Kobe Pauwels

Kobe Pauwels
Pauwels at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in 2024
Nationality	Belgian
Born	(2004-10-23) 23 October 2004 (age 20) Diest, Belgium
Racing licence	FIA Silver

Kobe Pauwels (born 23 October 2004 in Diest ^[1] ) is a Belgian racing driver competing for Comtoyou Racing in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cups.

He is the 2024 24 Hours of Zolder winner. ^[2]

Early career

Karting

Pauwels started karting in 2014. During his time in karts, Pauwels most notably was runner-up in the 2018 FIA Karting Academy Trophy and was a factory driver for Birel ART during his final year of karting in 2020. ^{[3] [4]}

Rallycross

One year after competing in the 25th edition of the Volant Winfield, ^[5] Pauwels made his debut in Rallycross by competing in the RallyX Nordic Championship in 2020. ^[6]

In 2021, Pauwels stepped up to the RX3 class of the European Rallycross Championship with Volland Racing KFT. ^[7] Pauwels won the round in France and finished runner-up in the standings to Yury Belevskiy. ^{[8] [9]} During 2021, Pauwels also made his World Rallycross debut in the RX2e category at the Nürburgring round. ^[10]

Pauwels returned to the European Rallycross Championship in 2022, winning four out of five races on his way to the RX3 title at season's end. ^[11] Two years after his RX3 title, Pauwels returned to the European Rallycross Championship in 2024 at the Mettet round. ^[12] On his return to the series, Pauwels took his first win in RX2e. ^[13]

Touring cars

Having made his circuit racing debut in the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup Benelux in 2022, ^[14] Pauwels joined Comtoyou Racing in early 2023 to compete in the TCR Europe Touring Car Series. ^[15] Scoring his first overall podium at Pau, ^[16] Pauwels scored his first overall win at Le Castellet, ^[17] before taking two more wins at Monza and Barcelona to end the season third in points. ^{[18] [19]}

GT career

Pauwels at the Nürburgring round of the 2024 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup season

Pauwels made his GT3 debut at the Nürburgring round of the 2023 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. ^[20] On his debut, Pauwels scored points by finishing eighth in the three-hour enduro. ^[21]

Comtoyou Racing retained Pauwels for the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup season, ^[22] competing in the first three rounds in the Bronze Cup, scoring a class podium at the first round of the season at Le Castellet. ^[23] After switching to Comtoyou's Silver lineup at Monza and scoring a class podium, Pauwels joined Saintéloc Racing for the season-ending Jeddah round. ^[24] In the six hour enduro, Pauwels scored a class win in his only race for the French team. ^[25]

In early 2024, it was announced that Pauwels would compete for NGT Motorsport in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux. ^[26] Scoring a best result of fourth in race two at Assen, ^[27] Pauwels was crowned Rookie champion at the season-ending round at Zolder. ^[28]

Pauwels returned to Comtoyou Racing for 2025, competing in both the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cups. ^[29]

Karting record

Karting career summary

Season	Series	Team	Position
2014	BNL Karting Series – Rotax Micro		6th
	BNL Karting Series – Mini Max		15th
2015	BNL Karting Series – Mini Max		8th
2016	BNL International Kart Series – Mini		2nd
	Euro Finale – Mini Max Small		1st
	Rotax Challenge Grand Finals - Mini Max		7th
2017	Rotax Winter Cup - Rotax Junior	Daems Racing	19th
	Rotax Euro Challenge - Rotax Junior		6th
	Karting Academy Trophy	Pauwels Koen	14th
	BNL Golden Trophy – Junior Max		4th
2018	Karting Academy Trophy	Pauwels Koen	2nd
	Rotax Challenge Grand Finals - Rotax Junior		9th
	WSK Open Cup - OKJ	KMS Europe	32nd
	Rotax Max Euro Trophy – Rotax Junior		4th
	Hungarian International Open Championship – Junior	Pauwels Racing	30th
2019	WSK Champions Cup - OK	Pauwels Koen	7th
	South Garda Winter Cup - OK	RS Schumacher Racing Team	NC
	German Kart Championship - OK	CV Performance Group	NC
	IAME Euro Series - X30 Senior		NC
	FIA Karting European Championship - OK		15th
	Karting World Championship - OK		25th
	WSK Open Cup - OK		26th
	French Karting Championship - OK	CV Performance Group (Rd.1) Pauwels Koen (Rd.2)	5th
2020	WSK Super Master Series - OK	BirelArt Racing Srl	61st
	WSK Euro Series - OK		53rd
	FIA Karting European Championship - KZ2		62nd
Sources: [30] [31]

