The 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS is a motor racing championship for 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. The annual season Prologue, which acts as the championship's pre-season testing, took place between 10 and 11 March 2025. Racing commenced in April and will 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.
The 2025 calendar sees Circuit Paul Ricard return to the popular weekend format of a 6-hour endurance race to open the season. This format was used between 2015 and 2023, and it will act as the season opener.
Circuit Zandvoort and Circuit Ricardo Tormo also 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, which reverts to the Endurance Cup. Additionally, Hockenheim will not host a round in 2025.[3]
Bronze Cup entries will not compete at the Brands Hatch round and will instead begin their Sprint Cup season at Misano World Circuit, the second round of the Sprint Cup and the third round of the season.
Arthur Leclerc, a former Formula 2 driver and current F1 development driver for Scuderia Ferrari, made his championship debut with AF Corse in the Ferrari 296 GT3 at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Team Mann-Filter's Maro Engel and Lucas Auer defend their overall title in the No. 48 Mercedes-AMG, joined by Matteo Cairoli during the Endurance Cup rounds.[17]
Maxime Martin joins Mercedes-AMG for 2025, racing the No. 9 for Boutsen VDS with Luca Stolz accompanying him in the Sprint Cup and Maximilian Götz and Mikaël Grenier in the Endurance rounds.[7]
AF Corse enters two Pro cars, with Arthur Leclerc driving the No. 50. Thomas Neubauer will join him for the Sprint rounds, and Antonio Fuoco and Eliseo Donno for the Endurance rounds. The sister No. 51 car features Alessio Rovera and Vincent Abril for the entire season, with Alessandro Pier Guidi joining in Endurance.[18]
Rutronik Racing's Patric Niederhauser and Sven Müller aim for the overall title in the No. 96, with Alessio Picariello joining for the Endurance rounds.[29]
Team WRT returns with Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts in the No. 32, Ugo de Wilde will join for the Endurance rounds.[15]
Grasser Racing's Jordan Pepper and Luca Engstler race the full-season No. 63 car, with Mirko Bortolotti joining for the Endurance rounds.
Garage 59 fields Marvin Kirchöfer and Benjamin Goethe in the No. 59 for the full season, Joseph Loake will join for the Endurance races.[4]
Walkenhorst Motorsport's Henrique Chavez races the full season in the No. 34/35 (Endurance/Sprint), with David Pittard and Christian Krognes in the Endurance rounds, and Mateo Villagomez for the Sprint rounds.[4]
AlManer Racing by WRT features the No. 777 driven by Al Faisal Al Zubair and Jens Klingmann. Ben Tuck will join for the Endurance rounds.[15]
The No. 88 Tresor Attempto Racing car enters full-season, driven by Leonardo Moncini and Sebastian Øgaard, with Riccardo Cazzaniga joining for the Endurance rounds.
Garage 59 fields a full-season Gold Cup car as well in their No. 58.[4]
Barwell Motorsport returns in the Silver Cup with the No. 76 driven by Bijoy Garg and Christian Bogle for the full season, plus Adam Ali for the Endurance rounds.[24]
Paradine Competition (No. 992) and Team WRT (No. 30) also field full-season BMW entries for young Dutch drivers Mex Jansen and Maxime Oosten, and Gustav Bergström and Gilles Stadsbader, respectively.[15]
Comtoyou Racing (No. 21) and Tresor Attempto Racing (No. 99) have full-season Silver Cup entries, and Boutsen VDS (No. 10) and Grasser Racing (No. 19) join them.[4][10]
2024 class champions Tempesta Racing return with Marco Pulcini replacing Jonathan Hui in the No. 93. Chris Froggatt and Eddie Cheever III continue for their seventh year.[19]
Paradine Competition (No. 991), Kessel Racing (No. 74), and Tressor Attempto Racing (No. 66) enter full-season Bronze entries, while Winward Racing (No. 81) and Comtoyou Racing (No. 270) also compete in this class alongside their Pro entries.[4]
SRO Motorsports Group will adopt Pirelli's new P Zero DHG tyres for GT World Challenge Europe in 2025. These slick racing tyres offer improved performance, faster warm-up, and greater consistency over long distances. They also feature FSC-certified natural rubber. The DHG replaces the DHF, which has been used globally for three years. Pirelli, SRO's exclusive tyre supplier since 2013, will continue its partnership until at least 2028, supplying events like the prestigious CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.[62]
