Götz, Grenier, and Stolz feature in Boutsen VDS’ plans for 2025
Boutsen VDS has announced their complete 2025 GT World Challenge Europe driver line-up, headlined by a quartet of Mercedes-AMG factory aces in their Pro class #9 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
In the Endurance Cup, Maximilian Götz and Mikaël Grenier join the previously announced Maxime Martin, whilst Luca Stolz will share the car with Martin in the Sprint Cup.
Only Götz has been retained from Boutsen VDS’ 2024 Pro effort, which saw the team take a pair of podium finishes in the Sprint Cup, as well as victory in the later annulled opening race at Barcelona.
Incredibly, Götz is also the only former GT World Challenge Europe champion amongst the quartet. He won the Sprint Cup aboard a HTP Motorsport SLS AMG GT3 in 2014.
The Belgian team’s #10 entry will again contest the Silver Cup for the full season. Defending Sprint Cup champions Cesar Gazeau and Aurélien Panis have been retained for the entire 10-round campaign, with Loris Cabirou joining them for the Endurance Cup. Cabirou previously drove for the team at the 2023 24 Hours of Spa.
Rutronik Racing announces two-car entry
Rutronik Racing has confirmed the drivers for its pair of Porsche 911 GT3.R (992).
The #96 will again compete in the Pro class, whilst the #97 will contest the Silver Cup in the Sprint races and the Bronze Cup in the Endurance rounds.
Sven Müller and Patric Niederhauser, who claimed Porsche’s maiden Sprint Cup victory at Barcelona last season, both return for the full season in the #96.
Joining them in the Endurance Cup is Alessio Picariello, who is embarking on his first full Endurance Cup campaign. Picariello, a Porsche contracted driver, replaces Julien Andlauer.
Loek Hartog and newcomer Eshan Pieris will share the German outfit’s #97 entry in the Sprint Cup.
Antares Au, who recently won the GT title in the Asian Le Mans Series, and 2024 Le Mans LMGT3 winner Morris Schuring join Hartog in the car for the Endurance Cup.
Century Motorsport enters Silver Cup with young driver line-up
Century Motorsport has announced that it will field a brand-new BMW M4 GT3 Evo in the Endurance Cup, as the team celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2025.
Mex Jansen, Will Moore and Jarrod Waberski will share the #42 M4 GT3 Evo, competing in the Silver Cup class.
18-year-old Jansen is entering his second season in the championship, having raced for Walkenhorst Motorsport last year. Moore is making the step up to GT World Challenge in 2025. Although he has previous GT3 experience, for much of the last decade his focus has been on GT4, where he has taken multiple class victories in British GT.
19-year-old Waberski is making the transition to GT racing, having focused on single-seaters up until now. He does have some GT World Challenge experience, though, having previously made a one-off appearance in the Sprint Cup in 2023 aboard a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo.
Last season, the Century Motorsport-supported Paradine Competition squad won the Bronze Cup in the Sprint Cup with Dan Harper and Darren Leung, and the British outfit will be hoping for further success under their own banner in 2025.
“GT World Challenge Europe is the biggest GT3-only Championship in the world and we are extremely proud to enter a car for the Endurance Cup side of the Championship in full Century Motorsport capacity” commented team principal Nathan Freke. “Having worked in it last year, it has given us a good head start, and we are relishing the challenge. The BMW was a very strong package last year and with the EVO car coming out, we feel that we will have the strongest package available having just taken a collection of a Brand New M4 GT3 EVO.
“Entering the Silver Cup class seemed the right move for us, and I’m really excited about our driver line-up. Jarrod, Will and Mex all have GT3 experience and have all had great results throughout their career. I firmly believe that this package is very strong, and we will be aiming high from the very start.”
New Endurance Cup entries for AF Corse and Rinaldi Racing
Ferrari has confirmed that both AF Corse and Rinaldi Racing will contest the Endurance Cup, during the unveiling of their official drivers’ programmes for 2025.
Andrea Bertolini will drive for AF Corse in the Endurance Cup for the ninth consecutive year. Bertolini, alongside father-and-son duo Louis and Jef Machiels, was runner-up in the Bronze Cup last season, ending up just two points shy of the title.
This AF Corse effort is in addition to the pair of Pro class entries announced last week.
Davide Rigon, who was behind the wheel of the title-winning #51 AF Corse-Francorchamps Motors in all but one race last year, will compete for Rinaldi Racing in 2025. Rigon is again set to miss a round due to a clash with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with Petit Le Mans being prioritised over the Barcelona Endurance Cup finale.
Further details about both of these efforts, including the remaining drivers and which class they will compete in, are yet to be confirmed.
GetSpeed
GetSpeed will again field three Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo’s in the Endurance Cup in 2025, with one entry in Pro and two cars in the Silver Cup.
