Emil Frey Racing claimed victory in the final race of the 2026 GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain this evening.
The #69 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Ben Green and Thierry Vermeulen survived a chaotic start from pole position, before controlling the 60-minute affair to score victory by 4.454 seconds.
It is Emil Frey Racing’s second win in the past three races, in a dramatic turnaround from its early season struggles.
“It’s all down to Emil Frey Racing to be honest, they’ve really turned around this season,” Green said. “They’ve provided a fantastic car for us all weekend and we’ve been up the front in pretty much every session.”
Green was beaten off the line by his fellow front row starter, the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of Maro Engel, but made a move to the inside at Turn 1.
The Briton made contact with Engel, triggering a chain reaction which also involved Ricardo Feller’s #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) and Andrea Frassineti’s #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.
On the outside, meanwhile, Chris Lulham had gone from sixth on the grid to the lead, but missed Turn 1 aboard his #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing entry after nose-to-tail contact with the #2 Boutsen VDS Porsche of Dorian Boccolacci. Lulham was forced to take the alternate route at Turn 1, and emerged behind Green, who had returned to the lead.
The pair of Red Bull-backed entries ran first and second throughout the opening stint, before a slow pit stop for the #3 Mercedes-AMG saw Lulham’s co-driver Daniel Juncadella emerge in sixth.
This promoted the #50 AF Corse Ferrari of Thomas Neubauer into second, three seconds behind Vermeulen, but the Frenchman was unable to mount a challenge against the #69 Ferrari as the Prancing Horse claimed its first 1-2 finish in the Sprint Cup.
Second overall secured Arthur Leclerc and Neubauer second in the Drivers’ Championship, ahead of Juncadella and Green/Vermeulen.
Silver Cup honours, in third overall, went to the #66 Audi of Frassineti and Ariel Levi.
Frassineti climbed from 12th to fourth on the opening lap, before passing the #163 VSR Lamborghini Temerario GT3 of Mattia Michelotto – which had vaulted up from 14th on the grid – for third.
The #66 Audi was then overcut by the #50 Ferrari, but the #3 Mercedes-AMG’s pit stop woes meant that they maintained a place on the outright podium alongside claiming their first Sprint Cup class win of the season.
The #52 AF Corse Ferrari finished second in Silver, 26 seconds and nine overall positions behind, with the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo third in class.
Michelotto and Loris Spinelli scored their first Gold Cup victory of the season, and the first class win for the Temerario GT3 in SRO competition, in fourth.
Lulham and Juncadella completed the top five ahead of the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo, after Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts charged through from 30th on the grid.
Team WRT secured its 12th Teams’ Championship in the past 14 years, with Lionspeed GP’s challenge evaporating after the opening lap melee dropped its pair of Porsches from the second row of the grid to 17th and 40th respectively.
This meant that Drivers’ Champions Feller and Bastian Buus were denied a dream end to their season, with repairs to a damaged front-end dropping the #80 Porsche off the lead lap on its way to a 36th-place finish.
Other Pro cars in the wars included the #2 Porsche and #96 Rutronik Racing Lamborghini, both of which stopped on circuit, whilst the #46 Team WRT BMW had to pit in the closing stages for a replacement door.
The #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin, #31 Team WRT BMW, #59 Garage 59 McLaren GT3 Evo and Race 1-winning #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi completed the top 10.
The #48 Mercedes-AMG finished fifth on the road, but a 10-second penalty for opening lap contact between Engel and the #111 CSA Racing McLaren of Arthur Rougier demoted the full season Drivers’ Championship leaders to 11th.
Despite this, Engel and Lucas Auer have provisionally won the full season title for the second time in the past three years, although Feller/Buus and van der Linde/Weerts would return to mathematical contention should Winward Racing lose its appeal against the #48 Mercedes-AMG’s disqualification from Race 2 at Misano.
Fourth in class was enough for AF Corse to win the Gold Cup Sprint Teams’ Championship, whilst despite a puncture which cost them the lead lap Garage 59’s Louis Prette and Thomas Fleming can celebrate wrapping up the full season Gold Cup Drivers’ Championship with a race to spare.
In the Bronze Cup, Peter Dempsey and Eddie Cheever secured the Drivers’ and Teams’ titles with a fourth consecutive victory aboard the #93 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing Porsche.
Dempsey pulled out an early lead from pole position, and although Cheever was reeled in by the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari of outgoing champion Dennis Marschall, the Italian was able to hold the Ferrari at bay by 0.396 seconds.
It is Tempesta’s second Sprint Cup teams’ title, following the 2020 Pro/Am crown.
“The first lap I knew was going to be carnage,” Dempsey admitted. “I just had to try and dodge it as much as I could and keep the car intact. I’m super proud of the team, and thankful for the opportunity. Eddie’s a pleasure to have as a teammate, he’s taught me so much.”
The #87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG completed the Bronze Cup podium, ahead of the #991 Paradine Competition BMW and #222 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG.
The 2026 GT World Challenge Europe season will conclude with the Endurance Cup finale at Portimão on 16th to 17th October 2026.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
