Verstappen targets victory on GT World Challenge Europe debut in Portimão

Max Verstappen is targeting victory on his first competitive outing in the GT World Challenge Europe, while also saying he wants to enjoy the event. In an interview with Verstappen.com ahead of Saturday’s Portimão finale, he said: “We are here to win. That is always the goal.”

This is not Verstappen’s first time racing GT3 cars. He won on his GT3 category debut at the Nürburgring’s NLS9 round alongside Chris Lulham in a Ferrari 296 GT3, then led the Nürburgring 24 Hours in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 before a late driveshaft failure ended his race.

At Portimão, Verstappen will share the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO for Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing with Lulham and Ben Barnicoat. He is stepping in for regular drivers Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella, who are committed to a clashing World Endurance Championship round. Each driver is expected to spend roughly an hour at the wheel in Saturday’s three-hour Endurance Cup race.