GT Racing is back in Europe for 2025, with 59 cars spread across 10 manufacturers it really is anyone’s race to win! So gear up for six hours of epic action as the SRO’s flagship series gets underway.

As the third hour dawned it was still Dean Macdonald out in front as the next round of pit stops dawned, with Rutronik’s #96 first of the leaders to do so. Alessio Picariello took over the running of the Porsche and subsequently the lead after Dean Macdonald handed over his McLaren to Louis Prette. 

The order then became, Picariello from Prette and then Klaus Bachler in the #22 CLRT Porsche, with Matteo Cairoli in the #48 Mercedes. It was Rutronik with the biggest lead so far, at just over six seconds to Prette with Bachler a further five behind as darkness engulfed the track.

Having gone over their stint time in the first stint by staying out after the first FCY, the #17 car of Fabian Schiller running fifth duly received a drive through penalty.

The race quietened down as the darkness fully came into play, but Charles Weerts didn’t seem to get the memo, as he stormed through in the #32 WRT BMW, and was up to third behind Prette’s McLaren.   

Pitstops then beckoned, as Alessio Picariello pitted first of the leaders, giving Louis Prette a brief lead before his own pitstop. Unfortunately the Garage 59 crew had another slow stop, over a minute an forty seconds which saw them slip back down the order. The race lead now went back to Picariello and Rutronik’s #96, with Ugo De Wilde now in charge of the #32 WRT BMW in second. Klaus Bachler was third for Schumacher CLRT with Matteo Cairoli fourth for Mann-Filter racing’s #48 machine. Louis Prette may have been fifth but he quickly put in the fastest lap of that car all evening. Meanwhile on debut for HRT, the Ford Performance #64 was up to thirteenth. The team is also due to compete in the DTM series with three cars later this year.

And that’s how things stand as we go into the final two hours, but at the end who will be celebrating their victory at the 1000KM of Paul Ricard?

thumbnail credit – Presse CPR, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons