GT World Challenge Europe (known as GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS for sponsorship reasons, formerly known as the Blancpain GT Series between 2014 and 2019, and as the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS between 2021 and 2024) is a sports car racing series organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It features grand-touring racing cars based on production road cars and compliant with the FIA's GT3 regulations. The series comprises two championships, the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, each with five weekends. Each race meeting focuses on either the Sprint Cup or the Endurance Cup, as well as the overall championship.
The championship is divided into four classes: Pro, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Pro cars have no driver restrictions and compete for the overall drivers' and teams' championships. Pro cars are limited to three drivers at the 24 Hours of Spa. Gold entries compete in the Gold Cup, consisting of Gold drivers and one Silver driver per car. Silver Cup cars are made up entirely of Silver-class drivers. Lastly, Bronze Cup entries have a maximum driver-quality line-up of a Platinum and a Bronze driver at Sprint rounds, with an additional Silver driver eligible for entry at Endurance rounds.
History
Throughout its history, the racing series has utilised cars that comply with the FIA's GT3 regulations and has implemented a Balance of Performance (BoP) system to ensure competitive racing among different manufacturers. The series originated in 2011 and has evolved through several name changes and format modifications.
Initially known as the Blancpain Endurance Series, the championship focused on long-distance GT3 races, with the 24 Hours of Spa as its premier event. This championship quickly attracted large fields of both professional and amateur drivers. In 2014, a sprint-format series was introduced alongside the endurance events, initially called the FIA GT Series and later renamed the Blancpain Sprint Series. This development created a comprehensive GT championship, culminating in a single overall title, with Laurens Vanthoor becoming the first champion.
In 2016, the Sprint and Endurance series were further integrated under the umbrella of the Blancpain GT Series, emphasising both the overall drivers' and manufacturers' titles. The individual events were renamed the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup and the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, respectively. Additionally, 2016 marked the introduction of subsidiary championships: the Pro-Am and Am Cups, with Michał Broniszewski and Claudio Sdanewitsch crowned as the inaugural champions, respectively.
In 2018, the Silver Cup was introduced for young, silver-rated drivers, with Nico Bastian and Jack Manchester winning the inaugural title. It was also the final season for the Am Cup, which was won by Adrian Amstutz and Leo Machitski. In 2019, the sponsorship agreement between SRO and the Swiss watchmaker Blancpain ended, leading to the series being rebranded as the GT World Challenge Europe. This change aligned the European series with new GT World Challenge championships in Asia and America, forming a global platform for manufacturers to earn points across different regions.
A standard start formation of a GT World Challenge Europe race, led by the safety car, at Magny-Cours in 2022.
In 2020, Amazon Web Services (AWS) became the official presenter and global technology provider, and the series adopted the name GT World Challenge Powered by AWS. In 2021, Fanatec was introduced as an additional title sponsor, a partnership that will last until the end of the 2024 season. As of 2023, the championship consisted of five titles, following the introduction of the Gold and Bronze Cups alongside the overall title, Silver Cup, and Pro-Am Cup. Niklas Krütten and Calan Williams won the inaugural Gold Cup, while Alex Malykhin became the first winner of the Bronze Cup. Additionally, 2023 marked the final year of the Pro-Am Cup.
In 2023, it was announced that the winning car of the Bronze Cup would receive an automatic invitation to compete in the LMGT3 class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. To earn this invitation, a team must compete in all 10 rounds of the combined Endurance and Sprint series. Pure Rxcing won in its first year, gaining entry to the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans. As of 2026, the series maintained an even split between the Sprint and Endurance Cups, with each contributing to the overall championship title. The series also maintained capacity grid sizes, demonstrating its popularity; 2026 saw a record-breaking entry for the Sprint Cup with 45 cars.
The GT World Challenge Europe is divided into two formats: the Endurance Cup and the Sprint Cup. Each format features an equal number of events, and together they contribute to the overall championship title. All races adhere to FIA GT3 regulations.
A typical race weekend begins with Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2, which replaced Pre-Qualifying in 2026 to give drivers and teams more flexibility with setups. At Endurance Cup rounds, both FP1 and FP2 will run for 90 minutes. Despite the name change, FP2 may still be used to set the grid if qualifying cannot be run.
Qualifying, as it has since 2018, consists of three segments, one for each driver, with the aggregate time for each car establishing the grid. Due to growing grid sizes, the format was adjusted and split sessions were introduced for the Sprint Cup in 2025 and the Endurance Cup in 2026. The segments were split into two, with 10 minutes for the Silver and Bronze Cup cars (group A), and 10 minutes for the Pro and Gold Cup runners (group B). Q1A and Q1B will run back-to-back, followed by a five-minute break; the same format continues for Q2A and Q2B, and finally Q3A and Q3B.
