GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS kicked off the race weekend at the Nürburgring, Germany, with a 1,5 hour Free Practice 1 session. Rowe Racing showed strong pace with its #98 BMW M4 GT3, which ultimately topped the timesheets after the session was briefly interrupted by a red flag.

Raffaele Marciello opened the session for the #98 Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3 and set the fastest time of 1:54.855. Behind him, the #111 CSA Racing McLaren 720S GT3 shared by Arthur Rougier, Simon Gachet and James Kell finished second, 0.115 seconds off the pace.

Third place went to the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, driven by Dani Juncadella, Chris Lulham and Jules Gounon, 0.165 seconds behind the benchmark. The #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Daniel Harper, Max Hesse and Valentino Rossi was fourth, while the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 of Jamie Day, Christian Krognes and Henrique Chaves completed the top five.

Interrupted FP1 by gravel and incidents

The session was interrupted by several incidents. The #222 2Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3, driven by Kiern Jewiss, spun and ran off track but avoided significant damage. Several other cars also ran wide, including the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 and the #91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R . The #35 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, also went off track.

Gravel scattered across the circuit subsequently prompted race control to deploy the red flag and suspend the session.

When the session resumed with around 36 minutes remaining, the #98 Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3 remained at the top of the timesheets. The car then continued its running with Augusto Farfus behind the wheel, while the #111 CSA Racing and #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport remained second and third at that stage.

Hierarchy change in the last minutes

The order changed again during the closing stages. The #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, with Valentino Rossi at the wheel, moved up to third, while the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport dropped to fourth. The #17 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3, then driven by Maxime Martin, moved into fifth.

With six minutes remaining, the #3 2Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 mounted a late charge. Jules Gounon moved the car back into third and held the position through to the chequered flag. The final classification saw the #98 Rowe Racing at the top, followed by the #111 CSA Racing and #3 2Seas Motorsport. The #46 Team WRT finished fourth, with the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport completing the top five.

In the Gold Cup, the #111 CSA Racing McLaren 720S GT3 was the fastest. The Silver Cup was led by the #30 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, while the Bronze Cup was topped by the #87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.