2026 GT World Challenge Europe
13th season of the GT World Challenge Europe
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The 2026 GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS is a motor racing championship for GT3 cars, marking the 13th edition of the GT World Challenge Europe. Organised by the SRO Motorsports Group, it forms the European part of the broader GT World Challenge, which also includes GT World Challenge America, GT World Challenge Australia and GT World Challenge Asia.
The championship is split into the Endurance Cup and the Sprint Cup, each with its respective titles, alongside the overall GT World Challenge Europe championship. The season will take place over ten rounds at various European circuits. The annual season prologue, which acts as the championship's pre-season testing, took place between 8 and 9 April, with testing for the 24 Hours of Spa set to occur between 19 and 20 May. Racing commenced in April and will conclude in October.
Calendar
All Sprint Cup rounds consist of two one-hour races, totalling 15 races throughout the season, alongside the single 3-hour (Monza, Nürburgring and Portimão), 6-hour (Paul Ricard), or 24-hour (Spa) races in Endurance Cup rounds.[1][2]
| Round | Circuit | Date | Series | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10–12 April | Endurance | ||
| 2 | 2–3 May | Sprint | ||
| 3 | 29–31 May | Endurance | ||
| 4 | 24–28 June | Endurance | ||
| 5 | 17–19 July | Sprint | ||
| 6 | 31 July – 2 August | Sprint | ||
| 7 | 28–30 August | Endurance | ||
| 8 | 18–20 September | Sprint | ||
| 9 | 2–4 October | Sprint | ||
| 10 | 16–18 October | Endurance | ||
| Source:[3] | ||||
Calendar changes
2026 is scheduled to feature a largely unchanged calendar. With the only significant alterations being the return of the Algarve International Circuit as the season finale, marking its first appearance since 2015, and Circuit Zandvoort being moved from May to September.[3]
Entries
Sprint Cup
Bronze Cup entries will not compete at the Brands Hatch round and will instead begin their Sprint Cup season at Misano World Circuit, the second round of the Sprint Cup and the fifth round of the season.[4]
Endurance Cup
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Driver and team changes
Rutronik Racing, last season's Endurance Cup winners and former Porsche partners, will switch to Lamborghini for 2026.[21] The team will enter the new Lamborghini Temerario GT3 in the Pro class, with Patric Niederhauser and Luca Engstler competing in all 10 rounds.[21]
Boutsen VDS, following its split from Mercedes-AMG, will field two full-season Porsche entries.[5] Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Picariello are confirmed for one car, while Gilles Magnus and Robin Knutsson will compete in the Gold Cup with the other.[5] Additional Porsche entries will be provided by Dinamic GT, Razoon – more than racing, and Ziggo Tempesta Racing.[6][13][24]
Verstappen Racing returns for a second season, now competing with a Mercedes-AMG for the overall championship.[7] Chris Lulham, last year's Gold Cup champion, will partner with Mercedes-AMG factory driver Daniel Juncadella.[7] Winward Racing’s Mann-Filter No. 48 car returns for a third year with Lucas Auer and Maro Engel.[8] The team will also field a Bronze Cup car for Marvin Dienst and Rinat Salikhov.[8] GetSpeed will enter two full-season Mercedes-AMGs: the No. 6 Silver Cup with Anthony Bartone and Aurélien Panis, and the No. 12 Bronze Cup with Gabriel Rindone and Fabian Schiller.[8] 2 Seas Motorsport will run the No. 222 Mercedes-AMG, driven by 2025 British GT champions Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss.[8]
Valentino Rossi will return full-time in 2026, driving the No. 46 Team WRT BMW alongside Max Hesse.[11] Last season, he competed only at Spa and Misano.[43] In the No. 32 Pro car, reigning champions Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts will defend their title, joined by Jordan Pepper for the Endurance Cup.[11] Pepper will also race full-time, sharing duties with the No. 31 Sprint Cup car.[11] The No. 30 entry will feature Matisse Lismont and Ignacio Montenegro in the Silver Cup.[11] Century Motorsport and Paradine Competition will each enter a full-season BMW in the Bronze Cup.[17]
Comtoyou Racing will expand its European program with three full-season Aston Martin entries in 2026.[10] Nicki Thiim will drive the No. 7 for overall honours.[10] Kobe Pauwels will alternate between the No. 7 in Sprint Cup rounds and the No. 21 Silver Cup entry in Endurance rounds, sharing the No. 21 with Oliver Söderström who also competes the full season.[10] Marcelo Tomasoni will drive the No. 11 Bronze Cup entry in all rounds.[10] Walkenhorst Motorsport will also field Aston Martins: the No. 34 will compete in the Pro class for Endurance and Silver Cup for Sprint, while the No. 35 will remain in Silver.[12]
