A weekend of firsts defined GT racing across Europe and Asia. At the Nürburgring, ROWE Racing delivered BMW’s long-awaited maiden home win in GT World Challenge Europe, overcoming fierce Aston Martin opposition. Meanwhile in Okayama, Harmony’s Deng Yi and Luo Kailuo scored their breakthrough Ferrari victory before Origine Motorsport struck back on Sunday, ensuring the Asian championship will be decided at its Beijing finale.

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup – Nürburgring: BMW scores first victory in Germany

ROWE Racing gave BMW its first-ever GT World Challenge Europe win on German soil with a commanding drive at the Nürburgring. From pole position, the #98 M4 GT3 of Raffaele Marciello, Augusto Farfus and Jesse Krohn sealed a landmark triumph in front of 25,000 spectators, adding another highlight to their already stellar 2025 season.

Victory was far from straightforward. In the second stint, Mattia Drudi put the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO — shared with Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen — into the lead with a bold move. The Aston looked strong throughout the middle phase, but its hopes evaporated when Drudi pitted just as a full-course yellow was called. That mistimed stop cost them dearly, dropping them from contention and leaving them to finish seventh.

From then on, the ROWE BMW never looked back. Marciello controlled the closing stages to take a comfortable win, repeating the team’s Nürburgring 24 Hours success earlier this summer.

The #48 Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG of Lucas Auer, Matteo Cairoli and Maro Engel came home second after gaining track position during the decisive neutralisation, a result that extends their Endurance Cup championship lead. Completing the podium, the #96 Rutronik Porsche of Alessio Picariello, Thomas Müller and Patric Niederhauser fought back from outside the top 10 to snatch third and keeping their title hopes alive as well.

Schumacher CLRT took fourth with its #22 Porsche, while the #63 GRT Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti, Luca Engstler and Jordan Pepper finished fifth. The #64 HRT Ford Mustang GT3, driven by Arjun Maini, Jann Mardenborough and Thomas Drouet, crossed the line in third but was demoted to sixth by a time penalty — still the Mustang’s best GTWCE result to date.

In the classes, AlManar Racing by WRT (BMW) secured Gold honours, Boutsen VDS (Mercedes-AMG) emerged on top in Silver, and 2 Seas Motorsport (Mercedes-AMG) claimed Bronze after late drama for Kessel Racing’s Ferrari.

GT World Challenge Asia – Okayama: Harmony and Origine share spoils as title fight heads to Beijing

By Brianna Gunawan

Race 1

Deng Yi and Luo Kailuo converted their pole position into a breakthrough performance, claiming their maiden series victory at Okayama. The result came after a low-scoring race for both leading title contenders, ensuring that the destination of this year’s drivers’ crown will remain undecided until the final round.

Their hopes of retaining the crown were also boosted by a tough outing for rivals JMR. Although fast in Q2, both of the team’s Corvettes lined up from lowly grid positions – a factor that contributed to losing ground in the turn-one accident, which also compromised the #55 Ferrari and #46 Audi.

Race 2

The second race wrote a new page in championship history as Lu Wei and Bastian Buus delivered Porsche’s first-ever GT World Challenge Asia victory. The Origine Motorsport pairing bounced back from a difficult start to the day, controlling the race from lights to flag. Their triumph not only secured a landmark win for the manufacturer but also helped Origine retain its lead in the teams’ championship.

There was also success for JMR’s #66 Corvette, shared by Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim and Alexander Sims, which finished second. However, the mood was bittersweet in the camp. While one side of the garage celebrated, the other was left disappointed after the hopes of leading contenders Bob Yuan and Leo Ye Hongli, as well as Prince Jefri Ibrahim, were effectively ended before the completion of the opening lap.

Up next: COTA, Barber and Salzburgring on the horizon

Next weekend brings a packed schedule on both sides of the Atlantic. The FIA World Endurance Championship returns to the United States for the Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas, where the Hypercars and GTLMs resume their title battle after the summer break. GT World Challenge America continues at Barber Motorsports Park as the season nears its climax. Meanwhile in Austria, the ADAC GT Masters makes its highly-anticipated debut at the Salzburgring, a high-speed circuit set to challenge drivers with its sweeping corners and narrow layout.