This weekend’s season-opening six-hour race at Circuit Paul Ricard kicks off a fresh chapter in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup. With 59 GT3 cars on the grid and factory programmes undergoing major shake-ups, the 2025 season is already shaping up to be one of the most competitive yet. From returning champions and revamped line-ups to long-awaited debuts from Corvette and Ford, the endurance racing landscape is evolving — and it all begins in the South of France.

Check out the full entry list for Paul Ricard here.

Ferrari

AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors begins the 2025 season as the reigning GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup champion, fielding two factory-backed Ferrari 296 GT3s. In the #51, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Alessio Rovera continue their title-winning partnership. They are joined by Vincent Abril, who ran the 2024 season in the #71 and substituted in the #51 at Monza.

The #50 car sees a complete overhaul. Antonio Fuoco remains, now paired with Arthur Leclerc, who moves up to a full-time GT3 campaign after winning last year’s Italian GT Endurance championship, and Eliseo Donno, who steps into the Pro class after impressing in Silver last year. With the #71 AF Corse entry discontinued, 2024 drivers Thomas Neubauer and David Vidales are no longer part of the line-up.

Ferrari is once again the best-represented manufacturer in Bronze. Sky Tempesta Racing returns for a third consecutive title push. Kessel Racing fields two cars, while Louis Machiels continues his long-standing association with AF Corse, remaining a fixture in Ferrari’s Bronze line-up. The most significant addition comes from Rinaldi Racing, which has recruited Ferrari factory driver Davide Rigon. The Italian, a former FIA WEC race winner and long-time GT endurance contender, shifts from the Pro class to Bronze for the first time in his GT World Challenge Europe career.

Mercedes-AMG

Mercedes-AMG enters 2025 with one of the strongest Pro-class line-ups on the grid, led by the #48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter. Defending overall champions Maro Engel and Lucas Auer return, joined by Matteo Cairoli, who switches from Lamborghini after competing in 2024 with Iron Lynx.

GetSpeed retains its proven Pro trio of Jules Gounon, Luca Stolz, and Fabian Schiller, while Boutsen VDS fields a refreshed line-up with Maximilian Götz, Mikaël Grenier, and Maxime Martin. Newcomer Nordique Racing makes its debut with a Pro entry consisting of Italian GT race winner Edoardo Liberati and successful Japanese racers Kazuto Kotaka and Yuichi Nakayama.

In Silver, GetSpeed adds reigning class champions Colin Caresani and Tanart Sathienthirakul, both moving from Winward, and pairs them with Aaron Walker. Boutsen continues its Silver line-up, while Winward Racing shifts focus to Bronze.

BMW

BMW returns with the debut of the M4 GT3 Evo. Rowe Racing reshuffles its line-ups from 2024, placing Raffaele Marciello, Augusto Farfus, and Jesse Krohn together in the #98. The #998 crew has been dissolved for 2025, leaving Rowe with a single entry. Team WRT also sees changes: Charles Weerts remains in the #32, now joined by Kelvin van der Linde, who joins his brother Sheldon as a BMW M works driver after previously racing with Audi. Ugo de Wilde completes the trio, stepping up after making select starts in 2024 with Imperiale Racing and Saintéloc Racing.

BMW Italia Ceccato Racing joins the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup for a full-season programme with the #15 BMW M4 GT3 Evo in the Bronze Cup, driven by Marcelo Jover Tomasoni, Federico Malvestiti, and Felice Jelmini. The Italian squad, a regular contender in Italian GT, returns after fielding a car in last year’s Endurance Cup round at Monza.

In the Gold Cup, AlManar Racing completes a manufacturer switch from Mercedes-AMG to BMW and partners with WRT. In Silver, Century Motorsport continues with a restructured crew, and Paradine Competition returns in both Silver and Bronze with familiar faces from 2024, including Darren Leung and Dan Harper in the #991 BMW, now joined by Sean Gelael for a full-season campaign.

Lamborghini

After contending for the Endurance Cup title in 2024, Grasser Racing Team returns with a reinforced Pro line-up built around returning factory star Mirko Bortolotti. The Italian rejoins Grasser after a season with Iron Lynx and is now teamed with Jordan Pepper, who stays on from last year, and Luca Engstler, promoted from the Silver ranks. This new trio replaces the 2024 combination of Pepper, Franck Perera, and Marco Mapelli, reuniting Bortolotti with the team where he rose to prominence in GT3.

