• Nothing to choose between leading overall contenders
• Multiple crews still in play for Gold, Silver and Bronze class titles
• Magny-Cours stages penultimate Sprint Cup weekend of 2025
ENTRY LIST: Magny-Cours
A 40-car field will contest next weekend's GT World Challenge powered by AWS Sprint Cup round at Magny-Cours (1–3 August), the biggest field that the series has ever taken to the French venue.
It comes two weeks after the most recent Sprint Cup outing at Misano and falls at a crucial moment in the season. There is little to choose between the title contenders in each class, especially at the top of the overall standings, where a single point separates the top three crews. With only the finale at Valencia to follow in September, what happens at Magny-Cours will set the scene for this year's decider.
GT World Challenge will share headline status with the FFSA French GT Championship and the FFSA French Touring Car Championship, with further support action from the FFSA F4 French Championship, Alpine Elf Cup Series, and Clio Cup Series. The weekend will feature no fewer than 15 races totalling almost 10 hours of action, with the opening Sprint Cup contest set to take place under the lights from 20:30 on Saturday evening.
PRO: Everything to play for in ultra-close title tussle
The battle for this season's overall Sprint Cup drivers' title could hardly be closer. The #32 Team WRT BMW pairing of Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde leads the way with 53 points after a solid weekend at Misano, but their advantage diminished considerably at the Italian venue. Defending champions Maro Engel and Lucas Auer (#48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG) are now just one point back – and both teams have winning pedigree at Magny-Cours.
But this is by no means a two-horse race. Garage 59 claimed Race 2 honours at Misano, a result that brought the #59 McLaren pairing of Marvin Kirchhöfer and Benjamin Goethe squarely into title contention. They are level on points with Engel/Auer, who they narrowly beat to victory in Italy.
Two more crews retain a realistic shot at the Sprint Cup title. Rutronik Racing is firmly in the mix with its #96 Porsche pairing of Patric Niederhauser and Sven Müller, who sit 7.5 points off the top and continue to show metronomic consistency. The #51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari of Alessio Rovera and Vincent Abril kept their chances alive by scoring well at Misano, though with a 16-point deficit to the top they will need another strong weekend at Magny-Cours.
A further eight Pro cars will compete for victory in France. The #50 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari should be especially popular with local fans thanks to its line-up of Thomas Neubauer and Arthur Leclerc, while CSA Racing fields the all-French pairing of Simon Gachet and Jim Pla in its #111 McLaren.
Romain Andriolo will make his maiden home Sprint Cup appearance, sharing the #64 HRT Ford Performance entry with Jusuf Owega. Despite showing plenty of speed, Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen (#14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari) are still targeting a first podium of 2025, as is the #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG crew of Maxime Martin and Luca Stolz.
The #35 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin will be shared by Henrique Chaves and Mateo Villagomez, the latter a winner at Magny-Cours during his title-winning FFSA GT campaign. A pair of Lamborghini squads complete the Pro contingent: Grasser Racing will field CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa winners Jordan Pepper and Luca Engstler aboard its #63 machine, while the #78 Barwell Motorsport entry combines Sandy Mitchell and Hugo Cook.
GOLD: Vermeulen/Lulham out front, Magnus/Evrard head the chasing pack
The battle for the Gold Cup title took a twist at Misano. An early retirement in Race 1 cost Thierry Vermeulen and Chris Lulham (#69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari) a big points haul, though they recovered with victory in the second contest. They hold a 14-point advantage at the top of the table.
Their closest challengers are Gilles Magnus and Paul Evrard (#25 Saintéloc Racing Audi), who scored a brace of runner-up finishes in Italy. Given the team’s past success at Magny-Cours, they should be a factor. Sebastian Øgaard and Leonardo Moncini (#88 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi) also remain in the hunt thanks to a consistent run of results.
The #58 Garage 59 McLaren earned its first win of the year at Misano thanks to Louis Prette and Thomas Fleming. In contrast, Al Faisal Al Zubair and Jens Klingmann (#777 AlManar Racing by WRT BMW) endured a tough weekend and will need a strong showing at Magny-Cours to remain in title contention. Having joined the Gold Cup grid at Misano, Barwell Motorsport will again field Ricky Collard and Bijoy Garg in the #76 Lamborghini.
SILVER: Perez Companc/Aka lead four-way title fight
The battle for the Silver Cup title remains close ahead of the Magny-Cours round. The #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi triumphed in Race 1 at Misano, but a difficult second contest prevented Ezequiel Perez Companc and Alex Aka from pulling clear. Ivan Klymenko and Lorens Lecertua (#26 Saintéloc Racing Audi) sit second, nine points adrift, and should be very strong at Magny-Cours.
Aurélien Panis and Cesar Gazeau (#10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG) lost their place at the top of the standings following a DNF in Race 1 at Misano, but a runner-up finish in the second outing clawed back some of the deficit. They remain firmly in the hunt and will be disappointed if they leave their home event without a win.
Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels must also be considered title contenders after a stellar weekend at Misano, which culminated in Race 2 victory for the #21 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin. In contrast, Mex Jansen and Maxime Oosten (#992 Paradine Competition BMW) lost ground at the Italian event; the same can be said of Jef Machiels and Marcos Siebert (#52 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari), so both crews will be aiming for a podium comeback at Magny-Cours.
Gilles Stadsbader and Gustav Bergström (#30 Team WRT BMW) have solid foundations to build upon after scoring their first top three finish of the season at Misano. The Silver grid is completed by Baptiste Moulin and Ivan Ekelchik (#19 Grasser Racing Lamborghini), and Eshan Pieris and Loek Hartog (#97 Rutronik Racing Porsche), with both crews targeting a first podium of the year at Magny-Cours.
BRONZE: Blattner/Marschall favourites but rivals still in contention
Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall (#74 Kessel Racing Ferrari) are the favourite to land this year’s Bronze Cup title. They cruised to Race 1 victory in Italy, though a troubled run to ninth in the second contest will give their rivals hope.
Bashar Mardini and Bastian Buus (#89 Lionspeed GP Porsche) sit second after securing a podium in Race 2 at Misano. The sister #80 crew of Gabriel Rindone and Ricardo Feller has endured more than its share of bad luck this term and will hope for a clean run in France.
Darren Leung (#991 Paradine Competition BMW) retains a shot at defending his title, though he and Dan Harper will need to beat the Kessel crew at Magny-Cours for this to continue to the finale.
Imperiale Racing signalled its title aspirations with Race 2 victory at Misano, elevating Dmitriy Gvazava and Loris Spinelli to fourth in the standings.
Isaac Tutumlu López and Arthur Rougier (#112 CSA Racing McLaren) have been impressive this term and added a second podium finish in Race 2 at Misano. Winward Racing is also a potential winner with Rinat Salikhov and Marvin Dienst sharing the #81 Mercedes-AMG.
Rafael Suzuki rejoins Ricardo Baptista in the #270 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin, while Mathieu Detry and Fabian Duffieux (#888 UNX Racing Porsche) make their second Sprint Cup appearance after joining the grid at Misano. The #93 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Ferrari (Marco Pulcini/Eddie Cheever) and Audi entries from QMMF by Sainteloc Racing (Ghanim Salah Al-Maadheed/Ibrahim Al-Abdulghani) and Tresor Attempto Racing (Andrey Mukovoz/Dylan Pereira) complete the 40-strong field for Magny-Cours.
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TIMETABLE (CEST)
THURSDAY 31 JULY
Paid Test Session: 13:50-16:50
FRIDAY 1 AUGUST
Free Practice: 13:15-14:55
Pre-Qualifying: 20:45-21:45
SATURDAY 2 AUGUST
Qualifying 1: 14:45-14:55 LIVE TV
Race 1: 20:30–21:30 LIVE TV
SUNDAY 3 AUGUST
Qualifying 2: 10:30-10:40 LIVE TV
Race 2: 15:15–16:15 LIVE TV
ALSO RACING
FFSA French GT Championship (2x 60-minute races)
FFSA French Touring Car Championship (4x 25-minute races)
FFSA F4 French Championship (3x 30-minute races)
Alpine Elf Cup Series (2x 30-minute + 1 lap races)
Clio Cup Series (2x 25-minute + 1 lap races)
FAN ACTIVATIONS
The event will provide plenty of extra activities for fans, including pit and track walks, activities for kids, food and drinks stalls, a full-service restaurant, racing simulators and a fireworks display at Turn 17 two minutes before the chequered flag in Race 1. The public can also attend the podium ceremonies, which take place in the paddock. There are three giant screens for spectators to follow the action: one at Place Gerard Dumas (where the podium is located), one at Grandstand C and one at the Adelaide Grandstand. As per last year, there will be a camp site in the infield with food trucks and a kids’ area.
There will be five pit walks during the weekend, allowing spectators to take a stroll down the pit lane and see the teams at work. The first (at midday on Friday) will be an opportunity to watch the mechanics undertake pit stop practice; the second takes place that night (from 21:50 to 22:50) after track action is complete and includes a DJ set. Two more pit walks will be organised during the lunch breaks on Saturday (from 12:40, with an autograph session) and on Sunday (from 13:30). Finally, a night pit walk will take place on Saturday after the first GT World Challenge race (from 22:00).
A weekend ticket costs just 25€ for adults and 10€ for 10–17-year-olds. This includes access to the paddock and grandstands, no fewer than 15 races, plus a chance to experience the behind-the-scenes atmosphere and take part in the pit walks. You can also choose to attend Sunday only and enjoy seven races – including GT World Challenge, FFSA GT and FFSA TC – for just 15€. Please note that grid walk wristbands have sold out.