Eight-way battle: Dramatic title fight in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup

44 GT3 cars will compete in the season finale of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup in Barcelona. At the Festival de la Velocidad, which is supported by the Legado María de Villota Foundation, the title will be decided in Europe’s largest and most important Sprint GT3 championship.

SPEEDWEEK takes a look at the championship standings for you. In all classes, a maximum of 35 points are still up for grabs in Barcelona: 16.5 points for each race win and one point for qualifying.

Eight-way battle for the overall title

Lionspeed GP führt die Gesamtwertung an

Foto: SRO

No fewer than eight cars are battling it out for the Sprint Cup title on the outskirts of the Spanish capital. Leading the standings are the two DTM drivers Ricardo Feller and Bastian Buus, who will be competing in the Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R. Whilst Feller has already won the title in 2023, this would be Buus’s first title in the series. The duo have scored 59 points for the German Porsche team in the races so far.

Six points behind them is Dani Juncadella in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 from Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing. Juncadella has competed with a number of different co-drivers this season, as Jules Gounon replaced Chris Lulham for two race weekends whilst Lulham was undergoing an appendectomy. Although Gounon currently occupies seventh place in the standings, he has no chance of winning the title, as the British driver Lulham will once again be taking the wheel in Spain.

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Tied on points with Juncadella, the two Ferrari works drivers, Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer, sit in third place in the championship in the AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.

A further 3.5 points behind, last year’s champions Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts follow in fourth place. The drivers, who are no strangers to success, have failed to score any points at all in the last three races and are keen to break this run at the Spanish GP circuit.

Currently in fourth place are Maro Engel and Lucas Auer in the WINWARD Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. However, the team is ensuring that a possible title decision may not be decided on the track until later, as they have lodged an appeal against a disqualification from the second race of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup at Misano in Italy.

Nine-time motorcycling world champion Valentino Rossi also has a theoretical chance of winning the title. Together with his co-driver Max Hesse, he currently occupies eighth place in the standings in the WRT BMW M4 GT3.

Ferrari vs. McLaren in the Gold Cup

AF Corse hat im Gold Cup die Nase vorne

Foto: SRO

In the Gold Cup, there will be a two-horse race for the title. Tommaso Mosca and Matias Zagazeta lead the standings in the AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 with a 21-point lead, so it is realistic to expect that the title will be decided as early as Saturday, following the first of the two one-hour races.

In second place in the Gold Cup standings are Louis Prette and Thomas Fleming in the Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3.

All decided in the Silver Cup

Ignacio Montenegro und Matisse Lismont sind bereits Silver-Cup-Meister

Foto: SRO

There is, however, no suspense in the Silver Cup. Here, Matisse Lismont and Ignacio Montenegro have secured the title ahead of schedule at Zandvoort. The duo have won five of the eight Sprint Cup races held so far in 2028. Matisse Lismont and Ignacio Montenegro have also been crowned champions ahead of schedule in the combined GT World Challenge Europe standings, comprising the Endurance Cup and Silver Cup. Furthermore, the two WRT drivers – together with Amaury Cordeel – secured the Silver Cup title in the Endurance Cup ahead of schedule at the Nürburgring.

Six-way battle in the Bronze Cup

Tempesta Racing führt im Bronze Cup

Foto: SRO

In the Bronze Cup, no fewer than six cars will be battling it out for the championship honours. Peter Dempsey and Eddie Cheever head to Barcelona as championship leaders in the Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, fielded by Herberth Motorsport. In the six races so far – the Bronze Cup did not take place at Brands Hatch – the duo have claimed two victories, both of which came during the recent race weekend at Zandvoort.

Rinat Salikhov and Marvin Dienst follow in second place in the WINWARD Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. The Russian-German driver duo trail the leaders by 6.5 points.

Kiern Jewiss and Charles Dawson occupy third place in the standings in the 2Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Last year’s champions, Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall, are down in sixth place in the standings in the Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, meaning they now have only a theoretical chance of winning the title at the finale.

You can, of course, find out everything about the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup finale at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya here at SPEEDWEEK!