CSA Racing will field two full-season McLaren entries.[22] James Kell and Arthur Rougier will drive the No. 111 in both the Sprint and Endurance Gold Cup.[22] Romain Andriolo will compete in the No. 555, entering the Gold Cup for Sprint and Silver Cup for Endurance, with Simon Gachet sharing driving duties across both cars.[22] Garage 59 will also enter two McLarens: Marvin Kirchhöfer and Dean MacDonald in the No. 59 Pro car, and Tom Fleming and Louis Prette in the No. 58 Gold Cup entry.[14] Optimum Motorsport will complete the McLaren line-up with Guilherme Oliveira and Mikey Porter contesting the Gold Cup.[9]
Reigning Bronze Cup champions Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall will return in 2026, sharing the No. 74 Kessel Racing car after their dominant 2025 season.[16] AF Corse will continue with Arthur Leclerc in the No. 50 and will also field two additional full-season Ferraris.[6]
After ending its factory sports car program, Audi will return to the overall championship for the first time since 2024 with Eastalent Racing.[20] Christopher Haase and Simon Reicher will drive the No. 84 in all 2026 rounds.[20]
Regulation changes
Sporting regulations
Qualifying format
As a result of growing grid sizes leading to heavy congestion problems during qualifying, 2026 will see the introduction of a new qualifying format. Split sessions were introduced for Sprint Cup rounds in 2025 and will now be extended to Endurance Cup rounds.[44]
Qualifying will still consist of three segments, with the aggregate time for each car establishing the grid. The change is that these segments will be split into two, with 10 minutes for the Silver and Bronze Cup cars (Group A) and 10 minutes for the Pro and Gold Cup runners (Group B). Q1A and Q1B will run back-to-back, followed by a five-minute break; the same format continues for Q2A and Q2B, and finally Q3A and Q3B.[44]
Practice session format
For 2026, Pre-Qualifying will be replaced with Free Practice 2. The change aims to remove many of the restrictions, such as those on refuelling, that came with the Pre-Qualifying session. At Endurance Cup rounds, both FP1 and FP2 will run for 90 minutes. Despite the name change, FP2 can still be used to set the grid if qualifying cannot run. The stewards can also use the FP1 times if necessary.[44]
Season summary
Pre-season
The pre-season prologue for the GT World Challenge commenced on Wednesday, 8 April 2026, at Circuit Paul Ricard. In a series first, this testing event is held just days before the season-opening six-hour race scheduled for Saturday night. The opening day featured two sessions, with all 59 entered cars taking to the track. Thomas Preining claimed the fastest overall time of the day during the morning session, clocking a 1m54.682s in the No. 80 Lionspeed GP Porsche. He narrowly beat Christopher Haase in the No. 84 Eastalent Racing Audi by a margin of 0.086s. In the afternoon, Ben Dörr led the field in the No. 23 Team RJN McLaren with a time of 1m54.762s, which secured him the second-fastest spot across the combined daily standings. He was followed by Loek Hartog in the No. 97 Rutronik Racing Porsche. Despite several yellow flags and brief stoppages, no major incidents occurred.[45] Haase topped the standings on the final day with a time of 1m54.352s, besting Preining's previous pace by three-tenths. Alessio Picariello followed in the No. 2 Boutsen VDS Porsche, trailing Haase by 0.283s, while Ricardo Feller and Robert Renauer secured third and fourth for Porsche. The session was marred by two Aston Martin crashes: Jamie Day sustained heavy front-end damage at Turn 7, and Mari Boya hit the barriers after losing control exiting Turn 2.[46]
Opening rounds
The season opener at Circuit Paul Ricard opened with a multi-car collision involving the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Porsche and the No. 555 CSA Racing McLaren, immediately eliminating both from the race. Shortly after, the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren was tipped into a spin and dropped to the back of the field, prompting the first safety car deployment. The No. 48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter, having started from pole, then controlled the pace for much of the race. Near the end of the opening stint, the No. 7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin, driven by Marco Sørensen, suffered a puncture that forced an out-of-sequence pit stop. Two hours in, the No. 97 Rutronik Racing Porsche took over the Bronze Cup lead, where it would remain, ultimately placing 13th overall and first in class. As the final 60-minute stint began, the No. 48 Mercedes looked set for the win, but a late safety car for the stranded No. 93 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Porsche closed the field. This allowed Nicki Thiim in the No. 7 Aston Martin to erase a three-second gap to the leader. With nine minutes to go, a minor mistake from Lucas Auer opened the door for Thiim, who overtook for the win. The No. 7 Aston Martin prevailed, followed by the No. 48 Mercedes and the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren, which also won the Gold Cup. Notably, the No. 32 Team WRT BMW surged from 10th to 4th, the No. 59 McLaren recovered to 5th, and the No. 9 Pure Rxcing Porsche clinched the Silver Cup win with a late move on the No. 30 Team WRT BMW.[47]
