- Nothing to choose between leading trio as Porsche leapfrogs Mercedes-AMG and BMW
- Ferrari lands biggest score of the season at 77th CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa
- Busy summer continues with all four continental series in action over the next six weeks
- GT World Challenge standings
The battle for this year’s GT World Challenge powered by AWS crown is closer than ever as the season enters its second half. Three manufacturers are firmly in contention, with Porsche currently on top by just eight points after leapfrogging both Mercedes-AMG and BMW.
The most recent stretch of races encompassed five events on three continents and included the only triple-header of the season, as well as the best scoring opportunity at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. Mercedes-AMG and BMW began the run level on points, yet it is Porsche that holds the advantage with 16 of 30 rounds complete.
With Australia, Asia and Europe all in action, the weekend of 31 May/1 June was the busiest of the entire season, putting more than 100 GT3 cars on-track across three locations. GT World Challenge Australia was at Queensland Raceway, where Audi earned its best score of 2025 thanks to a brace of victories.
Brad Schumacher and Broc Feeney combined to give Melbourne Performance Centre (MPC) victory over Tigani Motorsport’s Mercedes-AMG in the opening contest. The same car lined up on pole for Race 2 but was beaten away by the Team BRM-run R8 of Alex Peroni. The former single-seater ace took control before handing over to Mark Rosser, who led home an Audi podium sweep.
Schumacher and Feeney fell to third, with runner-up spot going to the sister MPC entry driven by Tim Miles and Brendon Leitch. This was a poignant result, as Miles lost his life just a few weeks later in a cycling accident. His passing will be keenly felt: across more than 35 years, Miles had made a significant contribution to the motorsport community as a competitor, owner, supporter and businessman.
Audi's success was not limited to Australia. A dramatic final-lap pass gave FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom its first GT World Challenge Asia win of the season – and Audi's fourth across all continents – at Chang International Circuit in Thailand. Yu Kuai was at the wheel of the victorious R8, sweeping around the outside of the Winhere Harmony Ferrari to claim victory.
Race 2 brought a second Corvette win of 2025 as Prince Jefri Ibrahim combined with Ben Green to triumph for JMR. The Malaysian ace came home just 0.3 seconds clear of the KRC BMW driven by Ruan Cun Fan to pick up a healthy haul of points for Chevrolet, while Audi emerged from the event with the biggest score of all.
GT World Challenge Europe completed the triple-header weekend, pitching up at Monza for its second Endurance round of 2025. The three-hour duration meant double points were on offer, and Mercedes-AMG was the major beneficiary thanks to the Mann-Filter-backed Winward Racing entry of Lucas Auer, Matteo Cairoli and Maro Engel.
The race was heading towards a one-two for the Affalterbach marque, only for the GetSpeed-run machine to retire while holding a comfortable P2. Mercedes-AMG was still the biggest scorer of the weekend, though BMW was a close second thanks to a stellar run to P4 from AlManar Racing by WRT. Following the triple-header, Mercedes-AMG pulled back ahead at the top of the standings, building an advantage of 62 points over BMW and with Porsche a further 44 in arrears.
A three-week gap followed as the world of GT racing made final preparations for the biggest event of the year: the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. The 77th running of the Belgian classic drew a record 75-car entry list, including representatives from all four continental series, and was won by the Grasser Racing Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper and Luca Engstler. It had taken until the 15th event of the season – exactly half distance – for Lamborghini to land its first GT World Challenge win of 2025. Some things are worth the wait.
The result netted the Sant'Agata Bolognese brand 100 points, though it was narrowly beaten by its Italian rival Ferrari, which scored 108 thanks to AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors finishing third and fourth. This represents the biggest score of 2025 and cannot be beaten over the remainder of the campaign. BMW and Porsche also performed well at Spa, but it was a bad day for Mercedes-AMG with its best entry coming home ninth. This significantly reduced the gap at the top, with BMW just six points back and Porsche closing to within 42.
Two weeks later, the lead changed for only the second time this season. Porsche stormed to the front thanks to another standout showing in GT World Challenge Asia, which began the second half of its campaign at Fuji Speedway. In Race 1, defending champions Bob Yuan and Leo Ye bounced back from a tough outing in Thailand to claim their third victory of the season. The Origine duo led home a Porsche one-two, beating the sister car of Lu Wei and Alessio Picariello and thus netting the German manufacturer maximum points.
Race 2 produced a third Chevrolet win of 2025, all of which have come in Asia. Once again it was the JMR duo of Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Ben Green that triumphed for the American marque, chased home by the Origine Porsche of Yuan/Ye and Craft-Bamboo’s Mercedes-AMG. The Stuttgart firm was the clear winner of the Fuji weekend, netting 71 points compared with 21 for Mercedes-AMG and just two for BMW.
As such, Porsche assumes top spot for the first time in 2025, leading Mercedes-AMG by eight points and with BMW a further 25 in arrears. Any one of this trio could be ahead after the next sequence of races, which begins this weekend (19/20 July) when GT World Challenge Europe heads for Misano and the American paddock reconvenes at VIR. The next Australian event follows one week later, with Sandown playing host on 26/27 July, while GT World Challenge Asia resumes its campaign on 30/31 August at Okayama.
