• Victories in America and Europe put Bavarian marque ahead after five rounds
• Audi, Corvette, Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche also secure first wins of 2025
• Season steps up after Easter with six rounds in four weekends
• GT World Challenge powered by AWS standings
BMW holds the early advantage at the top of the GT World Challenge powered by AWS manufacturer standings, with three wins from the opening five events establishing the Bavarian marque as the leading candidate to end Mercedes-AMG's run of six global titles.
Each continental series has now staged its opening round following last weekend's events in Asia (Sepang) and Europe (Circuit Paul Ricard). The American campaign began at Sonoma Raceway and Australia kicked off at Phillip Island, while the only non-series race – the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour – ran in early February. With five down and 25 to go, the competitive order is beginning to take shape.
GT World Challenge America pitched up at Sonoma Raceway for the weekend of 29/30 March, launching its seventh season since becoming part of the global SRO family at the 4-kilometre (2.5-mile) circuit in California's Wine Country. JMF Motorsport gave Mercedes-AMG victory as works driver Mikaël Grenier combined with Michai Stephens to triumph in the 90-minute contest. BMW also banked a big haul of points, finishing second and third courtesy of Random Vandals Racing.
The weekend got even better for the Bavarian brand in Race 2. A late pass by Kenton Koch secured Random Vandals a dramatic triumph over the RS1 Porsche, with the JMF-run Mercedes-AMG completing the podium. Sonoma also brought points finishes for Aston Martin, Corvette, Ferrari, and McLaren, though it was the three German marques that left with the biggest scores.
One week later on 5/6 April the GT World Challenge Australia season began at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. Located just off the coast of mainland Victoria, the track is perhaps best known for two-wheeled motorsport but has shown itself to be equally conducive to action-packed GT racing.
Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte secured maximum points for Ferrari by winning the opening encounter. The Arise duo led from start to finish in their 296, beating the Tigani Mercedes-AMG and MPC Audi squads. This race proved that there is plenty of competition Down Under: the top five positions were occupied by as many different brands, with EMA's Porsche and the Volante Rosso-run Aston Martin also showing well.
Brad Schumacher and Broc Feeney won a dramatic Race 2 in which several cars ran at the front only to hit problems. The MPC duo bagged top points for Audi ahead of Volante Rosso's Aston Martin and the Race 1-winning Ferrari of Evans and Schutte, who departed Phillip Island on top of the GT World Challenge Australia drivers' standings.
In the global classification, BMW still led the way. But with the M4 not featured on the Australian grid its lead was slashed to just four points over Mercedes-AMG, which has built its GT World Challenge success on steadfast consistency. After a one-week break, the first double-header of the season saw Asia and Europe kick off on 12/13 April.
GT World Challenge Asia has always been a happy hunting ground for Porsche, and so it proved in the opening encounter of 2025 as reigning champions Bob Yuan and Leo Ye Hongli claimed victory in Race 1 at Sepang. The Origine Motorsport duo led a one-two for the Weissach marque ahead of Phantom’s 911 GT3 R, with Team KRC's BMW completing the podium.
GT World Challenge's newest addition bagged its first win in Race 2 as Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Alexander Sims prevailed in their JMR-run Corvette Z06 GT3.R. This was a fairytale victory for Jefri, who celebrated on home soil and was watched by his mother, Her Majesty Raja Zarith Sofiah, Queen of Malaysia. Craft-Bamboo was second for Mercedes-AMG, while FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom finished third with its R8.
GT World Challenge Europe then became the final continental series to launch its 2025 season, with the opening six-hour contest at Circuit Paul Ricard in France worth double points.
BMW celebrated a winning start for its new M4 GT3 EVO as Team WRT made methodical progress from ninth on the grid to win by a little over four seconds, a margin that does not reflect Kelvin van der Linde's dominance over the two final stints. It was also a good day for Porsche as Rutronik Racing and Schumacher CLRT finished second and third, while Mercedes-AMG, Aston Martin and McLaren also scored well.
Victory at Circuit Paul Ricard means that it is very much advantage BMW at the top of the standings. The German manufacturer has scored 248 points over the opening run of races, giving it a useful buffer to its most likely challengers: Mercedes-AMG (196) and Porsche (194). Ferrari is next on 119 followed by Audi (89), Aston Martin (62) and first-time winner Corvette (42). McLaren (28), Lamborghini (26) and Ford (4) complete the early standings.
Now that the season is up and running on all four continents, the races come thick and fast. After a pause for Easter there will be a run of six GT World Challenge events over four consecutive weekends, beginning with GT World Challenge America at COTA on 26/27 April. This will be followed one week later by an Australia-Europe double-header at Sydney Motorsports Park and Brands Hatch respectively, after which GT World Challenge Asia debuts at Mandalika on 10/11 May. America and Europe are in action again on 17/18 May, competing at Sebring and Zandvoort respectively.
Every race airs live on the GT World YouTube channel and SRO Motorsports Twitch account, while qualifying, pre-qualifying and free practice sessions are also live at selected events.
