The 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup season reached a its conclusion at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where Garage 59 claimed its first overall victory in nearly a decade, while Rutronik Racing secured the drivers’ championship by the narrowest of margins.
From pole position, the #58 Garage 59 McLaren GT3 Evo of Dean MacDonald, Adam Smalley, and Louis Prette led from the opening stint and never looked back. A composed drive through three Safety Car interruptions and a flawless final hour from Prette saw the team dominate the closing stages. The Monegasque driver’s relentless pace after the final restart pulled him clear of the #777 AlManar Racing by WRT BMW of Jens Klingmann, crossing the line with a commanding margin of more than 18 seconds.
The result marked Garage 59’s first Endurance Cup win since Monza 2016 and the first outright victory for a Gold Cup entry in series history. Al Faisal Al Zubair and Ben Tuck joined Klingmann on the podium in second, while the #98 Rowe Racing BMW of Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn, and Raffaele Marciello completed the top three.
Rutronik’s secures the Title
While Garage 59 celebrated its return to the top step, all eyes were on the championship battle between Rutronik Racing’s #96 Porsche and the #48 MANN-FILTER Mercedes-AMG. Starting from 10th, Alessio Picariello launched the Porsche into fourth by the opening corner, setting up the trio’s push for the title.
In the final hour, Patric Niederhauser found himself locked in a tense fight for seventh place — the position needed to overturn the Mercedes-AMG’s advantage. After several failed attempts, the Swiss driver finally found a way past Harry King’s Aston Martin at Turn 5, securing the vital points required. A post-race penalty for the #48 car confirmed Rutronik’s triumph by just a single point, sealing the first-ever Endurance Cup titles for the team and for Porsche.
It was also a personal milestone for Niederhauser, Sven Müller, and Picariello — all three celebrating their maiden GT World Challenge Europe crowns after a season built on consistency rather than outright wins.
Highlights: Ferrari’s Charge and Strategic Chaos
The three-hour finale unfolded with constant strategic tension. An early Safety Car following a crash for Nicolò Rosi’s Kessel Racing Ferrari split the field on pit stop timing, leaving teams to gamble between track position and long-term flexibility.
The #50 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco produced one of the standout drives of the race. Restarting 20th, the Italian carved through the field to reach third by mid-distance. Behind, Rutronik’s race nearly unravelled when Müller made contact with Yifei Ye’s #51 Ferrari, briefly loosening the Porsche’s front bodywork before it miraculously reattached itself.
A Full Course Yellow with just over an hour to go neutralised the varying strategies, bunching the field and setting up a 54-minute shootout to the flag.
Class Titles Decided Across the Board
The Barcelona finale also determined the remaining class championships. The #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi of Leonardo Moncini, Sebastian Øgaard, and Alex Aka sealed Silver Cup victory on the road, while fifth in class was enough for Century Motorsport’s Will Moore, Jarrod Waberski, and Mex Jansen to claim the Silver Endurance titles.
In the Gold Cup, the #33 Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin of Harry King, Thierry Vermeulen, and Chris Lulham wrapped up both drivers’ and teams’ crowns after finishing eighth overall — their fifth consecutive class podium.
Rutronik added another success in Bronze, as the #97 Porsche of Loek Hartog, Antares Au, and Morris Schuring charged from fourth to the class win in the closing stages, while the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari’s third-place finish sealed the Bronze Cup drivers’ championship and completed a clean sweep of all six GT World Challenge Europe Bronze titles for the Swiss team.
A Season to Remember
The curtain fell on a fiercely competitive Endurance Cup season with history made on multiple fronts: McLaren’s long-awaited return to victory, Porsche’s first overall championship, and a one-point margin that decided the title fight.
As the sun set over Barcelona, the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe season concluded and the countdown to next year’s prologue started: the new season begins 7-8 april with the official test days at Paul Ricard.