2025 GT World Challenge Europe | |
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Organizer | SRO Motorsports Group |
Discipline | Sports car racing |
Number of races | 15 |
Champions |
The 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS is set to be a motor racing championship for Group GT3 cars, marking the 12th edition of the GT World Challenge Europe. Organised by the SRO Motorsports Group, it forms the European part of the broader GT World Challenge, which also includes GT World Challenge America, GT World Challenge Australia and GT World Challenge Asia. It is split into the Endurance Cup and the Sprint Cup, each with their own respective titles, alongside the overall GT World Challenge Europe championship. The championship will take place over ten rounds held at various circuits across Europe. It is slated to commence in April and conclude in October.
The championship is divided into four classes: Pro, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Pro cars have no driver restrictions and compete for the overall Drivers’ and Teams’ championships. Notably, Pro cars are limited to just three drivers at the 24 Hours of Spa. Gold cars compete in the Gold Cup and consist of Gold drivers and one Silver driver, along with an additional Gold driver for Spa if the team chooses to include one. Cars in the Silver Cup are made up entirely of Silver class drivers. Lastly, cars in the Bronze Cup have a maximum driver quality line-up of Platinum and Bronze drivers, with additional Silver drivers eligible for entry at Endurance rounds, including Spa. [1]
All Sprint Cup rounds consist of two one-hour races, totalling 15 races throughout the season, alongside the single 3-hour (Monza, Nürburgring and Barcelona), 6-hour (Paul Ricard), or 24-hour (Spa) races in the Endurance Cup rounds.
Round | Circuit | Date | Series |
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1 | ![]() | 11–13 April | Endurance |
2 | ![]() | 3–4 May | Sprint |
3 | ![]() | 16–18 May | Sprint |
4 | ![]() | 30 May – 1 June | Endurance |
5 | ![]() | 26–29 June | Endurance |
6 | ![]() | 18–20 July | Sprint |
7 | ![]() | 1–3 August | Sprint |
8 | ![]() | 29–31 August | Endurance |
9 | ![]() | 19–21 September | Sprint |
10 | ![]() | 10–12 October | Endurance |
Source: [2] |
The 2025 calendar sees Paul Ricard Circuit return to the popular weekend format of a 6-hour endurance race to open the season, the format was used between 2015 and 2023 and will act as the season opener.
Circuit Zandvoort and Circuit Ricardo Tormo return to the calendar after one-year absences. Notably, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit will not return in 2025, being replaced by Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as the season closer. [3]
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In the Pro class, Maro Engel and Lucas Auer are gearing up to defend their championship in the No. 48 Mercedes-AMG, which will compete as Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter during the Sprint Cup rounds and Mercedes-AMG Racing Team Mann-Filter during the Endurance Cup rounds, where Matteo Cairoli will join them. In 2024, this duo achieved eight podium finishes out of ten Sprint Cup races and secured an overall victory at the final round in Jeddah. [33]
In a surprising twist for 2025, former BMW driver Maxime Martin has switched to Mercedes-AMG, driving the No. 9 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo for Boutsen VDS in a full-season Pro entry. [34] Luca Stolz will support him during the Sprint Cup rounds, while Maximilian Götz and Mikaël Grenier will join for the Endurance rounds. [35]
Shortly thereafter, AF Corse Francorchamps Motors announced two full-season Pro cars, marking the first time in nine seasons that the Italian outfit has participated with a Pro car in the Sprint Cup. The No. 50 car will be driven by former Formula 2 podium finisher Arthur Leclerc throughout all rounds in 2025. Thomas Neubauer will partner with him for the Sprint rounds, while Antonio Fuoco and Eliseo Donno will accompany Leclerc for the Endurance rounds. In the sister No. 51 car, Alessio Rovera and Vincent Abril will contest the whole season, with Alessandro Pier Guidi joining for the Endurance rounds. [12]
Porsche outfit Rutronik Racing has also announced their return to the series, launching yet another attempt at the overall GT World Challenge Europe title. Patric Niederhauser and Sven Müller will race in the No. 96 after a relatively successful 2024 season, during which the duo clinched victory in the final Sprint Cup round. Alessio Picariello will join them for the Endurance rounds. [36]
BMW M Motorsport is set for a strong comeback, entering a full-season Pro car driven by Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts at all rounds. The car will carry the No. 32 during the Endurance Cup rounds, where they will be joined by Ugo de Wilde, and No. 31 in the Sprint Cup rounds. [10]
In the Silver Cup, Barwell Motorsport is making a comeback with Lamborghini for the tenth consecutive season. Previous efforts in the Silver Cup led the team to victory at the 2019 24 Hours of Spa and additional titles in 2020. The No. 76 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 will be driven for the entire season by American duo Bijoy Garg and Christian Bogle, with Canadian Adam Ali joining for the Endurance rounds. [15] Additionally, BMW will aim for another championship bid in the Silver Cup, with Paradine Competition and Team WRT fielding full-season entries, piloted by young Dutch drivers Mex Jansen and Maxime Oosten, and Gustav Bergström and Gilles Stadsbader, respectively. [10] Rutronik Racing and Boutsen VDS will also field full-season Silver Cup entries alongside their Pro cars. [37] [38]
In the Bronze Cup, 2024 Endurance Cup class champions Tempesta Racing return to the series, now with Ziggo Sport as the title sponsor, replacing Sky. Jonathan Hui will be absent this year and is replaced by Marco Pulcini, while Chris Froggatt and Eddie Cheever III remain with the team for the seventh consecutive year. Although the team excelled in the Endurance Cup, Hui and Cheever also finished fourth in the 2024 Sprint Cup. [13] After a strong 2024 campaign, Paradine Competition will return with a full-season Bronze entry. [10] Winward Racing will field a full-season Bronze entry alongside their reigning champions in the Pro class. [33]