Porsche Rally Trophy Benelux: A One-Make Rally Series Built Around the 911 Rally GT (992.1)

What is the Porsche Rally Trophy Benelux?

The Porsche Rally Trophy Benelux is a five-round competition held across Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, designed as a trophy within selected national championship events. Porsche’s own series overview describes it as the “home” of a new rally program and sets an initial participation target of 5 to 10 cars per round.

2026 calendar (as announced)

• Round 1: Rallye de Wallonie (Belgium) — April 25–26, 2026
• Round 2: Ypres Rally (Belgium) — June 26–27, 2026
• Round 3: GTC Rally (Netherlands) — July 10–11, 2026
• Round 4: Saarland-Pfalz Rallye (Germany) — August 14–15, 2026
• Round 5: East Belgian Rally (Belgium) — September 26, 2026

The schedule is deliberately compact and concentrated in peak rally season—April through September—making it a realistic add-on for crews already campaigning in national championships.

The origin story: from idea to homologation in two seasons

The 911 Rally GT project was initiated in 2024 by Belgium’s national motorsport federation (RACB) and developed by engineer Lionel Hansen.
By 2025, the rally homologation work around the 911 GT3 Cup (992.1) base was completed, and Porsche notes that more than 20 911 Rally GT cars had already been sold and used in national rallies.

DirtFish’s reporting adds texture to how fast this came together, describing a small development group that included former FIA rally director Yves Matton and development driver Kevin Abbring, plus an intensive testing phase (including roughly 2,000 km of development running).

The car at the center: Porsche 911 Rally GT (based on 992.1 Cup)

Porsche defines the 911 Rally GT as a rally-homologated version of the 911 GT3 Cup (Type 992.1), tuned for rally drivability and durability while retaining the Cup car’s motorsport core.

Key specs (Porsche-published)

• Engine: 911 GT3 Cup (992.1) standard-spec engine
• Displacement: 3,996 cm³
• Power: 510 hp (unrestricted); 475 hp with a 59.7 mm restrictor (FFSA/RACB)
• Gearbox: 6-speed sequential with modified ratios (3rd–6th)
• Driveline: Rear-wheel drive
• Minimum weight: 1,350 kg
• Top speed: restricted to 200–220 km/h, depending on national regulations

That last line matters: rallying isn’t about top speed as much as acceleration, braking stability, and traction out of slow corners on unpredictable surfaces. Regulated top speed keeps performance aligned with safety expectations and class parity across different countries.

What class does it run in?

The 911 Rally GT competes in RGT, a category intended for high-performance GT-based rally cars. Porsche highlights that RGT cars can run with ABS and traction control and can perform at a similar level to Rally2, despite being two-wheel drive.

This is the key to the Trophy’s appeal: it offers the spectacle and sound of a GT car, but within a regulatory framework that allows it to be genuinely competitive in mixed-field rally events.

What’s in the homologated rally kit: the “race car to rally car” conversion

Porsche summarizes the core rally adaptations as a set of functional, survival-minded changes—built around the reality that a Cup car’s track setup doesn’t translate directly to special stages. The biggest updates include:

• Rally-specific suspension
• Underbody protection
• Modified roll cage with capacity to carry a spare wheel
• Co-driver seat and rally cockpit layout
• Handbrake integration
• Four identical rally tires
• ABS and traction control
• Sequential gearbox with rally-appropriate ratios

In other words, the kit isn’t about turning the 911 into something it’s not—it’s about making a purpose-built race car tolerate impacts, cambers, braking abuse, and the “dirty grip” of real rally roads.

Porsche also notes the car is road legal for competition use (subject to local rally regulations), which is important for events requiring road sections between stages.

Early competitive proof: wins in 2025

Porsche says the 911 Rally GT demonstrated its potential quickly, citing 2025 victories at:

• Omloop van Vlaanderen
• East Belgian Rally
• Spa Rallye

Those results are a meaningful signal for a one-make concept: if the car can win overall or run at the pointy end in mixed competition, the trophy doesn’t feel like a “demo series”—it feels like a serious ladder for drivers who want something different from Rally2 without giving up competitiveness.

Who is building the ecosystem around it?

The series isn’t being launched in a vacuum. A Porsche feature on the program describes a collaboration between Lionel Hansen, Yves Matton, and Prospeed to support the car’s rollout—covering kit sales, spares, and technical support, and aiming to grow the concept into broader markets.

The same Porsche article also points to recognizable rally talent sampling the car in 2025, including Dani Sordo (a multi-time WRC event winner) and Belgian rally names such as Patrick Snijers, illustrating that Porsche is actively placing the car in credible hands early in its life cycle.

Why this trophy matters

The Porsche Rally Trophy Benelux is significant because it formalizes something rally fans have always loved: a 911 doing 911 things, but in rally form—loud, dramatic, and fast—without being a one-off novelty. It also creates a clearer route for teams: if you already understand Porsche Cup cars, the 911 Rally GT offers a structured way to pivot into rallying with a homologated solution and a purpose-built competitive home.

If Porsche’s target of 5–10 cars per round holds, the Trophy could feel like a traveling “mini-grid” inside major rallies—easy to follow, loud enough to stand out, and consistent enough in machinery that driving quality and strategy rise to the top.