The 2025 GT World Challenge Europe includes strong entries for both the Sprint Cup and Endurance Cup, with 59 cars in the Endurance Cup expected to increase during the 24 Hours of Spa. The Sprint Cup anticipates a grid of 41 cars, but the Bronze Cup won't participate in the opening round at Brands Hatch, leading to a 32-car entry. Manufacturer participation has grown to ten brands, with Corvette returning for the first time since 2014. The 2025 season aims for balanced competition across all classes. Stéphane Ratel, CEO of SRO Motorsports Group, noted the series’ growth and new team additions, showcasing the appeal of GT3 racing nearing its 20th anniversary.[63]
In the opening race, BMW achieved victory at Circuit Paul Ricard, as Team WRT's No. 32 car advanced from ninth position on the grid to clinch the six-hour endurance event. The driving responsibilities for the car were shared among Charles Weerts, Ugo De Wilde, and Kelvin van der Linde. Van der Linde executed the key overtaking manoeuvre on the leading No. 96 Rutronik Porsche, ultimately securing the win by 4.3 seconds. This victory served as a successful debut for the new M4 GT3 EVO model in the championship. The race also featured a strong performance from Porsche, which secured a double podium finish with its No. 96 and No. 22 entries. The top seven positions included entries from Mercedes-AMG, Aston Martin, another BMW, and McLaren. Class winners at the event included CSA Racing's No. 111 McLaren in the Gold Cup, Paradine Competition's No. 992 BMW in the Silver Cup, and Kessel Racing's No. 74 Ferrari in the Bronze Cup. The race was characterised by minimal incidents, with no safety car interventions and only four retirements from a competitive 59-car field.[64]
AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors won the first sprint race of the second round at Brands Hatch after a tightly contested event in which just eight seconds separated the top nine finishers. Alessio Rovera and Vincent Abril secured victory in the No. 51 Ferrari, edging out the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren by only 0.658 seconds, aided by a superb pit stop. Ferrari dominated the opening race of the weekend, winning both the Gold Cup (with the No. 69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari) and the Silver Cup (after the No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari was promoted post-race due to a penalty for the No. 97 Rutronik Porsche) alongside the overall victory. All 30 cars completed the race without incident in a clean, safety car-free contest.[65] Maro Engel and Lucas Auer claimed a commanding victory in the second sprint, leading from pole in the No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG. Despite a tight contest where the lead never stretched beyond two seconds, they fended off a hard-charging Weerts in the No. 32 Team WRT BMW to win by 1.3 seconds. Auer executed a clean restart after two full-course yellow periods, maintaining the lead to the finish. The No. 96 Rutronik Porsche secured third, thanks to a strong pit stop and driving from Patric Niederhauser and Sven Müller. The race highlighted the intense competitiveness of the season, with a mix of brands and crews on the podium across both races. Gold Cup honours went to AlManar Racing’s No. 777 BMW, while Boutsen VDS’s No. 10 Mercedes-AMG won the Silver Cup.[66]
Championship points are awarded for the first ten positions in each race. The pole-sitter in each class also receives one point and entries are required to complete 75% of the winning car's race distance in order to be classified and earn points. Individual drivers are required to participate for a minimum of 25 minutes in order to earn championship points in any race. In the teams' standings, only the best-placed car for each team is classified.
Sprint Cup points
Position
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Pole
Points
16.5
12
9.5
7.5
6
4.5
3
2
1
0.5
1
Monza, Nürburgring and Barcelona points
Position
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Pole
Points
25
18
15
12
10
8
6
4
2
1
1
Paul Ricard points
Position
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Pole
Points
33
24
19
15
12
9
6
4
2
1
1
24 Hours of Spa points
Points are awarded after six hours, after twelve hours and at the finish.
^ abSalikhov is Russian, but he competes under an Armenian licence as Russian national emblems were banned by the FIA following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.