The Porsche Sprint Challenge Central Europe enjoyed a record-breaking start into its 2026 season at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. A total of 22 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars and 35 drivers created the largest grid in PSCCE history.

Under sunny skies and perfect racing conditions, qualifying already delivered close competition. Czech rookie Matyas Faiereisl from Senkyr Motorsport secured pole position for Sprint Race 1 ahead of Estonian rookie Markus Kajak and David Dziwok. For Race 2, Kajak turned the tables and claimed pole position ahead of Faiereisl and Ivan Peklin.

Despite starting second, Markus Kajak immediately established himself as the driver to beat in Sprint Race 1. The Dream 2 Drive rookie secured victory ahead of Dziwok, who finished only 0.490 seconds behind, while Faiereisl completed the overall podium. Mantas Janavicius won the ProAM category, Tautvydas Rudokas topped the AM class and Pavel Bouška claimed Masters honours.

Kajak continued his impressive form in Sprint Race 2, converting pole position into his second victory of the day. Ivan Peklin finished second for GTSPORTS, while Faiereisl secured another podium result in third place. Dobroslav Karnik won the ProAM category, Florin Tincescu celebrated victory in AM and Audrius Piktys came out on top in Masters.

The final race of the day, the “100 Miles of Austria”, also marked the debut of the new Endurance format with a mandatory pit stop window, adding an additional strategic element to the competition.

David Dziwok and Ivan Peklin together with their team GTSPORTS mastered the new format best and secured the first Endurance victory of the season. Austrian duo Željko Drmic and Dieter Svepes finished second for MS Racing, while Dream 2 Drive’s Tauras Tunyla and Markus Kajak completed the overall podium.

Marius Bartkus and Mantas Janavicius won the ProAM category, Peter Brunner secured victory in AM and Günter Benninger topped the Masters classification.

After a race weekend with two overall Sprint victories and an Endurance podium, Markus Kajak leaves Austria as the first Sprint championship leader of the 2026 season. With record participation, excellent weather and exciting racing across all categories, the Porsche Sprint Challenge Central Europe could hardly have wished for a better start into the new season.