Kobe Pauwels
Belgian racing driver (born 2004)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kobe Pauwels (born 23 October 2004 in Diest[1]) is a Belgian racing driver competing for Comtoyou Racing in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cups.
_No.22_Kobe_Pauwels_(DSC08606).jpg)
| Kobe Pauwels | |
|---|---|
Pauwels at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in 2024 | |
| Nationality |  Belgian |
| Born | 23 October 2004 Diest, Belgium |
| Categorisation |  FIA Silver |
| Championship titles | |
| 2025 | GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup – Silver Cup |
Pauwels is the 2024 24 Hours of Zolder winner.[2]
Early career
Karting
Pauwels started karting in 2014. During his time in karts, Pauwels most notably was runner-up in the 2018 FIA Karting Academy Trophy and was a factory driver for Birel ART during his final year of karting in 2020.[3][4]
Rallycross
One year after competing in the 25th edition of the Volant Winfield,[5] Pauwels made his debut in Rallycross by competing in the RallyX Nordic Championship in 2020.[6]
In 2021, Pauwels stepped up to the RX3 class of the European Rallycross Championship with Volland Racing KFT.[7] Pauwels won the round in France and finished runner-up in the standings to Yury Belevskiy.[8][9] During 2021, Pauwels also made his World Rallycross debut in the RX2e category at the Nürburgring round.[10]
Pauwels returned to the European Rallycross Championship in 2022, winning four out of five races on his way to the RX3 title at season's end.[11] Two years after his RX3 title, Pauwels returned to the European Rallycross Championship in 2024 at the Mettet round.[12] On his return to the series, Pauwels took his first win in RX2e.[13]
Touring cars
Having made his circuit racing debut in the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup Benelux in 2022,[14] Pauwels joined Comtoyou Racing in early 2023 to compete in the TCR Europe Touring Car Series.[15] Scoring his first overall podium at Pau,[16] Pauwels scored his first overall win at Le Castellet,[17] before taking two more wins at Monza and Barcelona to end the season third in points.[18][19]
GT career
Pauwels made his GT3 debut at the Nürburgring round of the 2023 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.[20] On his debut, Pauwels scored points by finishing eighth in the three-hour enduro.[21]
Comtoyou Racing retained Pauwels for the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup season,[22] competing in the first three rounds in the Bronze Cup, scoring a class podium at the first round of the season at Le Castellet.[23] After switching to Comtoyou's Silver lineup at Monza and scoring a class podium, Pauwels joined Saintéloc Racing for the season-ending Jeddah round.[24] In the six hour enduro, Pauwels scored a class win in his only race for the French team.[25]
In early 2024, it was announced that Pauwels would compete for NGT Motorsport in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux.[26] Scoring a best result of fourth in race two at Assen,[27] Pauwels was crowned Rookie champion at the season-ending round at Zolder.[28]
Pauwels returned to Comtoyou Racing for 2025, competing in both the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cups.[29] Finishing 33rd in the Silver Cup standings of the former, Pauwels found more success in the latter, scoring three class wins and two more podiums to secure the Silver Cup title at the season finale in Valencia,[30] as he also graduated from the Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy at the end of the year.[31] At the end of the year, Pauwels joined Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn to race in the GT class of the 2025–26 Asian Le Mans Series,[32] taking a lone win at Abu Dhabi to end the season eighth in points.[33]
For the rest of 2026, Pauwels returned to Comtoyou Racing for another dual campaign in both the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cups.[34] During 2026, Pauwels also joined Heart of Racing Team to make his FIA World Endurance Championship debut at the 6 Hours of Imola in LMGT3.[35]
