GT World Challenge | Verstappen Racing with first endurance podium, Winward seals title

A total of 55 cars lined up for the weekend in the Eifel mountains, where qualifying immediately put pressure on the championship leaders. Mattia Drudi, Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim combined to put the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin on pole despite none of the three topping their individual qualifying session. Their consistency gave Aston Martin its first Endurance Cup pole since the 2018 24 Hours of Spa.

Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed joined them on the front row, while the Lionspeed GP Porsche and Garage 59 McLaren occupied row two. Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing was promoted to fifth on the grid after the #32 Team WRT BMW received a three-place grid penalty. Championship leader Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter started seventh.

Comtoyou Racing arrived at the Nürburgring knowing that victory was essential to keep its Endurance Cup title hopes alive. The team did everything required of it.

The #7 Aston Martin controlled the race from pole, with Thiim, Sørensen and Drudi remaining at the front throughout the three hours. They eventually secured a dominant second Endurance Cup victory of the season.

The battle behind them proved considerably more complicated. Garage 59 crossed the line second with its #59 McLaren after being among the leading contenders throughout the afternoon, but a ten-second time penalty dropped the car to tenth in the final classification.

That promoted the #32 Team WRT BMW of Kelvin van der Linde, Jordan Pepper and Charles Weerts to second. The trio had started eighth after its grid penalty and steadily worked its way forward during the race.

Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing benefited as well. Dani Juncadella, Chris Lulham and Jules Gounon brought the #3 Mercedes home in third, securing the team's first Endurance Cup podium. It followed the team's breakthrough Sprint Cup victory at Magny-Cours earlier in August, where Juncadella and Gounon had scored Verstappen Racing's first GT World Challenge win.

Fourth place was enough for Maro Engel, Lucas Auer and Luca Stolz to secure the Endurance Cup drivers' championship for Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter with one race still remaining.

Remarkably, the #48 crew clinched the title without winning any of the first four races. Consistency proved decisive after second-place finishes at Paul Ricard, Monza and the 24 Hours of Spa, followed by fourth at the Nürburgring. It was also the first time since the Endurance Cup was established in 2011 that the drivers' title had been secured before the final round.

Comtoyou Racing's victory therefore was not enough to keep the drivers' championship alive, although the Aston Martin squad remained mathematically in contention for the teams' title heading to Portimão.

There was plenty at stake further down the field. Tresor Attempto Racing claimed Gold Cup victory with Dylan Pereira, Andrea Frassineti and Alex Aka, after Pereira took the class lead during the final hour. ROWE Racing nevertheless left the Nürburgring leading the Gold standings, just three points clear of Garage 59.

HRT Ford Racing scored the Mustang GT3's first GT World Challenge class victory in Silver. Eduardo Coseteng, Nicolas Baert and debutant Niklas Kalus beat the #30 Team WRT BMW late in the race, although second place was enough for Matisse Lismont, Ignacio Montenegro and Amaury Cordeel to secure the Silver Cup Endurance title.

The Bronze Cup victory went to 2 Seas Motorsport's Charles Dawson, Kiern Jewiss and Reece Barr. Kessel Racing, meanwhile, secured the Bronze Cup teams' championship despite its #74 Ferrari becoming involved in an incident at the first corner.

The Nürburgring weekend attracted 28,000 spectators and leaves just one Endurance Cup race remaining. The championship concludes at Portimão from 16 to 18 October, where the remaining class and teams' titles will be decided.