A 41-car field is set to contest the second round of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup at Circuit Zandvoort this weekend.
It’s comfortably the largest grid the series has ever had at the Dutch venue, surpassing the 30-car entry from the most recent visit in 2023.
The increase is courtesy of the Bronze Cup running at the circuit for the first time, with the class absent in 2023 due to paddock space restrictions. The Bronze Cup missed this year’s Brands Hatch season opener for the same reason, making Zandvoort its first Sprint Cup appearance of the season.
Pro features the same 13 cars that contested the opening round.
Defending drivers’ champions Lucas Auer and Maro Engel hold the early advantage, having won Race 2 at Brands Hatch aboard the #48 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER AMG GT3 Evo.
They head to Zandvoort on 22 points, 5.5 ahead of both the #51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3 line-up of Vincent Abril and Alessio Rovera, and the #59 Garage 59 McLaren GT3 Evo duo of Benjamin Goethe and Marvin Kirchhöfer.
Fourth in the Sprint Cup standings are Team WRT’s Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts, who currently lead the overall GT World Challenge Europe championship after winning the Circuit Paul Ricard Endurance Cup round in the #32 BMW M4 GT3 Evo.
Multiple teams will be looking to kick-start their season at Zandvoort. Chief amongst them is the #63 GRT – Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, which left Kent without scoring a point following a difficult weekend for Luca Engstler and Jordan Pepper.
The Gold Cup field has been reduced to five cars, following the expected move of the #112 CSA Racing McLaren GT3 Evo to the Bronze Cup.
The #69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 crew of Chris Lulham and Thierry Vermeulen played a starring role at Brands Hatch, fighting for overall victory in both races. The pair lead AlManar Racing by WRT’s Al Faisal Al Zubair and Jens Klingmann by eight points in Gold.
The 11-car Silver Cup has had one change of driver since Brands Hatch, with Bijoy Garg replacing Daniel Ali in the #76 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 alongside Christian Bogle.
Boutsen VDS’ Cesar Gazeau and Aurelien Panis lead the Silver Cup drivers’ standings, having won Race 2 at Brands Hatch in the #10 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. They sit 7.5 points clear of Race 1 winners Jef Machiels and Marcos Siebert in the #52 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3.
After finishing on the podium in its maiden race with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R at Circuit Paul Ricard, Steller Motorsport had a more difficult time at Brands Hatch, claiming a pair of eighth-place finishes with its #24 Z06 GT3.R of Matisse Lismont and Jesse Salmenautio.
Lismont currently sits just 7.5 points behind the leading #26 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II crew of Ivan Klymenko and Lorens Lecertua in the overall Silver Cup drivers’ standings, as part of the closest championship fight at this early stage of the season.
The 12-car Bronze Cup field completes the grid, with nine of these entries also contesting the Endurance Cup and therefore competing for an automatic invitation to the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Defending champions Dan Harper and Darren Leung return to the #991 Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 Evo. And with Harper set to miss the Valencia round due to a clash with the IMSA Sportscar Championship, Leung is set to defend the title solo should he pick up any points that weekend.
Kessel Racing is making its first Sprint Cup appearance since 2018, with the #74 Ferrari of Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall. Blattner, Marschall and Conrad Laursen won the Bronze Cup in the opening round of the Endurance Cup, after narrowly defeating Harper, Leung and Sean Gelael.
Christian Engelhart and Georgi Donczew will share the #1 GRT – Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini, with Ghanim Salah Al-Maadheed and Ibrahim Al-Abdulghani driving the #27 QMMF By Sainteloc Racing Audi.
Tresor Attempto Racing’s #66 Audi will be driven by Andrey Mukovoz and Dylan Pereira, with Gabriel Piana and Rinat Salikhov sharing the #81 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG.
Lionspeed GP is the only two-car outfit in Bronze, with the German squad running a pair of Porsche 911 GT3.Rs (992) for the first time. Ricardo Feller, who won both races at Zandvoort to seal the Sprint Cup drivers’ title in 2023, and Gabriel Rindone will share the #80, with Bastian Buus and Bashar Mardini driving the #89.
Dmitriy Gvazava and Loris Spinelli will share Imperiale Racing’s #85 Lamborghini, with Eddie Cheever and Marco Pulcini driving the #93 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Ferrari.
Isaac Tutumlu López joins Arthur Rougier in the #112 CSA Racing McLaren, with the #270 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo of Rafael Suzuki and Ricardo Baptista rounding out the field.
Track action at Circuit Zandvoort begins on Friday 16th May, with Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying. A qualifying session and 60-minute race will then take place on both Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
