Van der Linde, Weerts Take Sprint Title With Valencia Win

Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts were crowned GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup drivers’ champions after winning a five-car title battle by taking victory in Race 2 at Valencia.

Van der Linde started the race in fourth but made rapid progress at the wheel of the No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO in the opening stint.

The South African completed successive passes the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo and No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo at Turn 1 in order to move into second in the first 15 minutes of the race.

He then set his sights on the No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 driven by compatriot Jordan Pepper, closing up before again overtaking up the inside of Turn 1 to take the race lead.

The two cars then pitted simultaneously for their mandatory stops, with Weerts emerging ahead of Pepper’s co-driver Luca Engstler to retain the race lead.

Weerts initially pulled away from Engstler, but lapped traffic allowed the No. 63 Lamborghini to get back into striking distance heading into the final minutes of the race.

However, Engstler proved unable to launch any kind of significant attack on the No. 32 BMW, which went on to cross the line with a margin of 0.885 seconds.

By winning the final race of the season, Van der Linde and Weerts captured the drivers’ title at the end of a five-car championship battle that had the No. 63 Lamborghini, No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren and No. 96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R also all in contention.

Weerts, in the process, picked up his fourth Sprint Cup championship after taking three consecutive titles alongside Dries Vanthoor in 2020, 2021 and 2022, while Van der Linde won his first GTWC Europe crown.

WRT previously won the drivers’ title in 2013, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The overall podium was completed by the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren of Marvin Kirchhoefer and Benjamin Goethe, followed by Aurelien Panis and Cesar Gazeau in the Silver Cup-winning No. 10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG.

Sven Mueller and Patric Niederhauser came home fifth aboard the No. 96 Rutronik Racing Porsche, while Maro Engel and Lucas Auer fought their way up into sixth after the No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG started outside the top ten.

Silver Cup entries from Paradine Competition and Team WRT rounded out the top eight.

Emil Frey, Kessel Crowned Champions in Gold, Bronze Cup

Ferrari squads captured title in both Gold Cup and Bronze Cup as Emil Frey Racing and Kessel Racing pressed home their respective points advantages to become champions.

The No. 69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, piloted by Thierry Vermeulen and Chris Lulham, picked up a fourth class victory of the season to beat Garage 59 to the Gold Cup title.

The battle for the Gold Cup crown became a straight fight between the No. 69 Ferrari and Louis Prette in the No. 58 McLaren, with Vermeulen and Lulham entering the deciding race as championship leaders even after they were stripped of their overall win on Saturday.

The two cars ran nose to tail in the opening phase of the contest, but as Prette and co-driver Thomas Fleming (who was not in title contention as Adam Smalley contested the first two rounds) faded to 15th overall, it allowed Vermeulen and Lulham to win the championship.

In Bronze Cup, meanwhile, Kessel pairing Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall came through to win the title despite championship rivals Bashar Mardini and Bastian Buus taking the class victory.

The No. 74 Ferrari came into the race with a 12-point lead after taking the class win on Saturday, with a third-placed finish behind the No. 89 Lionspeed GP Porsche and No. 93 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing Ferrari enough to secure the crown.