• Dead heat between leading duo, Porsche also within striking distance
• Season finely poised with 11 of 30 rounds complete
• Triple-header weekend and CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa on the horizon
• Global standings after 11 events
The GT World Challenge powered by AWS title battle simply couldn’t be closer. With a third of the season complete BMW and Mercedes-AMG are tied at the top of the standings, while Porsche is within striking distance ahead of next weekend's triple-header.
The latest run of races kicked off on 26/27 April at Circuit of the Americas. Better known as COTA, the undulating 5.5km track on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, features corners inspired by great circuits such as Spa-Francorchamps, Interlagos and Silverstone.
Random Vandals drivers Kenton Koch and Connor De Phillippi took Race 1 honours for BMW, beating the JMF Mercedes-AMG by just 0.141 seconds after the Canadian squad received a time penalty for a short pit stop. But the Affalterbach marque hit back in the second contest as Regulator Racing led JMF in a Mercedes-AMG one-two, Jeff Burton and Philip Ellis becoming the first Pro-Am line-up to win outright in 2025.
Race 2 saw BMW miss out on the podium for the first time this term, allowing Mercedes-AMG to trim its lead to 33 points. RS1 came home third in both outings, keeping Porsche within touching distance at the top.
The weekend of 3/4 May saw GT World Challenge in action on opposite sides of the globe at Sydney Motorsport Park and Brands Hatch. The Australian series became the first this season to produce a clean sweep as Arise Racing dominated proceedings with its Ferrari. Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte very nearly attained perfection, scoring both wins from pole and picking up the fastest lap in Race 2.
It is no surprise that Ferrari was the biggest scorer from the Sydney event, though both Mercedes-AMG and Audi also performed well. Tigani Motorsport completed the Race 1 podium with its twin AMG GT3 EVOs, while Audi squad MPC did the same by following the dominant Arise entry home in Race 2. Mercedes-AMG's big haul was especially important, with title rival BMW absent from the Aussie grid.
At Brands Hatch, AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors opened the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup campaign with victory. Alessio Rovera ran an extra lap at the end of the first stint, and a strong pit stop made the crucial difference when Vincent Abril took the controls. McLaren was second thanks to Garage 59, while Emil Frey Racing capped a stellar outing for Ferrari in third.
Race 2 went to Mercedes-AMG as defending champions Maro Engel and Lucas Auer won for Winward Racing, beating the Team WRT BMW and Rutronik Racing's Porsche to the top step. Strong showings from AF Corse and Emil Frey ensured that Ferrari was the biggest scorer, while for the first time in 2025 BMW was unseated from its place at the top of the global standings as Mercedes-AMG opened a 28-point advantage.
The following weekend (10/11 May) saw GT World Challenge Asia make its first-ever trip to the Mandalika International Circuit in Indonesia. Named for the coastal resort area in which it’s located, this is one of the newest circuits on the global calendar; in fact, this would be the first international car racing event ever staged at the venue.
The weekend was anything but a holiday for Porsche. The Weissach brand went to work, picking up the biggest weekend score of the season for a sprint event. Origine Motorsport swept the board, taking the first race with Leo Ye Hongli and Bob Yuan, while Lu Wei and Alessio Picariello clinched the second. Phantom Global Racing was third in Race 1 and runner-up in Race 2, adding yet more points to Porsche’s haul.
Mercedes-AMG picked up the other podium positions thanks to Climax Racing and Craft-Bamboo. This extended the Affalterbach brand's advantage over BMW to 51, while Porsche's standout weekend brought them to within one point of second spot.
There was another beach view for the subsequent GT World Challenge Europe event as the series made a welcome return to Zandvoort. Located on the North Sea Coast, the storied circuit has been given a modern makeover in recent years, though it has not surrendered the old-world charm that makes it so popular with fans and drivers.
The event attracted a 41-car grid, the largest ever seen at Zandvoort and only the third time in Sprint Cup history that the field has topped 40 cars. Porsche prevailed in Race 1 thanks to Rutronik Racing, which won from Grasser Racing (Lamborghini) and Winward Racing (Mercedes-AMG).
Race 2 looked to be a Ferrari whitewash as Emil Frey Racing dominated proceedings, but when both its cars were hit with penalties Team WRT was able to snatch an unlikely win from ninth on the grid. Audi was second thanks to a sensational drive from Silver Cup pairing Lorens Lecertua and Ivan Klymenko (Saintéloc Racing), with Grasser third for Lamborghini.
GT World Challenge America's trip to Sebring International Raceway ended the run of beach views: though it is in Florida, a state renowned for its long and sandy shorelines, the track is located more than 100 kilometres inland. But while it lacks a visible coastline, the 6km circuit more than makes up for it with world-class road racing.
After missing the podium for the first time at COTA, Random Vandals struck back with a vengeance to give BMW a double victory in Florida. Koch and De Phillippi secured two wins from pole, while RS1 came home second on both occasions with its Porsche. The sister Random Vandals car was third in Race 1, while JMF salvaged some points for Mercedes-AMG by taking P3 in the second outing.
Nevertheless, this was a major gain for BMW. From 51 back prior to the Zandvoort-Sebring weekend, the Bavarian brand has now drawn level with Mercedes-AMG on 465 points; that the lead should be tied in such a competitive and varied contest is quite remarkable. Porsche is by no means out of the hunt, sitting just 38 points adrift of the leaders and with some favourable events coming up. Ferrari is a solid fourth in the standings, followed by Audi, Aston Marton, McLaren, Corvette, Lamborghini and Ford.
After the first off weekend in more than a month, GT World Challenge returns on 31 May/1 June with the only triple-header of the season, comprising action in Asia (Chang), Australia (Queensland) and Europe (Monza). This is followed by a three-week break to allow teams to prepare for the biggest race of the year: the 77th CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa (28/29 June). While it is a round of the European season, the twice-around-the-clock contest will feature teams and drivers from each continental series – and represents the biggest points-scoring opportunity of the entire GT World Challenge campaign.
