International GT Open season brought the championship to one of world motorsport’s most feared and iconic circuits — Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps — for the first endurance contest of the campaign.
And in true Spa fashion, the weather refused to cooperate.
Cold temperatures, damp tarmac and constantly evolving grip levels turned the GT Open 500 into a strategic chess match where tyre calls, pit timing and nerve under pressure proved just as important as outright pace. With a packed 31-car grid featuring GT3 machinery from Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG and McLaren, the weekend had all the ingredients for classic endurance racing chaos.
By the time the chequered flag finally dropped after four intense hours, it was Team Motopark standing on the top step once again.
Their Mercedes-AMG GT3 pairing of Maxi Götz and Christian Mansell converted pole position into victory, securing back-to-back GT Open 500 wins for the German squad and further establishing themselves as one of the benchmark teams in the championship.
But beneath the headline result, Spa delivered a race packed with heavy crashes, clever strategy, breakthrough performances and one astonishing lap time that left the paddock talking long after sunset.
Motopark Executes a Perfect Spa Performance
From the very beginning, Team Motopark looked calm, composed and completely in control.
Starting from pole position, experienced Mercedes-AMG factory ace Maxi Götz wasted no time building an advantage in the tricky opening conditions. The slightly wet track demanded precision rather than aggression, and Götz judged it perfectly, immediately pulling clear while chaos unfolded deeper in the field.
The early stages of the race were dramatically interrupted after the #55 AF Corse Ferrari suffered a frightening high-speed crash at Eau Rouge/Raidillon - one of the most intimidating sections in global motorsport.
The impact triggered an immediate Full Course Yellow before escalating into a full Safety Car period as marshals repaired barriers and cleared debris. Several teams later admitted the constantly changing grip levels through Eau Rouge had caught drivers out throughout the weekend, with standing water and damp patches lingering offline despite the racing line beginning to dry.
Thankfully, the driver emerged without serious injury, but the incident served as another reminder of how unforgiving Spa-Francorchamps remains even in the modern GT3 era.
Christian Mansell Announces Himself
When the race resumed, attention quickly shifted toward pit strategy.
As conditions slowly improved, teams faced the critical decision: stay on wet-weather tyres or gamble on slicks as a dry line emerged around the 7-kilometre Belgian circuit.
Motopark timed it perfectly.
During the opening pit sequence, Götz handed the Mercedes-AMG over to rising Australian talent Christian Mansell, who suddenly found himself leading one of the biggest GT races of his career.
And he delivered brilliantly.
Already highly regarded in junior single-seater categories, Mansell has been steadily expanding his GT credentials this season, but Spa represented a genuine breakthrough moment. This victory marked his first-ever overall win in GT3 competition — and it came under immense pressure against experienced endurance specialists.
What stood out most was his composure.
Despite repeated attacks from rival teams and difficult traffic management conditions, Mansell never appeared rattled. Around Spa, that matters enormously. Traffic can make or break endurance races here, especially through technical sectors like Bruxelles, Pouhon and the Bus Stop chicane where slower-class cars can instantly destroy momentum. Mansell handled it with maturity beyond his years.
Porsche Pushes Motopark All the Way
The race’s biggest surprise challenger came from newcomers Fach Auto Tech.
The Swiss Porsche squad arrived in International GT Open this year with relatively little fanfare compared to some of the established championship heavyweights. By Sunday evening, nobody in the paddock was overlooking them anymore.
Their Porsche 911 GT3 R emerged as a genuine threat during the middle portion of the race, particularly once slick tyres became the preferred option. The car looked incredibly stable in the drying conditions and repeatedly closed the gap to the leading Motopark Mercedes.
At one stage, traffic transformed the battle into a tense three-way fight involving the Greystone GT McLaren as well.
For a brief period, it looked as though the race could swing dramatically in several directions at once.
Greystone’s Charge Ends in Heartbreak
The McLaren 720S GT3 from Greystone GT had quietly worked itself into contention through clever strategy and strong pace during the changing conditions.
As the race intensified, the McLaren became one of the fastest cars on circuit and started aggressively attacking the leaders. But Spa can punish the smallest mistake with brutal consequences.
At the Jackie Ickx Corner, the Greystone entry suffered front-right damage after contact with the barriers, effectively ending any realistic hopes of victory.
It was a painful blow because the McLaren genuinely looked capable of challenging for the overall win before the incident.
Still, their pace across the weekend underlined how competitive the GT Open field has become in 2026. With 31 entries and multiple manufacturers capable of fighting at the front, the series continues to grow into one of Europe’s most underrated GT championships.
Final Stops Seal the Race
Following the second round of pit stops, the strategic picture finally became clearer.
Motopark retained the lead, with Mansell continuing to manage the race expertly despite relentless pressure behind. The Mercedes-AMG looked especially strong through Spa’s high-speed sectors, maintaining superb traction exiting La Source and stability through Blanchimont despite the still-damp conditions.
Behind them, the fight for the final podium positions erupted into one of the best battles of the afternoon.
Tom Lebbon and Leonardo Moncini traded blows in a fierce contest that showcased the razor-thin margins of modern GT racing.
In the end, Elite Motorsport managed to edge ahead in the battle, while Moncini delivered a superb recovery drive to secure third overall for Scuderia Villorba Corse in their Lamborghini Huracán GT3.
It capped off an impressive performance from the Italian squad in extremely difficult conditions.
Fach Auto Tech Dominates the Support Classes
While Motopark claimed overall victory, Fach Auto Tech arguably left Spa as one of the biggest winners of the entire weekend.
Not only did the Porsche squad secure victory in Pro-Am, they also triumphed in the Am category — an extraordinary achievement for a team still relatively new to International GT Open competition.
Even more impressively, their Pro-Am Porsche narrowly missed the outright podium, finishing fourth overall against full Pro-category opposition.
That result sent a clear message to the rest of the championship.
Fach Auto Tech are not simply here to make up numbers.
AF Corse’s Insane Pace Goes Unrewarded
Perhaps the most astonishing statistic of the weekend came from AF Corse.
Despite enduring a difficult race and eventually finishing only 25th overall, the #51 Ferrari produced a staggering fastest lap of 2:16.678 — nearly a full second faster than anybody else managed during the race. In GT racing terms, that gap is enormous.
The lap instantly became one of the major talking points in the paddock, with several rival engineers reportedly shocked by the outright pace advantage the Ferrari displayed when conditions aligned correctly.
But Spa endurance racing is ruthless. Raw speed alone guarantees nothing.
Between changing weather, safety cars, tyre strategy and traffic management, endurance success requires the complete package. AF Corse had the pace, but Motopark had the execution.
And at Spa-Francorchamps, execution is everything.
GT Open’s Growing Reputation
The 2026 International GT Open season is rapidly building momentum.
Strong entry numbers, increasingly competitive manufacturer representation and a healthy mix of experienced GT veterans alongside emerging young talent are giving the championship a fresh identity within European endurance racing.
Spa once again proved why the series deserves more global attention.
You had factory-level Mercedes-AMG operations, giant-killing Porsche performances, aggressive Lamborghini fights, McLaren drama and Ferrari pace that bordered on outrageous — all unfolding on one of the greatest circuits ever built.
And crucially, the racing itself felt unpredictable from start to finish.
In modern motorsport, that matters more than ever.
Because fans do not just want fast cars anymore.
They want jeopardy. Strategy. Weather chaos. Pressure. Mistakes. Redemption.
Spa delivered every bit of it.
Photos ©Niklas Husmann