The second factory-supported Lamborghini effort comes from VSR, which enters a new-look Pro line-up featuring Marco Mapelli, Franck Perera, and Sandy Mitchell. While Mapelli and Perera shift over from Grasser’s 2024 crew, Mitchell steps up to the top category following years of success in British GT and Lamborghini’s customer programmes.

In the Bronze Cup, Barwell Motorsport continues with Patrick Kujala, Gabriel Rindone, and Casper Stevenson. Both Grasser and VSR also field Silver entries, and Paul Motorsport makes its Endurance Cup debut with a single-car effort in the Gold Cup.

Porsche

Following a challenging 2024 campaign that delivered few standout results, Porsche returns in 2025 with a strengthened Pro-class effort and an influx of factory talent. Pure Rxcing, which scored only two points-paying finishes last year, fields an updated line-up featuring Thomas Preining, Alex Malykhin, and Richard Lietz. This trio replaces the previous #911 crew of Malykhin, Joel Sturm, and Klaus Bachler, continuing the team’s involvement with Porsche while bringing in new energy and experience.

Rutronik Racing returns with a proven group of Porsche regulars: Sven Müller, Patric Niederhauser, and Alessio Picariello. The team continues its full-season campaign after showing flashes of pace in 2024, including a pole position and a top-five finish. Schumacher CLRT, meanwhile, steps up its Pro programme with an exciting trio made up of Klaus Bachler, Ayhancan Güven, and Laurin Heinrich — each already established within the Porsche pyramid and now aligned for a full assault on the Endurance Cup title.

In the Bronze Cup, Porsche maintains a strong customer presence. Herberth Motorsport continues with a double entry, while Lionspeed GP returns and Rutronik Racing expands with a second car that includes Antares Au, a class winner at the 24 Hours of Spa in 2023, and Dutch talents Loek Hartog and Morris Schuring – the latter a new Porsche works driver.

Aston Martin

Aston Martin enters 2025 with two full-season Pro entries and a growing footprint in the other classes. Comtoyou Racing leads the charge with the factory-backed line-up of Mattia Drudi, Nicki Thiim, and Marco Sørensen, the trio that delivered Aston Martin’s historic overall win at the 2024 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

Walkenhorst Motorsport returns for its second year with the Vantage AMR GT3, fielding a revised Pro line-up. Henrique Chaves and David Pittard remain on board, now joined by newly appointed Aston Martin works driver Christian Krognes. The Norwegian brings a wealth of endurance experience and is no stranger to the team, having raced with Walkenhorst for several years — most notably at the Nordschleife, where he’s a proven front-runner, and as part of the squad’s overall win at the 2018 24 Hours of Spa.

In the Bronze Cup, Comtoyou Racing adds a second entry featuring Jessica Hawkins, marking her GT World Challenge Europe debut. A former W Series racer and Aston Martin F1 development driver, Hawkins joins Alexandre Lroy and Antoine Potty aboard the #270.

Additionally, Comtoyou Racing enters a Silver-class Aston Martin with Nicolas Baert, Kobe Pauwels, and Jamie Day. Walkenhorst Motorsport also continues in Silver, with Romain Leroux, Mateo Villagomez, and Oliver Söderström driving their #35 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo.

The Verstappen.com Racing team enters the Gold Cup with Thierry Vermeulen, Chris Lulham, and Harry King in the #33 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo. Named after Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen, the team’s operation is handled by 2 Seas Motorsport. Thierry Vermeulen, who has been competing in GT3 for a few years with Max Verstappen’s support, is joined by Chris Lulham, a sim racing standout from Team Redline, making his transition to real-world racing. Harry King completes the line-up, bringing fresh talent to this ambitious Gold Cup entry.

McLaren

McLaren enters 2025 with a bolstered presence across the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup grid, led by a new Pro-class programme. CSA Racing makes the jump to the top category with a factory-supported effort featuring Simon Gachet, James Kell, and Arthur Rougier. The French outfit ran Audis last season before switching to the 720S GT3 Evo and stepping up to the Pro class.

Garage 59, McLaren’s established partner, fields the #159 for Marvin Kirchhöfer, Benjamin Goethe, and Joseph Loake. The team also returns to Bronze Cup with the #188, building on a competitive 2024 season, and enters a second car in the Gold Cup.

After several years away, Team RJN returns for its first full Endurance Cup campaign since 2019. The British squad brings back Alex Buncombe, the 2015 Blancpain GT champion with RJN and Nissan, to lead a Gold Cup effort alongside Reece Barr and Tommy Foster. The team last appeared at Spa in 2024 with a one-off Pro-Am entry and now re-establishes itself with a new generation of McLaren talent.

Optimum Motorsport completes McLaren’s Gold Cup roster, fielding a revised crew with Mikey Porter, James Allen and Largim Ali rounding out the manufacturer’s presence across Pro, Gold, and Bronze.

Audi

Audi enters the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe season without any Pro-class representation, reflecting the brand’s continued step back from factory involvement in GT3. With no factory-supported line-ups confirmed, the R8 LMS GT3 Evo II now competes solely through customer teams — a notable shift for a manufacturer that once supported championship-winning squads such as WRT and Phoenix Racing, and more recently ran Pro entries through customer teams like Tresor Attempto and Saintéloc.

Despite the change, Audi maintains a strong presence across the other classes. Tresor Attempto Racing runs a three-car programme, including the #88 in the Gold Cup, along with entries in Silver and Bronze. The team remains a long-time Audi partner with deep experience in the championship.

Saintéloc Racing also returns with multi-class participation, including a Bronze Cup car featuring an all-Qatari line-up. Both teams continue to represent the brand with solid customer line-ups, even in the absence of factory support.

While the lack of a Pro entry marks a quiet chapter for Audi, the R8 LMS remains on the grid through committed customer efforts.

Ford

The Ford Mustang GT3 returns for its second season in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, now under the banner of HRT Ford Performance. The car debuted in 2024 with Proton Competition, and 2025 marks the start of a new chapter as HRT takes over as the lead team for Ford’s GT3 programme.

HRT’s Pro line-up features Jann Mardenborough, Arjun Maini, and Thomas Drouet, combining a mix of single-seater pedigree and GT3 experience. The German team also enters the Mustang in the Silver Cup for David Schumacher, Finn Wiebelhaus and Romain Andriolo, expanding Ford’s presence across two categories. While this is HRT’s first full-season GT World Challenge Europe campaign with the car, the team has already been actively developing the Mustang through its ongoing programme in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS), where it has been gaining valuable Nordschleife mileage, further strengthening the car’s endurance credentials.

Haupt Racing Team (HRT) has been a consistent presence in the series since 2020, previously competing with Mercedes-AMG machinery. The team has collected several podium finishes and poles during that time. HRT’s expertise will play a pivotal role in developing the Mustang into a competitive platform for European endurance racing.

Corvette

The Corvette Z06 GT3.R makes its debut in the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, entered by Steller Motorsport. This marks Corvette’s first participation in the series with the new-generation GT3 car, following a successful development phase.

Steller Motorsport, a team with extensive experience in GT racing, brings the Z06 GT3.R to the Silver Cup. For the season-opening six-hour race at Le Castellet, Steller Motorsport has confirmed Matisse Lismont, Lorcan Hanafin, and Kiern Jewiss as the driver line-up for the #24 Corvette.

Beyond the European series, the Corvette Z06 GT3.R has also raced in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with TF Sport, marking its maiden win at the 2025 Qatar 8 Hours in February. The car has also competed in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, securing its first win in the 2024 Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

The Z06 GT3.R’s debut across multiple racing series strengthens Corvette’s commitment to endurance racing, with the car proving itself as a competitive platform both in the U.S. and internationally.

The Battle Begins at Paul Ricard

As engines fire up at Paul Ricard, the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup blends continuity with change. Established contenders return stronger, while new names aim to disrupt the order. From Ferrari’s title defence to Corvette’s long-anticipated arrival and Ford’s expanding presence, each manufacturer brings fresh storylines into the spotlight. With every class stacked and factory firepower on full display, the season opener offers just a glimpse of what promises to be a thrilling year of strategy, resilience, and wheel-to-wheel endurance racing.

Check out the full entry list for Paul Ricard here.