Cooler weather arrived in the Eifel region for the penultimate round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, setting up an intense Saturday of practice at the 5.137-kilometer GP-Strecke. After ROWE Racing’s Raffaele Marciello dominated the morning session with a day-best 1:54.855 lap, local squad Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed took control of the afternoon track action.
Fabian Schiller delivered the winning benchmark in Free Practice 2, steering the #17 GetSpeed AMG GT3 EVO to a 1:54.962 lap to top the 55-car field.
Early Laps Dictate One-Lap Shootout
Although early radar suggested a threat of rainfall, the wet track declaration was quickly rendered unnecessary as skies brightened over the circuit. Teams took immediate advantage of fresh Pirelli slick rubber during the opening 20 minutes to complete low-fuel qualifying simulations.
Navigating traffic proved critical across the 17-turn circuit. The only major disruption of the 90-minute run came via a Full Course Yellow when series returnee Sergio Sette Camara went off at Turn 11 in the #11 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin. Following the short interruption, the field shifted to heavy-fuel long runs to gauge tire degradation on the abrasive Eifel asphalt.
Pro Cup Contenders Find Track Position Crucial
The overall and Pro Cup honors went to Fabian Schiller and the #17 GetSpeed entry, cementing their single-lap form following a top-five run earlier in the morning. Close behind, Mattia Drudi carried Comtoyou Racing into third overall (second in Pro) aboard the #7 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO with a 1:55.180, finishing just 0.218 seconds off Schiller’s time.
Rutronik Racing showed solid top-five pace with Sven Müller taking the #97 Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO to fourth overall, while Team Verstappen Racing put their #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO seventh overall (P3 in Pro) courtesy of a 1:55.434 lap. Garage 59 completed the Pro class top ranks as their #59 McLaren GT3 EVO secured 10th overall.
Meanwhile, heavyweights Team WRT had a quiet session with their main Pro entries; the #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO ended the run in 18th overall (1:55.750), while the #46 car logged a field-high 44 laps but ended up down in 42nd (1:56.663).
Class Battles: WRT Tops Silver as Garage 59 Leads Gold
While WRT struggled for one-lap pace in Pro, their Silver Cup squad delivered the highlight performance of the afternoon. Ignacio Montenegro recorded a 1:55.347 aboard the #30 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO to take fifth overall on the charts and comfortably claim top honors in Silver. Team RJN followed close behind in the Silver battle, as the #23 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO finished sixth overall.
In the Gold Cup, Garage 59 edged out the opposition. Benjamin Goethe clocked a 1:55.438 in the #58 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO to finish eighth overall and head the Gold class classification. Boutsen VDS took second in Gold (16th overall) with a 1:55.715 from the #9 Porsche, while CSA Racing brought their #111 McLaren into third in class.
The Bronze Cup category saw an extraordinary performance from Paradine Competition. Dries Vanthoor put the #991 BMW M4 GT3 EVO second overall on the primary timesheets with a 1:55.174 lap, pacing all Bronze Cup contenders and splitting the front-running Pro entries.
Technical Setup Focus Ahead of Sunday
With single-lap pace and long-run simulations completed across Saturday’s two sessions, engineers turn their attention to telemetry analysis before Sunday’s qualifying sessions. Drivers noted that clean track execution will define Sunday morning’s grid positions, as overtaking remains notoriously difficult around the Grand Prix layout.
Qualifying for the 2026 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup round at the Nürburgring takes place on Sunday morning at 09:45 CEST, leading into the three-hour endurance race at 15:00 CEST.