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.

During the pitstops, there was drama as the best team in Gold Cup by a mile pulled over at the end of the pitlane, the #58 Garage 59 McLaren of Louis Prette’s chances of an underdog victory dashed. The team had suffered refuelling problems earlier in the race but this was truly terminal. Not only was it out of the running but it promoted the CSA Racing #111 of Simon Gachet into the Gold Cup lead. Meanwhile the lead was now in the hands of the Rutronik #96 car of Patric Neiderhauser, with Kelvin Van Der Linde’s #32 WRT BMW in second. Lucas Auer was fourth for the #48 Man Filter Mercedes and Laurin Heinrich was fifth in the #22 Porsche. Luca Stolz also took over the #17 Mercedes.

The lead battle then transformed into a mighty one, the Rutronik #96 and WRT #32 almost inseparable as they both contested the lead throughout the evening with the BMW soon establishing a lead.

Everything had been going quiet and bubbling towards the finish, before the Dinamic GT Porsche suffered a tyre failure and brought out a FCY.

The final pitstops beckoned, with WRT’s race leading #32 among the first to make their last stop before the run to the flag. The battl was between them and Rutronik, and thanks to the efficiency and expertise of the Belgian team the #32 stayed ahead. It was Kelvin Van Der Linde and Patric Neiderhauser to fight for victory. Other outsiders included Laurin Heinrich in the #22, Luca Stolz who took the #17 to the flag and also Mattia Drudi in the Comtoyou Asont Martin #7.

And shaking things up further, the #30 WRT Silver Cup entry stopped on track, as the #17 lost time under the subsequent FCY as it pitted right as the track went back to green. Laurin Heinrich was promoted to third place in the #22 Porsche.

Having led the Gold Cup category for some time now, the #111 CSA Racing McLaren received a penalty for track limits with the Almanar-WRT #777 of Jens Klingman in prime position to take the class lead in the final thirty minutes. It would also mean that on debut, Verstappen.com Racing’s #33 (owned by Max himself) would have a fantastic opportunity to take a dream podium finish.

There’d be another FCY before the day was done though, as the #333 Paul Motorsport Lamborghini stopped on track with just over ten minutes to go, bringing out a FCY which cleared with eight minutes to go.

And after that it would be Kelvin Van Der Linde to cruise home to yet another WRT win for the BMW M4 GT3 Evo, the car having a fantastic debut year. In second would be Rutronik Racing’s #96 Porsche having fought them all the way, with third place going to the Schumacher CLRT #22 of Laurin Heinrich. CSA Racing would hold on to victory in the Gold Cup category, as Silver was taken by Darren Leung’s Paradine Competition #922 team. Bronze went the way of Dennis Marschall and the #74 of Kessel Racing.

A thrilling way to open the GT World Challenge Europe season for 2025. I chose to focus on this race over the Grand Prix of Long Beach, which clashed and as it’s already nearly midnight I’ll be back to covering IMSA at their next race. Until then, I’ll be waiting for the next WEC race in two weeks time at Imola. It’s been really fun to do the first GT Race since Bathurst, and I’m really looking forward to the double header at Spa and the Nurburgring in June.

– Thomas.

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