• Garage 59 bags second win from as many events ahead of Grasser Racing
• Gold momentum swings towards Evrard & Magnus with victory for Saintéloc Racing
• Silver stars Day & Pauwels make it three in a row for Comtoyou Racing
• Winward Racing bags first Bronze win of 2025 thanks to Salikhov & Dienst
FINAL RESULT: Magny-Cours Race 2
McLaren waited nine years between Sprint Cup victories before returning to the top step last time out at Misano. The British brand has now won twice in 14 days thanks to Garage 59 drivers Marvin Kirchhöfer and Benjamin Goethe, who triumphed in Sunday afternoon's contest at Magny-Cours.
The #59 McLaren crew are the first repeat winners of the 2025 campaign and will head to next month’s finale at Valencia firmly in the fight for the overall Sprint Cup title. They edged out the #63 Grasser Racing Lamborghini, which won Saturday night's opening race and very nearly snatched another win on Sunday.
Kirchhöfer took the start from pole after producing a dominant display in qualifying. But while the #59 McLaren was more than half a second clear of the #63 Lamborghini in the morning session, there was no such disparity in the race. Jordan Pepper was able to stay with the German driver throughout the opening stint, only fading slightly as the 60-minute contest approached half distance.
The Grasser crew was fractionally quicker in the pits as Luca Engstler took the wheel, but it was not enough to jump the Garage 59 car. If there was to be a change for the lead, it would need to happen on the circuit. While the McLaren was marginally ahead during the first half of the race, the advantage now shifted significantly towards the Lamborghini. Indeed, Engstler was almost immediately on Goethe's tail and appeared to have much better speed in the third sector.
Goethe had to make his car very wide to keep the charging Lamborghini at bay. He was able to catch his breath when a full-course yellow was called 10 minutes from the end to remove the stricken #111 CSA Racing McLaren, which had been running in the points with Jim Pla at the wheel. The green flag was shown with enough time for two laps, setting up an incredibly close run to the finish.
Again, Engstler closed up to the McLaren. But, just as he did last time out at Misano, Goethe soaked up the pressure and didn't give his rival any opportunities to make a pass. They were nose to tail as they crossed the line, with Goethe prevailing by just 0.156s – comfortably the smallest winning margin of the season.
The result elevates Kirchhöfer and Goethe to second in the drivers' standings. They are just 1.5 points behind the #32 Team WRT BMW pairing of Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts, who finished third in today's race after moving forward from sixth on the grid. Weerts was chasing down the leaders at the end, though he did not have the ultimate pace to make a serious play for the win.
The #51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari was fourth, while the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche finished fifth to maintain the German squad's title aspirations. Boutsen VDS completed a solid weekend by coming home sixth, followed by the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG. The latter made progress from 16th on the grid, though Maro Engel and Lucas Auer now face an uphill battle to retain their drivers' crown.
For the second race in a row, the #69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari missed a clear shot at Gold Cup victory. Thierry Vermeulen led the opening stint, running a fine P3 overall, but teammate Chris Lulham collided with the #50 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari on his out-lap. Thomas Neubauer subsequently received a penalty for the incident, while Lulham suffered a costly puncture. This allowed the #25 Saintéloc Racing Audi of Paul Evrard and Gilles Magnus to bag a second win of the season and close to within just 2.5 points of the class lead.
Comtoyou Racing continued its astonishing Silver Cup form by winning for the third time in succession. Jamie Day secured class pole but slipped behind the fast-starting Mex Jansen (#991 Paradine Competition BMW) early on. The #21 Aston Martin returned to the lead thanks to a rapid service from the Comtoyou squad, putting Kobe Pauwels ahead for the run to the flag, with the #10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG taking second spot. Given their recent form, Day and Pauwels will head to the finale as favourites to earn the Silver crown.
The Bronze Cup points lead changed hands for the second time in as many races following Sunday’s contest. Victory went to the #81 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Rinat Salikhov and Marvin Dienst, the latter holding off Dennis Marschall (#74 Kessel Racing Ferrari) during the closing stages. Marschall benefitted from the good work of teammate Dustin Blattner, who carved through the order during his stint. The Kessel Racing crew are one point clear of Bashar Mardini and Bastian Buus (#89 Lionspeed GP Porsche) ahead of the decider.
GT World Challenge powered by AWS was part of a packed line-up at Magny-Cours, which marked the start of the summer holiday season with almost 10 hours of race action from the FFSA French GT Championship and the FFSA French Touring Car Championship among other series. The event also featured four pit walks and a wealth of other fan activities, as well as on-site camping, bringing a total attendance of 21,695 to the French venue.
A total of eight titles across four classes will be up for grabs when the Sprint Cup concludes at Circuit Ricardo Tormo Valencia on 19–21 September. Before that, the Endurance Cup resumes at the Nürburgring (29–31 August), which marks the first long-distance event since the marquee CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