Two time Endurance Cup champion Jules Gounon, Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz form an unchanged driver line-up in the #2 Pro entry, which is made up entirely of Mercedes-AMG works talent. The trio started last season strongly with a podium at the Circuit Paul Ricard opener, but despite flashes of pace they were unable to repeat that form with just a single further Top 10 finish.
Anthony Bartone and Yannick Mettler return to the #3 Silver Cup entry which won the class at last year’s 24 Hours of Spa. Joining them is Karol Basz, who drove for Madpanda Motorsport and Eastalent Racing last season.
Aaron Walker, another of GetSpeed’s 24 Hours of Spa winners, forms part of the crew in the #6 entry. He’s joined by defending Silver Cup champions Colin Caresani and Tanart Sathienthirakul, who move across from Winward Racing. Caresani and Sathienthirakul took two wins and never finished off the podium in 2024, as they impressively wrapped up the title with a race to spare.
“We’re entering the toughest GT3 championship in the world with three strong lineups – and we’re confident,” said GetSpeed boss Adam Osieka.
“With Jules, Fabian, and Luca in the Pro car, we’re aiming for wins. In the Silver Cup, we have a mix of experienced talent and exciting new additions to the GetSpeed family.”
Dinamic GT
Dinamic GT will return to the Endurance Cup for a seventh consecutive year, entering the #55 Porsche 911 GT3.R (992) in the Silver Cup.
Jop Rappange, the only full-season driver in the car last season, returns for 2025. Joining him are Mateo Llarena, who drove for Grasser Racing Team in 2024, and 17-year-old Federico Al Rifai. Al Rifai, who won the F4 Saudi Arabian Championship last year, is stepping up to GT3 competition for the first time.
Dinamic GT finished third in the Silver Cup last season, with a best finish of second at the 24 Hours of Spa.
SRO agrees to multi-year AWS extension
SRO Motorsports Group and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have committed to a multiyear extension of their global sponsorship, strenghtening the partnership that began in 2019 and was significantly expanded in 2020.
The renewed agreement will see AWS continue as Global Technology Provider to SRO and as Global Presenting Sponsor for GT World Challenge, encompassing the continental GT3 series in America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.
Since beginning the collaboration, SRO has relied on AWS for its industry-leading expertise, particularly through the adoption of its comprehensive cloud platform, machine learning and AI tools. Launched in 2006, AWS offers a suite of more than 200 services, including compute, storage, and database solutions.
AWS-powered video streaming and content delivery solutions have helped to enrich the viewing experience of fans around the world by allowing SRO to share high-definition, low-latency broadcasts of its events.
Races are livestreamed on the official GT World YouTube channel and SRO Motorsports Twitch account, providing increasing visibility and accessibility as viewers are able to tune in from countries around the world. SRO looks forward to deploying more AWS-based tools in the coming months and years.
In addition to its status as Global Technology Provider and Global Presenting Sponsor, AWS will again serve as the official series sponsor for Pirelli GT4 America and TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing in 2025. It also will continue as the presenting sponsor of GT America powered by AWS.
SRO launches new prize-fund for aspirant FFSA GT racers
All competing drivers who are categorised Silver and aged under 30 on 1 January 2025 will be automatically entered into a new GT Academy programme.
They will be assessed by a four-person jury comprising two representative from the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile (FFSA) and two from SRO, the latter pair including Stéphane Ratel.
The winning driver will receive a grant of 150 000€ and be put in contact with GT World Challenge Europe teams with the aim of graduating to the Sprint Cup in 2026. They will also receive a wealth of other benefits, including sporting management from the FFSA Academy and supervision from SRO Motorsports Group.
“We have the joint wish to energise the FFSA GT French Championship and to allow talented young drivers to reach the highest levels of our sport,” said Pierre Gosselin, President of the FFSA. “With the support of the FFSA Academy, the winner will have all the tools and support necessary to be able to concentrate on improving their skills and to have everything on their side to be competitive in the 2026 season.”
Laurent Gaudin, general manager of the FFSA GT French Championship added: “It is important to note that the GT Academy is only aimed at Silver drivers; their Bronze co-drivers will obviously provide support and encouragement but will not play any part in the final classification.
“This prize fund will depend on the classification of the qualifying sessions, of the pace of each driver during the race, their fighting spirit, their general attitude. Points will be awarded at the end of each weekend by a jury including two FFSA representatives and two from SRO, including Stéphane Ratel.
“The aim is clearly to find an undiscovered gem, and to give them the necessary boost so that he, or she, can make a major step forward in their career in 2026. I would like to thank the FFSA for their collaboration in this beautiful project.”
Images courtesy of SRO