The Endurance Cup consists of five rounds, with races typically lasting 3 or 6 hours. The highlight of the season is the prestigious 24 Hours of Spa, a single 24-hour race that awards the most points of the year. Each race is usually shared by three drivers, with a fourth available at Spa for cars not in the Pro class. The strategy for Endurance Cup races emphasises consistency, effective driver management, and careful pit stop planning. The Sprint Cup also features five rounds, with each event weekend comprising two one-hour races. In these races, cars are shared by two drivers. The races are fast-paced and intense, requiring a mandatory driver change during a designated time window.
Points from both the Sprint and Endurance Cups are combined to determine the overall champions for the GT World Challenge Europe for drivers and teams. Additionally, the series holds separate championships within each event for different classes based on driver ratings (Gold, Silver, Bronze), following an FIA driver categorisation system. Cars entered in the Pro "class" do not compete for a separate title; instead, they aim solely for the overall championship.
Teams
Rather than committing to a single linear championship, teams in GT World Challenge Europe can enter three distinct titles: the Endurance Cup, the Sprint Cup, and the combined overall championship. A typical season will see more Endurance Cup–only entries, largely driven by the draw of competing in the 24 Hours of Spa. For instance, Rowe Racing has traditionally focused its efforts on the Endurance Cup. In contrast, Emil Frey Racing has recently chosen to compete solely in the Sprint Cup, while Team WRT has become synonymous with the combined championship. SRO established this modern teams' championship after unifying the Blancpain Endurance Series and the Blancpain Sprint Series into a single overarching entity in 2014. Furthermore, while teams operate privately, their performance feeds directly into a global GT World Challenge Manufacturers' Championship alongside entries in America, Asia, and Australia.
Team WRT are the most successful team in GT World Challenge Europe, securing six overall teams' championships over the series' twelve-year history.
Over the championship's history, Team WRT has been the most decorated team, claiming six overall championships out of a possible twelve: four with Audi and two with BMW. Akkodis ASP is the only other team to have won more than one overall championship, taking the title on three occasions, all with Mercedes-AMG. Other notable team entries include AF Corse, which has contested every year of the championship with Ferrari and secured multiple class championships; Boutsen VDS, which has won multiple titles across the Gold and Silver Cups; and Winward Racing, which won the 2024 and 2026 drivers' titles with Lucas Auer and Maro Engel.
Teams in GT World Challenge largely operate independently, even when sharing manufacturers, but can also assist one another. For example, Tempesta Racing has received technical support from AF Corse, GruppeM, HRT, Garage 59 and Herberth over the years. The Verstappen Racing car, owned by Max Verstappen, is run by sister team 2 Seas Motorsport as of 2026. Additionally, unlike other forms of sports car racing such as the FIA World Endurance Championship, SRO impose few restrictions on the number of cars a team can enter, ranging from one to six at times.
Drivers
Unlike other forms of motorsport, particularly open-wheel series such as Formula One, driving duties in GT World Challenge Europe are highly fluid because of the series' multi-driver, customer racing format and scheduling conflicts with other sports car racing series. For instance, duties can range from full-season commitments to one-off appearances, particularly prevalent at the 24 Hours of Spa. Whilst some drivers are contracted to compete for a specific manufacturer as a factory driver, they can compete for various teams. This could mean splitting driving duties between two teams in the Sprint and Endurance Cups, respectively. In 2014, Audi works driver Stéphane Ortelli drove for Saintéloc Racing, G-Drive Racing and Team WRT across the year. Most drivers are not factory drivers and can therefore compete for multiple teams and manufacturers in a single season. During the 2026 season alone, Nicolas Baert competed in a Lionspeed GPPorsche, an HRTFord and a Comtoyou RacingAston Martin. Alternatively, commitments to other sports car racing series such as the FIA World Endurance Championship, DTM, or IMSA SportsCar Championship can keep drivers unavailable and adjust driver line-ups.
The FIA Driver Categorisation system evaluates drivers from Platinum to Bronze and balances them across teams and classes. As a result, driving skill and experience vary immensely across a GT World Challenge Europe field. For instance, a grid will typically include top-level professional drivers with Gold or Platinum licences and a wealth of success in various competitions. In recent years, grids have included several world-class drivers, such as current and ex-Formula One drivers like Giancarlo Fisichella and Max Verstappen, FIA World Endurance champions like Kévin Estre and Marcel Fässler, and 24 Hours of Le Mans winners. While these drivers bring fan engagement and attention to the series, Bronze-graded drivers generally provide the financial backing that makes the championship possible.
Raffaele Marciello is the championship's most decorated driver, with three overall drivers' championship titles for Mercedes-AMG. Timur Boguslavskiy, Charles Weerts, Lucas Auer and Maro Engel are the only other drivers to have won more than one drivers' title. Drivers from Germany have been most successful, with four titles in total. Whilst the series is European-based, it attracts drivers from all over the world. In 2025, South Africa's Kelvin van der Linde became the first non-European overall drivers' champion. After success in motorcycle racing, seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi made his competitive sports car debut in the 2022 GT World Challenge Europe, bringing the series international recognition.
Lucas Auer
Maro Engel
Team WRT
Current season
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