LAN GP RACING STEPS UP ITS GAME FOR THE CLOSING ROUNDS

Lan GP Racing is stepping up its game for the closing rounds of the Supercars Endurance series season with a recently acquired car.

The Spanish team has decided to replace the Porsche 911 Cup (Type 997) previously driven by Ángel Lanchares with a second Porsche 911 Cup (Type 991.1), the same model that Ramiro García-Pumarino has been campaigning since the start of the season. The decision comes at a crucial stage, with both drivers involved in the fight for the Cup class title across the three championships as the Campeonato de España de Supercars concludes at Jerez early next month.

The team had already demonstrated the potential of the 991.1 car at Jarama, where it secured one of the weekend’s victories. On that occasion, a mechanical problem with Lanchares’ car during qualifying left the 997 car unavailable for the races, prompting Lan GP Racing to make a strategic decision: to have Lanchares and García-Pumarino compete together in the same car. The improvised solution proved the competitiveness of the pairing, as the duo delivered an impressive performance and took the 991 to victory. The change now made official follows an internal review of the team’s future direction.

As Ángel Lanchares explained, “Lan GP Racing was founded just over a year ago. Before that, we had experimented with racing the 997 and, at the end of last season, decided to add a 991 to the team. Running two similar but very different cars was a headache when it came to spare parts, so we decided to acquire another 991 and stop racing the 997. This allows us to standardise our parts inventory and have two more competitive cars for the closing stages of the championship.”

The Spanish driver also stressed that the change is essential to restoring consistency: “I’ve had quite a few mechanical problems this season, resulting in retirements and a lack of competitiveness. With this new acquisition, we hope to finish as many races as possible.” 

The team believes that standardising its machinery will improve logistical efficiency, enhance its technical response and provide a decisive competitive boost in the title fight.

With just two races remaining in the Campeonato de España de Supercars, García-Pumarino sits second in the Cup class standings on 101 points, just eight points behind leaders Dave Benett and Marcus Fothergill. Lanchares is third, although he trails the leaders by 26 points. In the Iberian Supercars, meanwhile, Lanchares is second on 57 points, three ahead of García-Pumarino, but 37 points behind Benett and Fothergill, with four scoring races still to come: two at Jerez and two at Estoril.

The next round of the Supercars Endurance season takes place at Jerez de la Frontera from 6 to 8 November. The event counts towards the Iberian Supercars, the Campeonato de España de Supercars and the Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade.