The opening round of the 2025 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup delivered a pair of thrilling qualifying sessions at Brands Hatch, with Thierry Vermeulen and Maro Engel each claiming a Rowe Pole Position Award on a sun-drenched Saturday afternoon.
In the first 10-minute shootout, Dutch driver Vermeulen snatched his maiden overall pole position in sensational style. The Emil Frey Racing ace saved the best for last in the #69 Ferrari 296 GT3, setting a scorching 1:23.374 lap courtesy of two purple sectors. That effort edged out fellow Ferrari man Alessio Rovera (#51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors) by 0.185s.
Garage 59’s Marvin Kirchhöfer placed third in the #59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, while Luca Engstler impressed with a fourth-place run in the #63 Grasser Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2. Rookie Arthur Leclerc (#50 AF Corse Ferrari) and reigning Sprint champion Lucas Auer (#48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG) completed the top six.
Vermeulen’s lap also secured him pole in the Gold Cup class by a commanding margin, placing eight positions ahead of the next Gold runner, the #58 Garage 59 McLaren. Meanwhile, Lorens Lecertua (#26 Saintéloc Racing Audi) starred in Silver Cup, qualifying 13th overall and leading the category.
Qualifying 2 saw experienced GT stalwart Maro Engel deliver when it mattered. The #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo driver posted a best time of 1:23.240 to narrowly top the timesheets, with just 0.027s separating him from surprise package Chris Lulham in the same #69 Ferrari.
Lulham, a sim racing graduate making his full-time GT3 debut, turned heads with a stellar 1:23.267, placing the Emil Frey Ferrari on the front row again and reinforcing the car’s potent one-lap pace.
Grasser Racing locked out the second row, with Jordan Pepper (#63) just 0.035s off pole and Barwell Motorsport’s Sandy Mitchell (#78) close behind in fourth. Arthur Leclerc’s co-driver Thomas Neubauer took fifth in the #50 AF Corse entry, with Benji Goethe (#59 Garage 59 McLaren) completing the top six.
Once again, the #69 Ferrari proved dominant in the Gold Cup, with Lulham finishing 10 places ahead of Gilles Magnus in the #25 Saintéloc Audi. The Silver Cup pole for Race 2 went to Boutsen VDS driver César Gazeau, who placed 16th overall in the #10 Mercedes-AMG.
Both sessions highlighted the razor-thin margins that define Sprint Cup racing. Just 0.973s separated the top 22 cars in Q1, and in Q2, 23 cars were covered by less than a second.
Notably absent from both sessions was the #64 HRT Ford Performance Mustang, which sustained damage earlier in the day. The German team has expressed its intent to return for Sunday’s races.
GTWCE BRANDS HATCH | ENTRY LIST | LIVE STREAM | QUALIFYING REPORT | GRT DISQUALIFIED FROM QUALIFYING
The racing kicks off on Sunday with race 1 at 11:00 BST (12:00 CEST) and race 2 at 15:45 BST (16:45 CEST).
Follow the GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS action this weekend on GT REPORT.
UPDATE: Grasser Racing Team’s #19 and #63 have been disqualified from qualifying due to BoP data issues. Both will start from the back of the grid. Read the full story here.
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