The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup championship held the penultimate round of their season at the Nurburgring (Grand Prix circuit) this past weekend of August 30-31, 2025, and the ROWE Racing team came away with the overall and Pro Cup class victory with drivers Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn and Raffaele Marciello. Two other BMW entries were on the podium in the Gold Cup and Silver Cup classes.
The #32 Team WRT M4 GT3 EVO of Kelvin van der Linde, Charles Weerts, and Ugo De Wilde was initially on the pole in qualifying but lost that position when they were given a five-place grid penalty when Weerts had contact with a Mercedes during the session. That penalty gave the pole to the #98 ROWE Racing car of Farfus, Krohn and Marciello, who were initially second behind the #32 car. The AlManar Racing by WRT #777 M4 GT3 EVO of Jens Klingmann, Ben Tuck and Al Faisal Al Zubair qualified second in the Gold Cup class, and the Paradine Competition #991 M4 GT3 EVO of Dan Harper, Darren Leung and Sean Gelael qualified second in the Bronze Cup class.
The ROWE Racing team celebrates their victory.
Once the race was under way, Farfus led for his entire stint in #98 BMW (shown in top photo). They lost the lead to an Aston Martin after the pit stops but maintained second place and got the lead back when a caution period bunched the cars up and the Aston Martin had to pit. Marciello drove the final stint to the victory. The same team and trio of drivers also won the Nürburgring 24 Hour race here earlier in the summer, which was run on the Grand Prix circuit and the Nordschleife. “We were very strong and showed good pace in the race, even though we temporarily lost the lead due to strategy,” said Marciello. “We managed to regain it. In recent years, BMW M Motorsport hasn’t been as strong on the Grand Prix circuit of the Nürburgring in the GT World Challenge Europe. It’s great to have changed that now.”
Jens Klingmann, Ben Tuck and Al Faisal Al Zubair won the Gold Cup class.
The #32 WRT BMW initially moved up to fourth overall but fell back to fifth and eventually to ninth in class, as they never had the pace in the race that they showed in qualifying. The #991 Paradine Competition car, which had qualified second in the Bronze Cup class, was leading the class in the race before having to retire with a broken suspension after being hit by another car, but BMWs ended up on the podium in other classes. The #777 AlManar Racing by WRT M4 GT3 EVO driven by Jens Klingmann, Al Faisal Al Zubair, and Ben Tuck, initially finished second in the Gold Cup class, but later inherited the win after the Aston Martin that initially won the class was given a post-race time penalty. Century Motorsport placed third place in the Silver Cup category with the #42 BMW M4 GT3 EVO and drivers Mex Jansen, William Moore, and Jarrod Waberski.
Jarrod Waberski, William Moore and Mex Jansen finished third in the Silver Cup class.
The final round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup will be in Barcelona on October 10-12, 2025. After their ninth-place finish at the Nürburgring, Weerts and van der Linde are in third place in the Pro Cup driver’s championship. Jens Klinmann, Al Faisal Al Zubair, and Ben Tuck are in second in the Gold Cup driver’s points. In the Silver Cup class, Paradine Competition drivers Jarrod Waberski, William Moore, and Mex Jansen are leading the drivers’ championship.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy SRO]