Personal life
Pauwels is a third generation racing driver; his grandfather Benny competed in domestic rallycross competitions, whilst his father Koen raced in the inaugural World Rallycross Championship.[36]
Karting record
Karting career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | BNL Karting Series – Rotax Micro | 6th | |
| BNL Karting Series – Mini Max | 15th | ||
| 2015 | BNL Karting Series – Mini Max | 8th | |
| 2016 | BNL International Kart Series – Mini | 2nd | |
| Euro Finale – Mini Max Small | 1st | ||
| Rotax Challenge Grand Finals - Mini Max | 7th | ||
| 2017 | Rotax Winter Cup - Rotax Junior | Daems Racing | 19th |
| Rotax Euro Challenge - Rotax Junior | 6th | ||
| Karting Academy Trophy | Pauwels Koen | 14th | |
| BNL Golden Trophy – Junior Max | 4th | ||
| 2018 | Karting Academy Trophy | Pauwels Koen | 2nd |
| Rotax Challenge Grand Finals - Rotax Junior | 9th | ||
| WSK Open Cup - OKJ | KMS Europe | 32nd | |
| Rotax Max Euro Trophy – Rotax Junior | 4th | ||
| Hungarian International Open Championship – Junior | Pauwels Racing | 30th | |
| 2019 | WSK Champions Cup - OK | Pauwels Koen | 7th |
| South Garda Winter Cup - OK | RS Schumacher Racing Team | NC | |
| German Kart Championship - OK | CV Performance Group | NC | |
| IAME Euro Series - X30 Senior | NC | ||
| FIA Karting European Championship - OK | 15th | ||
| Karting World Championship - OK | 25th | ||
| WSK Open Cup - OK | 26th | ||
| French Karting Championship - OK | CV Performance Group (Rd.1) Pauwels Koen (Rd.2) |
5th | |
| 2020 | WSK Super Master Series - OK | BirelArt Racing Srl | 61st |
| WSK Euro Series - OK | 53rd | ||
| FIA Karting European Championship - KZ2 | 62nd | ||
| Sources:[37][38] | |||
Racing record
Racing career summary
Complete FIA European Rallycross Championship results
(key)
RX3
RX2e
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ERX | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Kobe Pauwels | ZEROID X1 | SWE |
HUN |
BEL 1 |
PRT |
8th | 29 |
Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results
(key)
RX2e
Complete TCR Europe Touring Car Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete TCR World Tour results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
GT World Challenge Europe results
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup
(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Comtoyou Racing | Audi R8 LMS Evo II | Pro | MNZ | LEC | SPA 6H |
SPA 12H |
SPA 24H |
NÜR 8 |
CAT | 24th | 4 |
| 2024 | Comtoyou Racing | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo | Bronze | LEC 24 |
SPA 6H 18 |
SPA 12H 33 |
SPA 24H 20 |
NÜR Ret |
11th | 34 | ||
| Silver | MNZ 15 |
9th | 52 | |||||||||
| Saintéloc Racing | Audi R8 LMS Evo II | JED 13 | ||||||||||
| 2025 | Comtoyou Racing | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo | Silver | LEC 36 |
MNZ Ret |
SPA 6H 62 |
SPA 12H 54 |
SPA 24H Ret |
NÜR 26 |
CAT 49 |
33rd | 8 |
| 2026 | Comtoyou Racing | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo | Silver | LEC 20 |
MNZ 27 |
SPA 6H 28 |
SPA 12H 59† |
SPA 24H Ret |
NÜR |
ALG |
11th* | 28* |
GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Comtoyou Racing | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo | Silver | BRH 1 27 |
BRH 2 14 |
ZAN 1 15 |
ZAN 2 8 |
MIS 1 17 |
MIS 2 9 |
MAG 1 7 |
MAG 2 9 |
VAL 1 11 |
VAL 2 17 |
1st | 102 |
| 2026 | Comtoyou Racing | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo | Pro | BRH 1 9 |
BRH 2 14 |
MIS 1 |
MIS 2 |
MAG 1 |
MAG 2 |
ZAN 1 |
ZAN 2 |
CAT 1 |
CAT 2 |
11th* | 1* |
Complete Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Asian Le Mans Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn | GT | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 | Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 | SEP 1 3 |
SEP 2 13 |
DUB 1 Ret |
DUB 2 10 |
ABU 1 8 |
ABU 2 1 |
8th | 47 |
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Heart of Racing Team | LMGT3 | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo | Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 | IMO 9 |
SPA |
LMS |
SÃO 18 |
COA |
FUJ |
QAT |
BHR |
22nd* | 3* |