Preview: Sprint Cup kicks off at Brands Hatch

Text: Rick Kiewiet

Images: SRO

The 2025 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup starts its campaign this weekend at Brands Hatch. Set against the rolling landscape of Kent, the British circuit opens the short-format season with a bumper 30-car grid representing 10 manufacturers—more than ever before. It’s a stacked field and a tight pitlane, meaning the Bronze Cup will sit this one out and join from next round at Zandvoort onwards.

If you're headed to Brands this weekend (or not) here’s everything to watch for as we head into a weekend of GT3 sprint racing. As usual, SRO broadcasts all sessions live on its own YouTube channel.

Schedule

Traditionally, no racing on Friday, so Saturday begins with Free Practice at 09:25, followed by Pre-Qualifying at 12:15 and the all-important Qualifying session at 16:35. On Sunday, Race 1 gets underway at 11:00 with Race 2 rounding off the weekend at 15:45. Both races are 60 minutes long and will be streamed live on the GT World Challenge YouTube channel.

The Grid

The Pro class features a mix of old rivals and new faces. Defending champions Lucas Auer and Maro Engel are back in the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, while 3-time Sprint champ Charles Weerts now shares the #32 Team WRT BMW with Kelvin van der Linde. The pair arrive on a high after winning the Paul Ricard Endurance Cup opener.

Boutsen VDS brings a reshuffled crew to the #9 Mercedes-AMG with Maxime Martin and Luca Stolz, while Emil Frey Racing Ferrari's stick with consistency: Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen return in the #14 Ferrari. AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors is back in the Pro ranks for the first time since 2016 with two cars—Leclerc/Neubauer in the #50 and Abril/Rovera in the #51.

There's plenty more variety in the Pro ranks. Garage 59’s Benjamin Goethe is joined by Marvin Kirchhöfer in the #59 McLaren, while CSA Racing graduates to Pro with Gachet and Pla in the #111 720S GT3 Evo. Porsche’s charge is led by Rutronik Racing’s Müller and Niederhauser in the #96, and Lamborghini has double representation: GRT’s #63 Huracán for Engstler and Pepper, and Barwell’s #78 with Mitchell and Cook. Rounding out the grid are Walkenhorst’s #35 Aston Martin (Chaves/Villagomez) and the Sprint debut of the Mustang GT3, run by HRT – Ford Performance for Owega and Andriolo.

Gold Cup

Six entries make up the Gold Cup, including strong returners and a few one-offs. The standout might be the unchanged #25 Audi of Evrard and Magnus (Saintéloc), who narrowly missed out on the 2024 title. Tresor Attempto runs another R8 for Øgaard and Moncini, while the Garage 59 duo of Prette and Smalley will be ones to watch in the #58 McLaren.

Emil Frey brings the eye-catching Verstappen-backed #69 Ferrari with Lulham and Vermeulen, and AlManar Racing returns with its #777 BMW for Al Zubair and Klingmann. Meanwhile, the #112 CSA Racing McLaren makes a one-off appearance in Gold before stepping into the Bronze Cup from Zandvoort.

Silver Cup

This year’s Silver Cup grid is the biggest and most varied in recent memory—11 cars and eight brands. Team WRT starts its title defence with a new look: Bergström and Stadsbader team up in the #30 BMW. Paradine Competition enters the Sprint Cup with Endurance Cup winners Jansen and Oosten in the #992 M4.

Corvette joins the fun with the new Z06 GT3.R fielded by Steller Motorsport for Lismont and Salmenautio, who were second at Paul Ricard. Boutsen VDS sticks with Panis and Gazeau in the #10 Mercedes, while GRT and Barwell field Lamborghinis for Moulin/Ekelchik and Ali/Bogle respectively.

Comtoyou Racing returns with Pauwels and Day in the #21 Aston Martin, and Rutronik fields the #97 Porsche for Hartog and Pieris. AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors adds the #52 Ferrari for Machiels and Siebert, and Saintéloc and Tresor Attempto round out the class with the #26 and #99 Audis.