Weerts and Van der Linde claim Sprint title in Valencia

Text: Rick Kiewiet

Images: SRO

The 2025 GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup came to a conclusion at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, where the championship-deciding weekend produced a weekend to remember across every class. With five crews still in contention for the title heading into Sunday, it was Team WRT’s Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts who emerged as the 2025 Sprint Cup champions — sealing the crown with victory in the final race of the season.

Race 1: Lamborghini Inherits Victory After Ferrari Penalty

The opening contest on Saturday initially saw history made as Emil Frey Racing’s Chris Lulham and Thierry Vermeulen took a sensational overall victory — the first ever for a Gold Cup entrant in GT World Challenge Europe. The pair’s No. 69 Ferrari 296 GT3 led home a fiercely competitive field, seemingly completing a landmark moment for the Swiss squad and their young Dutch-British duo.

However, that triumph would not stand. A post-race investigation revealed that Lulham had improved his sector time under yellow flags at Turn 9, in breach of the sporting regulations. The resulting drivethrough, converted into a 26-second time penalty, stripped the Ferrari of its win and dropped it down the order. The decision triggered a reshuffling of results across the top ten, with over half the leading cars also found to have committed similar infringements.

As a result, the No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 of Jordan Pepper and Luca Engstler was promoted to the overall victory — a deserved success for a crew that had shown front-running pace throughout. Garage 59’s Thomas Fleming and Louis Prette inherited the Gold Cup class win in their McLaren, while Lulham and Vermeulen still finished second in class despite the penalty.

The Silver Cup title was also decided amid the chaos. Although Comtoyou Racing’s Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels lost their class win due to a yellow-flag infringement, they still clinched the championship with a race to spare. Their closest rivals from Paradine Competition, also penalized, were unable to capitalize, allowing Day and Pauwels to extend their points lead beyond reach.

Other teams caught out by post-race sanctions included Al Manar Racing by WRT, AF Corse, Boutsen VDS, Walkenhorst Racing, and both Rutronik Porsches, in what became one of the most heavily revised results in recent Sprint Cup history.

Race 2: Van der Linde and Weerts Seal the Title in Style

Sunday’s finale provided a clean slate — and a championship decider between five title hopefuls. The No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO, driven by Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts, entered the race narrowly ahead of the pack and delivered under pressure when it mattered most.

Van der Linde made a decisive start from fourth on the grid, quickly dispatching both the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG and the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren with bold moves into Turn 1. Within the opening fifteen minutes, he closed on fellow South African Jordan Pepper in the No. 63 Lamborghini and repeated the move that had defined his stint — braking late into Turn 1 to take the lead.

The two cars pitted simultaneously, with Weerts retaining the advantage over Engstler after the driver changes. Although lapped traffic briefly brought the Lamborghini back into contention, Weerts held firm and crossed the line 0.885 seconds clear to secure victory — and with it, the Sprint Cup title.

The win marked Weerts’ fourth championship crown after a hat-trick of titles alongside Dries Vanthoor between 2020 and 2022, while van der Linde became a GTWC Europe champion for the first time. Team WRT, meanwhile, extended its legacy as the dominant force in Sprint Cup history, adding a seventh title to its record.

Behind the victorious BMW, Pepper and Engstler took second for Grasser Racing, while the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren of Marvin Kirchhöfer and Benjamin Goethe completed the overall podium. Boutsen VDS duo Aurélien Panis and César Gazeau finished fourth and captured Silver Cup victory, ahead of the No. 96 Rutronik Porsche of Sven Müller and Patric Niederhauser. The Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Maro Engel and Lucas Auer climbed from outside the top ten to sixth, while Silver entries from Paradine Competition and WRT rounded out the top eight.

Class Battles Conclude with Drama

While the overall title went to van der Linde and Weerts, Ferrari teams closed their Sprint Cup campaigns by sealing two of the three remaining championships. In the Gold Cup, Emil Frey Racing’s Vermeulen and Lulham rebounded from Saturday’s heartbreak to claim both class victory and the title in Sunday’s finale. Their No. 69 Ferrari 296 GT3 finished ahead of Garage 59’s Prette and Fleming, clinching the championship after a season-long duel between the two entries.

In the Bronze Cup, Kessel Racing’s Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall sealed the title in their No. 74 Ferrari, despite finishing third in class behind Lionspeed GP and Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing. Entering the final race with a 12-point advantage, a solid drive to the podium was enough to secure the crown and cap off a successful season for the Italian squad.

As the 2025 Sprint Cup concluded, it was fitting that consistency, discipline, and teamwork proved decisive — values that have defined the championship from its very first round. Team WRT and its new BMW partnership rose to the occasion when it mattered most, while Emil Frey and Kessel carried Ferrari’s colors to championship glory in the supporting classes.

The Sprint Cup may be over, but its closing weekend at Valencia will be remembered as one of the most unpredictable, hard-fought, and eventful finales in recent GT World Challenge Europe history.