Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors has celebrated an “excellent” result at the Hankook 12H KUWAIT, the maiden outing for the team’s new 992-generation Porsche GT3 Cup car. 

The Romanian-Italian, the 991 Teams’ champion in 2021, finished its debut run in CREVENTIC’s ‘992’ category at Kuwait Motor Town 2nd in-class and 4th overall, just two laps adrift of an outright podium finish. The best result for Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors since its 3rd place overall at last year’s Hankook 24H SEBRING. By the team’s own admission, better reactions to the event’s Code 60s and without the right rear puncture that at one-point dropped the #955 Porsche two laps behind the class leader, an attempt at class victory was plausible. 

Impressively, having spent much of the event’s private testing sessions and Free Practice familiarizing itself with both the circuit and its new Porsche 992 GT3 Cup, Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors also set the fastest lap of the 992 class during the race, Sergiu Nicolae’s 1m 55.272s quicker even than 1m 56.610s set by Rik Breukers in the category-winning Red Camel-Jordans.nl entry. 

So encouraged is the team by its performance at the Hankook 12H KUWAIT, for which the #955 Porsche took 992-class pole position, Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors has since confirmed its entry for the Hankook 6H ABU DHABI on 21-22 January. Alongside its prior registration for the 18th annual Hankook 24H DUBAI on 13-14-15 January, this means the Romanian-Italian collaboration is now eligible to compete for 992 honours in CREVENTIC’s brand-new Middle East Trophy, lying as it does just four points adrift of 992 standings leader Red Camel. 

Speaking with CREVENTIC in Kuwait, Willi Motorsport’s Sergiu Nicolae agreed that the new 992-generation was a marked improvement over the team’s now retired 991-II Cup. 

“The new car is much better!” Sergiu explains. “I’ve come for a Ginetta GT4, [the design of which] focused on the aerodynamics, and also the Radical [SR3 RS], and this 992 is much closer to my driving style. So I’m enjoying it very, very much. 

“With the old [991] Porsche, you needed to keep the front down through the corners, and that meant you had to keep braking until the middle of the corner, and then use the throttle to turn the car. With the [992], it’s much better. The new aerodynamics mean we’re much faster on the straights, and you can brake on the straights and only a little bit into the corner. So you can [carry more] speed through the corners.”

The 992-gen Porsche marks the fourth different model with which Willi Motorsport has contested a 24H SERIES event: as ‘Endurance Team Romania,’ the team made its debut with a Toyota GT86 at the 2017 Hankook 12H MUGELLO, an event at which it took its maiden class win four years later with the Porsche 911-II Cup (you can read about that from Sergiu’s perspective in our full feature HERE). In-between, Endurance Team Romania also competed at Navarra and Barcelona in 2018 with a Ginetta G55 GT4.

Interestingly, the team’s 24H SERIES program may not stop with the 992 Porsche, with Sergiu intimating that a GT3 program could be feasible down the line. On top of that, and following a test run with BMW’s new, second generation M4 GT4, it’s possible, driver line-up depending, that Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors could even run a two-car entry at select rounds in 2023.

“We do not know when the new GT3 R is coming, and we are waiting for that car. But the plan is to do the full season with the 992,” Sergiu continues. “We will see if we can come to Dubai [with the BMW]…and now we just want to see if we can find some drivers to make it to Dubai, and maybe more.”

Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors is one of 19 entries already registered for the 992-class at the 2023 Hankook 24H DUBAI. A line-up that includes former 24H SERIES champion Duel Racing, Abu Dhabi’s RABDAN Motorsport, and multiple entries from event stalwarts, and former class winners, HRT Performance and MRS GT-Racing.