.
On his return to racing after a seven-month injury hiatus, UNIQ Racing’s Jerzy Spinkiewicz finished seventh overall to win the Cup 4 class for Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo machinery. Jon Lancaster won the GTX class in the #34 MZR KTM, while the Proto class was won by Tobias Bille Clausen in the BWT Mücke Duqueine.
Pipo Massa was victorious in the Cup 2 class for AF Motorsport, narrowly holding off Anders Steiner. The 16-year-old son of Formula One legend Felipe was thrilled to be a race-winner in Porsche 992 Cup machinery on two continents, having already triumphed in Brazil just weeks ago. Igor Klaja was classified sixth in Cup 2 after an off-track moment, which effectively brought his overall title bid to a close.
Heading into Sunday, SR Motorsport’s Heyer and Härtling were tied on points with JMH’s Orange and Clutton – the title was set to go to the wire.
Race two:
The second race of the weekend promised fireworks. Marcus Clutton started the race from pole position in the Orange Racing by JMH McLaren, and SR Motorsport’s Jay Mo Härtling lined up his Mercedes on the opposite side of the front row.
Immediately, there would be drama, as the pair went side-by-side into turn one. Härtling was afforded the opportunity to move to the inside, and when Clutton ran out of room, he elected to cut across the runoff area. He rejoined in the lead, and was judged by race control to have gained an advantage. For this, a ten-second penalty was applied to his race time.
Before Clutton could begin building up a gap, the second start – comprised of the Cup and Proto classes – would cause a red flag. Contact between Michael Hove (High Class Racing Ligier) and Petar Matic (ASR Lamborghini) on the approach to turn one triggered a sizeable impact for both parties; Matic in particular sustained a heavy hit to the concrete wall on his driver-side door. While Matic required medical assistance and a trip to hospital, he was back on-site by the end of the day, to take part in the end-of-season awards’ ceremony. Hove and High Class would compete in the third race as scheduled.
When the race resumed, Clutton pushed hard to build a ten-second advantage to claim the win, even with the penalty applied. However, it was not to be; he crossed the line 8.8 seconds clear of Härtling, who assumed the victory. Clutton was classified second, meaning Heyer and Härtling held a two-point lead heading into the last race of the season. Jerzy Spinkiewicz won the Cup 4 class once more, while Marius Aigner and Anders Steiner won GTX and Cup 2 respectively.
Race three:
Orange Racing by JMH faced additional reprimands following race two, including a five-place grid penalty for weaving after the Safety Car passed control of the field to Clutton prior to the race two restart. As such, Simon Orange would start the car from ninth for the 55-minute pitstop race. Conversely, Kenneth Heyer – in the championship-leading #11 SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm Mercedes – started the race from third. Ignazion Zanon started the race from pole in the VSR Lamborghini, with Guy Albag alongside him.
Albag got a poor launch as the race began, which allowed Heyer into an early second place, though AF Corse’s Yaroslav Veselaho would soon find a way past the #11. As with the previous race, any further progress was quickly ruled out by a pause; the Safety Car was scrambled after a collision between Igor Klaja and Pipo Massa in their respective Porsche 992 Cup cars. With both cars stranded in the turn three gravel and going no further, it sadly meant that Felipe Massa – set to share with his son – would not get a chance to race in the GT Winter Series.
By the time the Safety Car was relieved of its duties, there were only five minutes until the pit window opened. Heyer would pit at the first opportunity, as would Simon Orange; they left the circuit in fifth and 12th respectively. Upon rejoining the race, Marcus Clutton found himself directly behind Attempto Racing’s Ariel Levi After the pit window cycle, and the pair made contact through turn 11. Clutton did not manage to pass, and could scarcely afford more contact; on the first lap of the race, Orange had sustained rear-diffuser damage to the McLaren.
With 23 minutes to go, the #128 MS Racing McLaren Artura Trophy of Jens Richter exited the pits as Levi and Clutton ran side-by-side. Levi was rapidly approaching the rear of Richter, and had no choice but to yield. Once the pit window ended, the picture became clear. Jay Mo Härtling was running fourth in the #11 Mercedes, and Marcus Clutton was sixth. Clutton would need to pass Härtling, and put a car between them, to win the championship.
Quickly, the Brit dispatched Seweryn Mazur to move up to fifth, and was now left with an almost ten-second gap to overcome, in order to reach Härtling. Seconds after the overtake, Clutton would be gifted an opportunity. Michael Hove (High Class Ligier) turned across Milos Pavolovic’s ASR Lamborghini, sending Hove into a spin and – eventually – the turn ten gravel.
A Safety Car would intervene, and release the field with five minutes to go. Clutton was directly behind Härtling in the queue. Coming onto the main straight, Härtling got a fantastic run on Guy Albag directly ahead, and tried to find the inside line for the first corner; he dipped two wheels on the grass in an effort to make the move, but remained in fourth.
Coming out of turn eight, Härtling lost traction, and would face scrutiny from Clutton to his outside. Härtling would squeeze the McLaren out on the exit of turn nine, costing Clutton straight-line speed. By turn 10, Clutton had lost out to both Ariel Levi and Mateusz Lisowski (PTT Racing Mercedes).
The drama, however, did not end. With just over a lap to go, Guy Albag was in the clutches of Härtling. The pair made contact at turn 11, and Albag then over-rotated into turn 12, seemingly without the assistance of Härtling. The Antonelli Mercedes would spin, and collect Ariel Levi’s Attempto Racing Audi.
As a result of the pandemonium, Clutton moved up to fourth, still behind Härtling in third. This would still place the title in the hands of the SR Motorsport duo, and it was in that order that they crossed the line. Mattia Michelotto and Ignazio Zanon put on a clinical performance to win the race overall, ahead of AF Corse’s Yaroslav Veselaho. Jerzy Spinkiewicz won the Cup 4 class, while Marius Aigner again secured GTX honours. Anders Steiner and Marcus Annervi won the Cup 2 class in the Team Steiner Racing Porsche.
After an intense and emotional final act of the season, it was joy for Härtling and Heyer, who were confirmed as the 2026 GT Winter Series champions. After a season-long duel, there was respect shown between the SR by Schnitzelalm and Orange/JMH crews; handshakes, congratulations and commiserations exchanged, and reflections upon a spectacular fight.
With numerous record-high GT3 entries and competition across the classes, this season’s GT Winter Series has been a true spectacle. 2027’s GTWS season will doubtless be another thrill-ride, as will the upcoming GT Summer Series. With teams new to the GEDLICH Racing paddock set to compete, alongside established Winter Series entrants, anticipation is high for the inaugural event at Hockenheim from 17-19 April.