The first race at Brands Hatch saw Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer take victory for AF Corse Ferrari. Although the No. 50 Ferrari finished second on track, it was promoted after the leader No. 3 Mercedes-AMG of Team Verstappen Racing received two post-race penalties. The No. 80 Lionspeed Porsche initially dominated from pole position but retired following a mid-race stop due to steering issues. This allowed the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG to take the lead. Despite a pit infringement penalty, driver Chris Lulham crossed the line first, but a subsequent yellow flag infringement dropped the car out of the points. The race also featured an early 15-minute red flag after the No. 10 Porsche crashed on the opening lap. Ultimately, the No. 2 Boutsen VDS Porsche took second, while the No. 32 Team WRT BMW rounded out the podium.[48] The No. 51 Ferrari took the win in the Gold Cup, while the Silver victory went the way of the No. 5 McLaren. In race two, the No. 80 Porsche would claim a lights-to-flag victory. Drivers Bastian Buus and Feller secured the win after the car ran flawlessly, redeeming their retirement from the opening race. The No. 3 Mercedes-AMG, driven by Dani Juncadella and Lulham, finished in second place, trailing the winners by just over three seconds. Winward Racing's Maro Engel and Auer took the final podium spot in the No. 48 Mercedes-AMG, successfully defending third despite receiving a five-second penalty for a pit infringement. Further down the field, Silver Cup victory went to the No. 30 Team WRT BMW, while the No. 555 McLaren secured Gold Cup honours.[49]
Results and standings
Race results
| Rnd. | Circuit | Overall winners | Gold winners | Silver winners | Bronze winners | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | R1 | Did not participate | ||||
| R2 | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 4 | ||||||
| 5 | R1 | |||||
| R2 | ||||||
| 6 | R1 | |||||
| R2 | ||||||
| 7 | ||||||
| 8 | R1 | |||||
| R2 | ||||||
| 9 | R1 | |||||
| R2 | ||||||
| 10 | ||||||
Scoring system
Championship points are awarded for the first ten positions in each race. The pole-sitter in each class also receives one point, and entries are required to complete 75% of the winning car's race distance in order to be classified and earn points. Individual drivers are required to participate for a minimum of 25 minutes in order to earn championship points in any race. In the teams' standings, only the best-placed car for each team is classified.
- Sprint Cup points
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Pole |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 16.5 | 12 | 9.5 | 7.5 | 6 | 4.5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 |
- Monza, Nürburgring and Portimão points
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Pole |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
- Paul Ricard points
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Pole |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 33 | 24 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
- 24 Hours of Spa points
Points are awarded after six hours, after twelve hours and at the finish.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points after 6hrs/12hrs | 12 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Points at the finish | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
Additionally, points are awarded to the top 3 in Superpole.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Drivers' Championship standings
Drivers compete for their respective GT World Challenge Powered by AWS championships which are split into Overall, Gold, Silver and Bronze titles.
Overall Drivers' standings
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Gold Drivers' standings
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Silver Drivers' standings
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Bronze Drivers' standings
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Teams' Championship standings
Overall Teams' standings
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Gold Teams' standings
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Silver Teams' standings
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Bronze Teams' standings
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Notes:
- † – Entry did not finish the race but was classified, as it completed more than 75% of the race distance.
See also
Notes
- The No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin was initially entered for the first round at Paul Ricard but was forced to withdraw after the car crashed with heavy damage during the pre-season prologue.