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2021	European Rallycross Championship – RX3	Volland Racing KFT	5	1	N/A	N/A	3	115	2nd
	World Rallycross Championship – RX2e	Ann Luijten	1	0	N/A	N/A	0	21	15th
2022	European Rallycross Championship – RX3	Volland Racing KFT	5	4	N/A	N/A	5	96	1st
	Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup Benelux		4	0	2	2	2	78	7th
2023	TCR Europe Touring Car Series	Comtoyou Racing	13	6	1	5	9	433	3rd
	TCR World Tour		8	0	0	0	0	74	14th
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup		1	0	0	0	0	4	24th
2023–24	Middle East Trophy – TCR	AC Motorsport [32]	1	0	0	0	1	36	4th
2024	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup – Silver Cup	Comtoyou Racing	4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
		Saintéloc Racing	1	0	0	0	0
	Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux	D’ieteren Luxury Performance	12	0	0	0	0	112.5	8th
	Porsche Carrera Cup France	Speedlover [33]	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	European Rallycross Championship – RX2e	Kobe Pauwels	1	1	N/A	N/A	1	29	8th
2025	Middle East Trophy – GT3	Comtoyou Racing [34]	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	GT Winter Series – GT3
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup
	GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup
Sources: [30]

Complete FIA European Rallycross Championship results

(key)

RX3

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	ERX	Points
2021	Volland Racing KFT	Audi A1	BAR 4	SWE 2	FRA 1	BEL 4	POR 3	2nd	115
2022	Volland Racing KFT	Audi A1	HUN 1	SWE 2	NOR 1	POR 1	GER 1	1st	96

RX2e

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	ERX	Points
2024	Kobe Pauwels	ZEROID X1	SWE	HUN	BEL 1	PRT	8th	29

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results

(key)

RX2e

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	Pos.	Points
2021	Ann Luijten	ZEROID X1	BAR	SWE	FRA	BEL	GER 4	15th	21

Complete TCR Europe Touring Car Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	DC	Points
2023	Comtoyou Racing	Audi RS 3 LMS TCR	ALG 1 102	ALG 2 Ret	PAU 1 23	PAU 2 4	SPA 1 41	SPA 2 Ret	HUN 1 104	HUN 2 7	LEC 1 33	LEC 2 1	MNZ 1 12	MNZ 2 6	CAT 1 12	CAT 2 DNS	3rd	433

^* Season still in progress.

Complete TCR World Tour results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2023	Comtoyou Racing	Audi RS 3 LMS TCR	ALG 1 10	ALG 2 Ret	SPA 1 44	SPA 2 Ret	VAL 1 8	VAL 2 11	HUN 1 10	HUN 2 7	ELP 1	ELP 2	VIL 1	VIL 2	SYD 1	SYD 2	SYD 3	BAT 1	BAT 2	BAT 3	MAC 1	MAC 2	14th	71

^* Season still in progress.

GT World Challenge Europe results

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pos.	Points
2023	Comtoyou Racing	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	Pro	MNZ	LEC	SPA 6H	SPA 12H	SPA 24H	NÜR 8	CAT	24th	4
2024	Comtoyou Racing	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo	Bronze	LEC 24	SPA 6H 18	SPA 12H 33	SPA 24H 20	NÜR Ret			11th	34
			Silver						MNZ 15		9th	52
	Saintéloc Racing	Audi R8 LMS Evo II								JED 13

Complete Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	DC	Points
2024	D’ieteren Luxury Performance	SPA 1 5	SPA 2 6	ZAN 1 8	ZAN 2 6	IMO 1 7	IMO 2 6	ASS 1 9	ASS 2 4	RBR 1 9	RBR 2 5	ZOL 1 10	ZOL 2 10	8th	112.5

References

1. "Kobe Pauwels". tcr-worldranking.com. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
2. "24H Zolder: D'Ieteren Luxury Performance en Baguette-Knutsson-Van Parijs-Paque-Pauwels winnen met Porsche een prachtige 46ste editie". autosport.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 April 2025.
3. "Kobe Pauwels". vroomkart.com. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
4. Mele, Giovanni (23 January 2020). "Birel ART Racing Team 2020: the drivers to keep winning!". tkart.it. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
5. "Who will be crowned the 25th Volant Winfield winner at Paul Ricard?". kartxpress.com. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
6. "Pauwels to make RallyX Nordic debut with Red Bull Belgium and LifeLive Nordic". thecheckeredflag.co.uk. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
7. Lindroos, Pontus (3 December 2020). "Pauwels Confirms 2021 Euro RX Super 1600 Campaign". Thecheckeredflag.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
8. "RX3 Newcomer Pauwels Triumphs in Loheac". thecheckeredflag.co.uk. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
9. "Niclas Grönholm wins World RX at Montalegre. RX3 title for Yury Belevskiy". rallycross.com. 17 October 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
10. "Inaugural electric honours up for grabs in Nürburgring title-decider". FIA World Rallycross Championship. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
11. "Kristoffersson and Pauwels winning at the Nürburgring". rallycross.com. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
12. "Former European champion Pauwels joins RX2e grid for Mettet". FIA World Rallycross Championship. 13 August 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
13. "Kobe Pauwels wint bij eenmalige comeback in WK rallycross: "Ze mogen me altijd bellen"". hbvl.be. 19 September 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
14. "Kobe Pauwels met Ford Peerlings aan de start van de Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup". autosport.be (in Dutch). 5 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
15. "Kobe Pauwels confirms TCR Europe debut with Comtoyou Racing". TouringCarTimes. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
16. "Dusan Borković wins TCR Europe's first race in Pau". TouringCarTimes. 13 May 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
17. "Kobe Pauwels takes landmark TCR Europe win in Paul Ricard Race 2". TouringCarTimes. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
18. "Kobe Pauwels gets close to TCR Europe points lead with Monza win". TouringCarTimes. 24 September 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
19. "Kobe Pauwels wins to set up three-way TCR Europe title showdown". TouringCarTimes. 21 October 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
20. Lloyd, Daniel (25 July 2023). "TCR Driver Pauwels Drafted into Comtoyou's Pro Audi Lineup". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
21. "Fanatec GT WorldChEU pwrd by AWS Endurance Cup Round 6" (PDF). dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
22. Goodwin, Graham (2 April 2024). "Comtoyou Confirm Crews In Four Car, Three Class Programme". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
23. Wane, Ewan (7 April 2024). "ROWE Racing BMW Powers To Paul Ricard Win". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
24. Wane, Ewan (29 November 2024). "Friday Report From Jeddah". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
25. Euwema, Davey (30 November 2024). "Winward Win 6H Jeddah; AF Corse Take Endurance Title". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
26. "NGT Racing avec Paque, Pauwels et Knutsson en Carrera Cup Benelux". speedactiontv.be (in French). 2 April 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
27. "Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux: mindere, maar ook uitstekende momenten voor NGT Racing op het TT Circuit Assen". tosportwereld.com (in Dutch). 4 August 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
28. "Kobe Pauwels 'Rookie' kampioen in de Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux". autosportnieuws.belanguage=nl. 15 October 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
29. Mercier, Laurent (10 March 2025). "GTWC Europe - Trois Aston Martin en Endurance pour Comtoyou, Jessica Hawkins de la partie". Endurance-Info (in French). Retrieved 7 April 2025.
30. "Kobe Pauwels | Racing career profile | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
31. Kartcom. "Pauwels Kobe" . Retrieved 6 April 2025.
32. "Eastalent Audi Takes Dubai 24H Win". dailysportscar.com. 28 January 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
33. "Paul Ricard: Kobe Pauwels aan de start in de Porsche Carrera Cup France". autosport.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 April 2025.
34. "Dubai Thursday Notebook". sportscar365.com. 9 January 2025. Retrieved 7 April 2025.

External links

• Kobe Pauwels career summary at DriverDB.com
• Official website