BMW had a huge presence in the GT World Challenge Europe (GTWCE) championship in 2026 with the M4 GT3 EVO, with multiple entries from Team WRT, ROWE Racing, Paradine Competition and KPX Motorsport competing in both the Sprint Cup and Endurance Cup races. Team WRT had already wrapped up the Sprint Cup Silver class championship earlier in the year with drivers Matisse Lismont and Ignatio Montenegro, but BMW teams took home more trophies after the season finale of the Endurance Cup championship at the Portimao circuit in Portugal.
ROWE Racing’s podium finish at the Portimao finale gave them the Gold class championship.
The GTWCE Endurance Cup finale had nine BMWs on the entry, with representation in all four classes (Pro, Gold, Silver, Bronze). The three-hour contest turned out to be a great race, and while BMW didn’t do so well in the Pro class, they won championships in other categories. In the Gold class, ROWE Racing and drivers Jens Klingmann, Tim Tramnitz, and Ugo de Wilde took the #998 M4 GT3 EVO to a second-place finish in class, which gave them the class driver and team championships. “It was a very exciting race to end the season, with a great result,” said ROWE Team Principal Hans-Peter Naundorf. “The drivers and the whole team delivered an outstanding performance. This was our first season competing in the Gold Cup, and we had a clear mission. With Jens Klingmann as mentor, alongside Ugo de Wilde and Tim Tramnitz, we won the season highlight in Spa and have now also secured the overall title. It couldn’t have gone any better. Everyone involved can be very proud.”
Jens Klingmann (right), Tim Tramnitz (center) and Ugo de Wilde celebrate their Gold class championship.
Team WRT also added the Silver class championship in Endurance Cup to the Silver class title they already won in Sprint Cup, with Matisse Lismont, Ignatio Montenegro and Amaury Cordeel taking the drivers’ championship and Team WRT winning the team championship in the class. At Portimao, the trio won the class and finished fifth overall with the #30 M4 GT3 EVO (shown in top photo). Their success helped Team WRT to also win the overall team championship, which counts points from both the Sprint Cup and Endurance Cup races. “I’m thrilled with this 80th title for the team!,” said Team Principal Vincent Vosse. “That’s a great achievement. Our Silver car has played a huge part in making it happen. Huge congratulations to them for an exceptional season, both in sprint and endurance racing. It’s nice to end the season with another title win.” Team WRT also won the Sprint Cup Pit Stop Challenge team championship, for having the fastest pit stops throughout the season.
Team WRT celebrates their Silver class championship.
In the Bronze class, the Paradine Competition team finished second in team points and second in the driver points with Darren Leung and James Kellett finishing second in the driver points behind Ferrari drivers Dustin Blatner and Dennis Marschall. The highest-placed Pro class BMW drivers were Kelvin van der Linde, Jordan Pepper, and Charles Weerts, who finished fourth in driver points, with the Endurance Cup Pro class championship going to Mercedes-AMG drivers Lucas Auer, Maro Engel, and Luca Stolz.
Paradine Competition finished second in the Bronze class standings with drivers Darren Leung and James Kellett.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy SRO, Gruppe C Photography]
