Team Champions in the Sprint Cup: Team WRT wins another title in GT World Challenge Europe.

Barcelona. Team WRT has secured another title in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS with its BMW M4 GT3 EVOs. In the final Sprint Cup races of the year at Barcelona (ESP), the Belgian team won the Sprint Cup Teams’ classification. It is Team WRT’s fourth title of the year in this championship, after it had already secured the Sprint, Endurance and Combined titles in the Silver Cup early. Strong comebacks by the team’s BMW M4 GT3 EVOs in both races laid the foundation for the latest title success. Team WRT also won the Pitstop Challenge for the best pit crew. KPX Motorsport also had reason to celebrate with a Gold Cup podium on Saturday.

The first qualifying session on Saturday morning proved difficult for the BMW teams. Race one in the afternoon, which was marked by heavy rain and numerous spins and accidents, had to be interrupted with a red flag halfway through. David Pittard (GBR) and Jop Rappange (NED) made a fantastic comeback in the KPX Motorsport #77 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, climbing from the back of the grid to eighth overall. At the same time, they secured second place on the Gold Cup podium.

The Team WRT PRO Cup cars also worked their way forward from the back of the grid. Kelvin van der Linde (RSA) and Charles Weerts (BEL) finished tenth in the #32 car, followed by car #31 of Jordan Pepper (RSA) and Amaury Cordeel (BEL) in eleventh. Valentino Rossi (ITA) and Max Hesse (GER) brought the #46 car home in 16th place. On Saturday evening, the authorities issued severe weather warnings for the region, forecasting extreme heavy rain through Sunday afternoon. The schedule was changed accordingly with the second qualifying session being cancelled and race two postponed until Sunday evening. The grid was based on times from Friday’s second free practice session. The highest-placed BMW M4 GT3 EVO was the #46 car in 15th on the grid.

Race two was held in dry and excellent conditions. Van der Linde gained no fewer than 15 positions during the chaotic opening stage alone. He and Weerts continued to move further up the field as the race progressed, eventually bringing the #32 car home in sixth place. Pepper and Cordeel also made a strong comeback in car #31, this time climbing as high as eighth. Hesse and Rossi were also on course for a top-ten finish in the #46 car, but then the driver’s door came loose and Rossi had to pit for an unscheduled repair stop. They eventually finished 38th.

Three-time Silver Cup champions Matisse Lismont (BEL) and Ignacio Montenegro (ARG) finished seventh in class on Saturday with the #30 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Team WRT. On Sunday, Lismont was hit at the start and the duo had to retire from the race. In the Bronze Cup, BMW M works driver Augusto Farfus (BRA) again shared the #991 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Paradine Competition with Darren Leung (GBR). The duo finished fourth in class in both races.

The 2026 season in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS will conclude in two weeks’ time, on 17 October, with a final Endurance race at Portimão (POR).

Reactions after the races at Barcelona:

Vincent Vosse, Team Principal Team WRT: “I am delighted and proud of the team. The Sprint Cup is a championship that is particularly close to our hearts. In our 14 participations, we have now won the title for the twelfth time. A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this achievement. Winning the Pitstop Challenge is also something very special. Bravo to all the mechanics for their great work. They really deliver something extraordinary. We also saw in Barcelona how important pit stops are for making up positions. Now we are looking forward to Portimão.”

Kelvin van der Linde (#32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, Race 1: 10th place, Race 2: 6th place): “I am very happy for the team. They really deserved it, even though the past three weekends have been very difficult for us in terms of performance. We always stuck together, and I am very pleased that we were still able to win the Teams’ Championship today. That was a top race: top strategy, top pit stops – everything just came together, and we had a little bit of luck on our side as well.”

Jordan Pepper (#31 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, Race 1: 11th place, Race 2: 8th place): “Obviously we came into this year trying to fight for a championship on the drivers’ side but we just didn’t have a season that came together. Still, I’m really proud because, across the three pro cars, we were able to win the team championship. That’s important, because there’s such a big group of people here working from the beginning of winter through all the test programmes and long days. To reward them with that is impressive, and I’m really proud of them. On top of that, there are some other internal championships we were able to win, like the Pitstop Challenge, which was incredible from our guys. What we showed this weekend, when we didn’t have the necessary pace, was that by executing all the other factors perfectly, we were able to move to the front. That’s really impressive, and we showed that we can work as a team.”

Max Hesse (#46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, Race 1: 16th place, Race 2: 38th place): “I’m very happy that the team won the championship and also the Pitstop Challenge. They deserved it. We in the #46 car also contributed a little bit here and there, so we can be happy with that. Unfortunately, our Barcelona weekend was difficult, and a lot went against us, but we never gave up, kept fighting and had good pace in the second race. We’ll take that with us to Portimão, and we’ll attack again there.”