After Car Collection Motorsport announced the entry of two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs in the International GT Open Championship a few weeks ago, the Hessian team is now adding another GT3 car from Porsche and an interesting driver pairing to its line-up.
Car Collection Motorsport will enter the International GT Open Championship in the 2024 season. For its debut in this high-class racing series, the team led by Peter Schmidt is not doing things by halves and is fielding three current Porsche 911 GT3 Rs (992). In addition to the cars already announced with drivers “Hash” and Alex Fontana in the #12 and Gustav Bergström and Nico Menzel in the #15, Canadian Bashar Mardini and Dutchman Tijmen van der Helm will share the wheel in the #7.
Bashar Mardini has learned his trade in various Porsche Carrera Cups. For example, he drove in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italy and its counterpart in the Middle East. He won the championship title in the Pro Am class there last year. He has also gained experience in GT3, including at the 24H of Spa.
Tijmen van der Helm is a experienced endurance driver. The Dutchman has a background in formula racing and switched to Le Mans prototypes in 2022. There he raced in the American IMSA series and in the ELMS. In the 2023 season, he switched to the top series and drove a Porsche 963 LMDH in the IMSA. This season, he will continue his involvement there and also compete in the GT Open with Car Collection.
Bashar Mardini: “I’m thrilled to be competing with Car Collection in the ProAM category of the International GT Open Championship. This will be my first racing series with the 992 GT3 R and it was important for me to join a competitive and experienced team. I’m looking forward to a great season and hopefully some podium finishes.”
Tijmen van der Helm: “I can’t wait to start the season with Car Collection. A great team with to start with and make my first kilometers in a GT car. There are a lot of promising moments waiting for me this year.”
