- Bavarian brand 20 points clear but unrepresented on Australian grid
- Hampton Downs stages deciding round on 1/2 November
- Mercedes-AMG needs 21 points to clinch seventh successive global crown
- Global standings after 29 of 30 events
BMW has snatched a narrow advantage at the top of the GT World Challenge powered by AWS standings, but Mercedes-AMG appears poised to reclaim its global title when the season concludes this weekend at Hampton Downs (1/2 November).
Victory at the storm-hit Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS saw the Bavarian marque pull 20 points clear of its rival, but with no representatives on the Australian grid it will be unable to defend this lead. Based on its average score at GT World Challenge Australia events Mercedes-AMG will return to the top at Hampton Downs, though it is by no means a foregone conclusion.
The recent run of races began with the Australian series visiting The Bend on 6/7 September for its penultimate event of the year. Alex Peroni and Mark Rosser earned Race 1 honours in their Team BRM Audi, giving the R8 a fifth global win of the season – four of which have come Down Under. The second outing was won by Tigani Motorsport duo Paul Lucchitti and Jayden Ojeda, sealing Mercedes-AMG’s first Aussie triumph of 2025.
On the same weekend, GT World Challenge America was at Barber Motorsports Park. The U.S. has been a BMW stronghold in 2025, with Random Vandals enjoying an especially successful season. The theme continued in Alabama, with Kenton Koch and Connor De Phillippi scoring the opening victory in their M4.
Mercedes-AMG struck back in Race 2 as Mikaël Grenier and Michai Stephens won for JMF. This ensured that the fight for the GT World Challenge America title remained alive heading into the finale, with Random Vandals holding a narrow advantage. In the global standings the momentum was now firmly with Mercedes-AMG, which led by 82 points with just five rounds remaining.
On 20/21 September Circuit Ricardo Tormo Valencia staged the penultimate round of the European season. It was also the deciding Sprint Cup event of 2025 and saw five crews representing as many manufacturers chasing the title. Grasser Racing was an outside bet, but Race 1 victory for the Lamborghini squad fired Jordan Pepper and Luca Engstler firmly into contention.
The winner-takes-all finale boiled down to an on-track battle between BMW, Lamborghini and McLaren, with the Bavarian brand emerging victorious thanks to the Team WRT pairing of Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde. They gave BMW its first-ever GT World Challenge Europe drivers’ title and drew their manufacturer a little closer to Mercedes-AMG globally.
At this stage the gap was still 72 points in AMG’s favour, though there was a significant development in the title fight when the European season concluded on 11/12 October at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Traditionally a Mercedes-AMG stronghold, the Spanish track delivered a series of disappointments for the Affalterbach marque.
The star of the weekend was Garage 59, which gave McLaren a first Endurance Cup win since 2016 with its young crew of Dean MacDonald, Adam Smalley and Louis Prette. BMW also fared well, claiming second and third thanks to AlManar by WRT and ROWE Racing. Porsche's best finisher was only seventh, a setback in the global standings but enough to snatch the Endurance crown for Rutronik Racing.
This came at the cost of Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter, which suffered a disastrous weekend in Spain. The pre-event favourite was overhauled at the top of the standings, while AMG left Barcelona with just two points on the board. Having looked unassailable, the gap was cut to just eight over BMW heading into the penultimate weekend of the season, which saw both the Asian and American series conclude their 2025 campaigns.
Porsche has dominated in Asia this term. The inaugural visit to the new 4.9km street circuit in Beijing was no exception, with the Weissach marque amassing the greatest points tally for the fifth time in six weekends. Origine Motorsport emerged as champions, with Leo Ye Hongli and Yuan Bo beating teammate Lu Wei on a count back.
Yet this was not an especially strong weekend for the Origine squad, which failed to take a podium finish for the first time in 2025. Instead, Race 1 honours went to 5ZIGEN’s Nissan, shared by Hirobon and Yu Kanamaru, marking the only time this year that a non-competing brand has taken GT World Challenge victory.
The second contest saw Zhang Yaqi and home hero Ye Yifei claim their maiden series wins in Winhere Harmony’s Ferrari. Nevertheless, Porsche scored well thanks to GTO taking runner-up in Race 1, while BMW edged a little closer to Mercedes-AMG by scoring 22 points to its rival's 18.
The Indianapolis 8 Hour brought the curtain down on the GT World Challenge America campaign, as well as the 10th season of Intercontinental GT Challenge. A rain-affected race on the IMS road course hinged on a late stoppage for lightning in the area, after which the safety car completed significant milage due to the treacherous conditions.
The timing of pit stops proved crucial, with Team WRT emerging at the head of the order with its #46 crew of Valentino Rossi, Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts. The Belgian squad gave BMW its 12th global win of the season ahead of Team GMR's Mercedes-AMG, with the sister WRT entry completing the podium.
Combined with Asia’s results, this was enough to give BMW the outright lead for the first time since May. But its 20-point advantage is likely to fall agonisingly short of securing the brand's first global crown: Mercedes-AMG has averaged a little under 50 points per weekend in Australia, putting it on course to capture a seventh successive title at Hampton Downs. Porsche, meanwhile, has sealed third in the standings.
The GT World Challenge Australia decider – which takes the series across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand – will mark the 30th and final round of this year's global campaign. Mercedes-AMG has the title in its sights, but the champagne remains on ice for now. After all, there may be one last twist before the chequered flag falls.
