February 17, 2026 | News | GT Winter Series

GT Winter Series: New winners and big grids at Valencia

The third round of the GT Winter Series season took place at Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo, in front of busy grandstands and 13,000 spectators.

Over 30 cars arrived to compete, with superb turnouts in a number of the classes. The skies were noticeably clearer and brighter than they had been during an anomalous trip to Portugal, but unfortunately, extreme winds and a local government order forced the cancellation of Saturday’s racing. This meant one qualifying session and three races on Sunday, with the two sprint encounters cut to 20 minutes, and a 50-minute pitstop race.

The first race saw an all-V10 front row of the grid, as Ariel Levi lined-up on pole position in the #86 Attempto Racing Audi, joined by Sendom Racing Team’s Seweryn Mazur (Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1). As the race began, Mazur wasn’t as fast to pick-up the throttle, and dropped behind P3 starter Kiano Blum in his #64 Haupt Ford Mustang GT3.

The top two soon drove away, while Mazur put up a fantastic fight against Alain Valente in the second Haupt Ford, as well as Ethan Brown in the #19 Engstler Lamborghini. Valente did eventually find his way through, but Mazur’s dogged fighting continued against Brown. Even when it looked like the Singaporean had finally taken fourth, Mazur launched back to the inside at turn two and continued the battle.

A Safety Car was triggered a little over halfway into the race, as the #128 MS Racing McLaren of Fabian Seipt ended up in the gravel after losing traction out of turn 6. The spin took place just ahead of Cup X entrant Jann Jöge in the #147 Equipe Vitesse Porsche. The German, a member of the GEDLICH Racing team in sales and organisation roles, was able to avoid being collected in the spin; a vital act in a raceday where he needed results to secure signatures for an upgraded racing licence.

Upon the race resumption, Kiano Blum once again looked threatening behind Levi, but the Attempto Audi driver held on to secure his first win in GT3 machinery. Blum and Valente rounded out the podium for Haupt Racing Team, while Seweryn Mazur completed his supreme defensive drive, beating Ethan Brown to fourth.

Joseph Dean won the Cup 1 class for Ferrari 296 Challenge machines, just ahead of Cup 4 winner Alessio Ruffini in the #333 Auto Sport Racing Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo. Cup 2 honours went the way of PTSportsbyUp2race driver Oleksii Kikireshko, who battled Igor Klaja in the similar PTT Racing Porsche 992 Cup.

Race Two:
The second race of the day looked likely to feature yet another Audi versus Ford battle, as Massimiliano Cuccarese started from pole aboard the #74 Haupt Mustang driven by Alain Valente earlier in the day. Cuccarese would line-up alongside Attempto Racing’s Carrie Schreiner as the race began, and used the Ford’s power to take an early lead. This would not last long though, as Schreiner made a mistake under braking at turn two, collecting Cuccarese in the process.

Marcus Clutton (#67 Orange Racing by JMH McLaren) assumed the lead, and a Safety Car neutralised the field shortly thereafter; Cuccarese’s Mustang was still stranded at turn two, while several Cup class cars also collided and left debris across the track.

Once the race resumed, Clutton found himself under significant pressure from Niklas Kalus in the #64 HRT Ford. The imposing Mustang nested in the mirrors of the McLaren, and was joined by the SR Motorsport Mercedes entries of Mortiz Wiskirchen (#111) and Jay Mo Härtling (#11). While the quartet remained close throughout the race, Clutton was able to keep all at bay to claim the first win of the season for the McLaren team. Kalus and Wiskirchen completed the podium, with the top three split by just 1.1 seconds.

With Härtling finishing fourth, the victory for Orange Racing by JMH surged Clutton and Simon Orange into the GT3 championship lead for the first time. Gilbert Yates drove to an exemplary sixth overall in the Cup 1-winning #101 AF Corse Ferrari, while Alessio Ruffini secured yet another Cup 4 win for Auto Sport Racing from 11th overall.

The sole Cup 3 entry – the #128 MS Racing McLaren Artura Trophy Evo – had its best showing of the day, finishing 12th overall in the hands of Kajus Siksnelis. Igor Klaja won Cup 2, this time bettering Oleksii Kikireshko in the class reserved for Porsche 992 Cup cars. The older Porsche 991.1 Cup of Jann Jöge once again reached the flag, securing the signatures required for his prospective progression into the Nürburgring-based NLS events.

Race Three:
The #111 Mercedes of Michael Sander lined-up on pole for the 50-minute pitstop race. However, the relative newcomer to GT3 racing elected not to put up a fight into the first corner, allowing Niklas Kalus to sweep the #64 Haupt Ford into an early lead. Marcus Clutton moved the Orange Racing McLaren into second place shortly thereafter, and began his pursuit of the Mustang.

The Brit was not able to find an opportunity to overtake in the first phase of the race, which was promptly halted by an off-track excursion at turn 12 for GABS Competizioni’s Leon Rijnbeek. The #89 Ferrari 296 Challenge ended up in the wall, and required a Safety Car for safe removal. The race resumed, but only briefly, as a collision at turn eight left the #81 Norik Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Norikazu Shibata stranded in the gravel. The #204 Cup 1 Ferrari of Joseph Dean was the culprit, and his car continued on with major damage that required impromptu repairs in the pits.

Once the green flag waved again, the slightly-delayed pit window began, and shuffled the race order. Simon Orange fell behind Jay Mo Härtling over the course of the window, and would soon lose out to Mateusz Lisowski in the #27 Mercedes GT3 too.

A late safety car was triggered with less than seven minutes remaining, as the previously-damaged #204 Ferrari – now driven by Aston Millar – suffered a suspension failure at turn 10. The race resumed with just one lap to go, and Mortiz Wiskirchen (#111 SR Mercedes) made a critical move for fourth position on Simon Orange at turn two; this would definitively hand the points lead back to the sister #11 SR entry of Heyer and Härtling.

At the front of the field, Kiano Blum (#64 HRT Ford) just held off SR Motorsport’s Jay Mo Härtling to win the race, while Mateusz Lisowski confirmed the first podium of the year for the #27 PTT Racing Mercedes. Fourth-placed Wiskirchen was followed home by Massimiliano Cuccarese, who overtook Simon Orange for fifth in the last moments of the race.

Nina Østergaard and Frederik Schandorff secured ninth overall and the Cup 4 win in the DC Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo. Just behind them, father-and-son duo Gilbert and Bradley Yates won the Cup 1 class, while Igor Klaja won the Cup 2 category from 16th overall in the #7 PTT Porsche, along with co-driver Fabian Dybionka.

A strong weekend for both the #7 PTT and #88 PTSportsbyUp2race Cup 2 Porsches has dramatically shifted the overall championship battle. The #88 car’s sole constant driver, Oleksii Kikireshko, is now the overall points leader on 138. Six points further back, Heyer and Härtling now sit second, while Klaja is tied on 126 points in third, alongside Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton for Orange Racing by JMH.

The final two weekends of the season promise a thrilling fight in the overall GT Winter Series standings; the action resumes at Motorland Aragon from 5-8 March.