Timo Bernhard has announced that his GT team KÜS Team75 Bernhard will contest the 24 Hours of Spa for the first time, next month in the PRO class with a single Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Driving the team’s Porsche will be a trio of Porsche factory drivers, Laurens Vanthoor, Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre, though Bernhard stresses that it’s going to be a learning year for the young team.

“We want to learn as much as possible, deliver a clean race and see the chequered flag,” Bernhard said. “I’m very proud of our achievements to date. It was always our goal to race in the endurance category and with Spa we will make our debut at one of the classic venues.”

KÜS Team75 Bernhard was founded by Timo and his father Rüdiger back in 2010 and after a spell in Porsche Carrera Cup Germany moved into ADAC GT Masters in 2016, winning multiple races in its first season.

This year the team extended its motorsport commitments to the VLN championship at the Nuerburgring.

“We’re very excited for the 24 hours of Spa,” said team manager Klaus Graff. “To be able to contest the race with such a top-class driver line up is a great sign of the trust that our partners put in us. The experience and speed of Michael, Kévin and Laurens will be hugely beneficial. We’ve got a packed program over the next few weeks to prepare ourselves as best as we can for the tough competition.”

“I’m very excited to be racing at the 24-hours of Spa. When I entered the Porsche RSR programme, I wanted to race in the four big GT3 races namely Bathurst, Nürburgring, Spa and Macau,” added Vanthoor.

“Especially Spa, because it’s my home race and I won there in 2014. I’m really excited about this project. It’s the first 24-hour race for KÜS Team75 Bernhard, but I like the idea of a small team, where everyone is fully motivated and works closely together. We will be up against experienced works teams but I’m confident we can fight for victory.“