BMW Clinches Back-to-Back GT4 Manufacturer Ranking Titles

BMW has clinched the GT4 Manufacturer Ranking title with two rounds to spare after establishing an unassailable advantage at the top of the global standings.

Winner of the inaugural crown last year, the Bavarian marque has mounted a dominant defense, taking the lead after five rounds and quickly pulling clear of the chasing pack. It has been in firm control since early summer and wrapped up its second title over the weekend of Oct. 18-19 weekend with 51 of the scheduled 53 events complete.

As the end of the season approaches, the recent run of races has included several title showdowns. That was very much the case over Oct. 4-5 when a trio of European series crowned their champions.

British GT ended where it began, at Donington Park, with this season’s standout GT4 crews going head-to-head for the title. The Optimum McLaren Artura GT4 of Marc Warren and Jack Brown prevailed, winning the race and thereby edging out Century Motorsport’s BMW M4 GT4 EVO. British GT has been a happy hunting ground for the Artura, with more than half of its global victories secured in the series.

Across the channel – and a further 1,100 kms south – the FFSA French GT Championship staged its season-ending round at Circuit Paul Ricard. Mercedes-AMG bagged Race 1 honors courtesy of of Vic’Team drivers Eric Trémoulet and Olivier Jouffret, while the final outing was won by Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub in their Mirage-run Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo.

This result clinched the FFSA GT title for the latter pairing and bolstered Aston’s chances of finishing third in the global standings. Indeed, with BMW beyond reach and Porsche equally solid in second spot, the battle between the British brand and Toyota has become a central storyline.

Around 800 kms north of Circuit Paul Ricard, the ADAC GT4 Germany season was drawing to a close at Hockenheim. Porsche has dominated the second half of the campaign, a trend that continued at the former German Grand Prix venue with victories for Wimmer Werk (Emil Heyerdahl/Raphael Rennhofer) and W&S Motorsport (Hendrik Still/Philipp Gogollok).

Nevertheless, it was Mercedes-AMG squad SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm that clinched this year’s ADAC GT4 crown with its young pairing of Enrico Förderer and Jay Mo Härtling, who swept the opening four races and then held firm against Porsche’s onslaught.

There was another European finale the following weekend. The GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club pitched up at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with its Silver title already settled, though this still left Pro-Am and Am honours to be decided – not to mention a big helping of Manufacturer Ranking points to be distributed.

Having made the breakthrough last time out at the Nürburgring, Matmut Évolution swept the finale with its Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2. Hadrien David and Jan Duran were untouchable at the Spanish venue, adding crucial points to the Japanese marque’s total while Aston Martin failed to score.

There were a trio of series in action across Oct. 18-19, two of which staged their season finales. The odd one out was SRO GT Cup, which ran its penultimate event of the year at the new Beijing Street Circuit. With just two rounds scheduled to follow, the triple header weekend was likely to see BMW seal the global crown.

SRO GT Cup ran the third event of its inaugural season by joining GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS in Beijing. It proved to be another very successful weekend for Toyota, which bagged Race 2 honors courtesy of TGR China’s Han Lichao. Indeed, of the 14 races staged on the Asian continent, Toyota has amassed 11 wins.

Pirelli GT4 America wrapped up its season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, forming part of a lineup that was headlined by Intercontinental GT Challenge. It was a consequential event in the battle for third, with Toyota (RAFA Racing) and Aston Martin (JMF) sharing the spoils. However, the British marque scored almost double its rival’s points across the weekend, aided by JMF finishing second and third to RAFA’s Supra in Race 1.

There was added GT4 interest at IMS thanks to GT America powered by AWS. Aston Martin made the most of Toyota’s absence from the grid, winning Race 1 courtesy of Mike Johnson’s Archangel entry, while RCX driver Jozsef Petkes gave Porsche the final win of the season in Race 2.

Victories in Beijing and Indianapolis took Toyota’s 2025 tally to 20 wins, a number that is likely to stand as the biggest of the year. But it is not enough to counter the relentless point-scoring prowess of the BMW M4. With two weekends to run the German brand has an unassailable 1,779 points on the board, while Porsche (1,534 points) is equally secure in second.

The battle for the final step on the podium is much closer. Toyota has 1,177 points, just 44 more than Aston Martin, while Mercedes-AMG is a further 58 back.

The penultimate event of the year will see Monochrome GT4 Australia wrap up its season at the Hampton Downs circuit in New Zealand this weekend, after which the campaign concludes with SRO GT Cup taking to the streets of Macau on Nov. 15-16.