The 2025 Sprint Cup season has passed by in a flash. There is now just one round remaining following the recent events at Misano (18–20 July) and Magny-Cours (1–3 August), which have set up an unmissable showdown at Valencia (19–21 September).
Indeed, a quick glance at the statistics suggest that this is the most competitive Sprint campaign yet. A record seven different crews earned victory across the opening seven races, while the second Magny-Cours contest was won by an astonishing margin of just 0.156 seconds. All four classes are wide open heading to the finale, with little to choose between the contenders in each title fight.
With the August break getting underway, this is the Final Word on a busy few weeks of Sprint Cup action – and a preview of what's to come at next month's showdown in Spain.
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• Race 1 at Misano went to Valentino Rossi and Raffaele Marciello (#46 Team WRT BMW) who were making a one-off appearance at the event. This was Rossi's third successive win on home ground and followed his best-ever qualifying result of P4. Marciello also has three wins at Misano and a total of 15 in the Sprint Cup.
• Garage 59 triumphed in Race 2 at Misano to give McLaren its first Sprint Cup win since Nürburgring 2016, a gap of nine years and 17 days. The same team ran the winning car on both occasions. Marvin Kirchhöfer earned his second Sprint win, while Benjamin Goethe grabbed his maiden series victory.
• Grasser Racing took the opening contest at Magny-Cours with its #63 Lamborghini, setting a record of seven different winners from the first seven races. Five weeks after triumphing at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, Luca Engstler and Jordan Pepper both scored their maiden Sprint Cup victories under the lights. This was Grasser's first win in Sprint since Hungaroring 2018.
• As a British brand, McLaren will be familiar with the old saying about London buses: you wait all day for one, and then two arrive at once. This proved to be the case for Sprint Cup wins, as Kirchhöfer and Goethe bagged another victory in Race 2 at Magny-Cours, fending off the charging Grasser Lamborghini.
• Goethe's gap over Engstler was just 0.156s. This is the second-smallest winning margin in the 138-race history of the Sprint Cup. The only closer finish was Race 1 at Barcelona in 2020, which was aided by a late safety car. A total of 36 Sprint Cup races have been won by less than one second.
• Though they did not win a race at Misano or Magny-Cours, Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts (#32 Team WRT BMW) top the standings with 72 points after scoring three third-place finishes. Kirchhöfer and Goethe have 70.5 points and were the best scorers across the two events; if this pattern continues at Valencia, the McLaren drivers will be crowned champions.
• Though they lost a little ground at Magny-Cours, Niederhauser/Müller (#96 Rutronik Racing Porsche) and Engel/Auer (#48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG) also retain a realistic shot at the title. The Porsche crew has 63.5 points, while the defending champions are a further point back.
• Pepper/Engstler are 20 points off the lead so would require a significant swing to take the title. The #51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors pairing of Rovera/Abril retains a mathematical shot, sitting 27.5 back with 35 to score at Valencia.
• There was a very real chance that the Gold Cup title would be settled at Magny-Cours. In fact, the battle has never been closer. With six poles from eight races, the #69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari has been the fastest car on the grid; but Thierry Vermeulen and Chris Lulham have struggled to convert this speed into results.
• The #69 Ferrari won Race 2 at Misano, but was caught up in incidents in the other three races and was the fourth-best scorer across the two events. Both drivers have shown front-running pace this season, but a lack of consistency has cost them dear.
• The opposite is true of their closest title rival – the #25 Saintéloc Racing Audi – which has finished every race this season and generally maximised its potential. Gilles Magnus and Paul Evrard won Race 2 at Magny-Cours and head to Spain just 2.5 points shy of the lead.
• Garage 59 has also forced its way into contention with victories at Misano and Magny-Cours. Louis Prette was joined by Thomas Fleming at the Italian and French rounds, and their partnership has quickly flourished. Prette is 10 points away from the lead, though if the squad continues its recent form it would snatch the title away from Emil Frey Racing.
• Sebastian Øgaard and Leonardo Moncini also deserve credit for their recent performances. The #88 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi crew has earned six podiums this year and heads to the finale 17 points off the top. The title is a long shot, but their consistency has been impressive.
• The Silver Cup standings have changed dramatically over the past two weekends. When they arrived at Misano, Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels (#21 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin) were fifth and without a podium; they left Magny-Cours with three wins and a useful buffer at the top of the table. Indeed, with a tally of 61 points from a possible 70, they were the best scorers across the past two rounds.
• Consistent results have kept Aurélien Panis and César Gazeau (#10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG) within striking distance, including a brace of podiums on home soil at Magny-Cours. Nevertheless, the six-point gap to Day/Pauwels is the biggest between first and second across all four classes.
• The early-season favourites have fallen away during the past two events. Tresor Attempto Racing won Race 1 at Misano but has faced more than its share of adversity since, especially in being eliminated from the opening Magny-Cours contest by another car's accident. Ezequiel Perez Companc and Alex Aka head to Valencia 13.5 points off the top.
• Saintéloc Racing has also dropped back with its young duo of Ivan Klymenko and Lorens Lecertua. They are 14.5 points adrift heading to the finale and realistically need to win the opening race in Spain to remain in contention.
• Four different crews have led the Silver Cup standings this year. Jef Machiels and Marcos Siebert (#52 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari) led for one round, followed by Panis/Gazeau for three rounds, Aka/Perez Companc for two rounds and now Day/Pauwels for two rounds.
• The Bronze Cup lead swapped back and forth between two crews during the Magny-Cours weekend. Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall went to France with a useful advantage after winning Race 1 at Misano, but were overhauled by the #89 Lionspeed GP Porsche crew of Bashar Mardini and Bastian Buus, who won the first Magny-Cours race.
• A runner-up finish in Race 2 put the #74 Kessel Racing squad back on top, 5.5 points ahead of the #89 Lionspeed duo. It should be noted that both Blattner and Marschall lost class pole in their respective qualifying sessions at Magny-Cours due to track limits violations.
• The Bronze Cup is by no means a two-horse race. Rinat Salikhov and Marvin Dienst (#81 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG) won Race 2 at Magny-Cours, putting Salikhov within 10 points of the class lead. Dmitry Gvazava and Loris Spinelli (#85 Imperiale Racing Lamborghini) scored victory in Race 2 at Misano and banked successive P3 finishes at Magny-Cours, keeping them within 12.5 points of Blattner/Marschall.
• Misano hosted the Sprint Cup for the 11th time this year, matching the number of events staged at Brands Hatch. The Italian venue will also be part of the 2026 calendar (18/19 July), while the groundwork has been laid for a multi-year renewal. Magny-Cours welcomed the Sprint Cup for the fifth time and will also be part of next year's schedule, retaining the weekend of 1/2 August.
• Valencia will host the Sprint Cup finale on 19–21 September, the fourth that it has appeared on the calendar. It staged the deciding round of the Sprint campaign in 2021 and 2022 and was the penultimate event in 2023. This year, no fewer than eight titles – four each for teams and drivers – must be settled at the Spanish venue.