Every GT World Challenge Europe Portimao driver lineup change explained
The GT World Challenge Europe (GTWC EU) and World Endurance Championship (WEC) rounds clashing this weekend mean many driver lineups look different. DIVEBOMB breaks down the driver line-up changes ahead of the season finale.
This weekend of racing will prove special for the Iberian Peninsula, as Spain's Barcelona circuit hosts the World Endurance Championship's (WEC) penultimate event, while a couple hundred miles away in Portugal, Portimao hosts the GT World Challenge Europe (GTWC EU) finale.
However, due to the scheduling conflict between both events, several drivers have had to give up one event in order to race at the other, with some drivers choosing to participate in the WEC Barcelona round. One such case, which took place in Verstappen Racing, is the reason the four-time Formula One world champion and team owner, Max Verstappen, will be making his debut in the SRO-run series.
This, alongside other driver changes and some new entries, means the entry list looks a lot different from that of the previous GTWC EU Endurance Cup round at the Nurburgring. So here is every confirmed lineup change for the 3 Hours of Portimao event.
No.3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes - Dani Juncadella & Jules Gounon out - Max Verstappen & Ben Barnicoat in
Juncadella and Gounon prioritising their WEC programmes with Genesis and Alpine respectively, left two vacancies for Verstappen Racing to fill, with Max Verstappen deciding to take one seat himself, given Formula One has a gap weekend, with regular GT driver Barnicoat taking the other seat, alongside team regular Chris Lulham.
Barnicoat makes his GTWC return, after last racing in the 2025 3 Hours of Nurburgring for 2seas Motorsport, having finished all other racing programmes of his for the year.
As for Verstappen, this marks a continuation of his highly publicised GT efforts, after his Nurburgring 24 Hours entry, which saw him in prime place for the win, before a technical failure ended his team's chances.
No.7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin - Marco Sørensen out - Ross Gunn in
Comtoyou Racing's No.7 entry also suffers from the WEC clash, with the lineup that proved victorious last time out at the Nurburgring being split up, as Marco Sørensen has decided in favour of racing with the Aston Martin THOR team in Barcelona.
THOR's IMSA regular Ross Gunn takes his place in the No. 7 seat alongside Mattia Drudi and Nicki Thiim, being free from other responsibilities, having finished his IMSA duties for the team.
No.12 GetSpeed Team Dubai Mercedes - Jayden Ojeda out - Mikael Grenier in
After skipping the Nurburgring round due to a clash with the GT World Challenge America round at Road America, Canadian Mikael Grenier returns to GetSpeed Team Dubai, taking the place of stand-in Jayden Ojeda.
No.17 Mercedes Team GetSpeed Maxime Martin out - Ralf Aron in
A similar case to many, as Martin will instead take part in WEC with Iron Lynx, his place in Mercedes Team GetSpeed's No.17 entry taken by GT racing all-rounder Ralf Aron, the Estonian making his GTWC EU return after competing in two rounds of the 2024 season, one each with Mercedes Team GruppeM Racing and Boutsen VDS.
No.45 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari - Rafael Duran out - Axcil Jefferies in
Having suffered fractures to both his feet during last weekend's International GT Open round at Monza, Duran will have to miss out on the GTWC EU finale. ''I’ll be out of racing for a few weeks unfortunately, so I’ll miss some race weekends'', he stated through his Instagram account.
His seat will be filled by Axcil Jefferies, who has raced semi-regularly in 2026, most notable in the 24 Hours of Spa, finishing third in Bronze, driving for Lionspeed GP's No.89 entry.
No.50 AF Corse Ferrari - Sean Gelael out - Albert Costa in
Gelael's WEC duties with Team WRT, where he will drive -as always- in the No.32 car, mean his No.50 Ferrari seat will be vacant for Portimao. Costa, who spent 2026 driving Conquest Racing's No.34 Ferrari in IMSA, will take his place, having last raced in GTWC back in 2024.
No.51 AF Corse Ferrari - Alessio Rovera & Nicklas Nielsen out - Lorenzo Ferrari & Nicola Lacorte in
Alongside the aforementioned Gelael, two more GTWC EU AF Corse regulars, Rovera and Nielsen, will be instead driving in Barcelona, the former driving the ''sister'' Vista AF Corse No.21 Ferrari, with Nielsen in Hypercar duties, driving the No.50 Ferrari 499P.
The aptly named Ferrari has plenty of GT experience, having raced in the series from 2022 to 2024, whilst also having a one-off appearance in this season's Monza round with Tresor Attempto Racing.
Formula 3 racer Lacorte has less experience, though, only having a couple of outings in GT machinery, although all have been in Ferrari 296 GT3s so he has the chance to perform admirably.
No.59 Garage 59 McLaren - Marvin Kirchhöfer out - Jack Hawksworth in
Garage 59 will be needing Marvin Kirchhöfer's services across the border, in the No.10 McLaren for WEC, so his place in the No.59 Pro entry will be taken by IMSA mainstay Jack Hawksworth, who will be returning to the team, following last season's one-off outing at Spa.
No.63 TGI Team by GRT Lamborghini - Sandy Mitchell out - Maximilian Paul in
Having missed the Nurburgring round, needing to recover after a massive DTM crash at Norisring, Maximilian Paul regains his place in the No.63 Lamborghini, in place of stand-in driver Sandy Mitchell.
No.65 HRT Ford Racing - Niklas Kalus out - Maxime Oosten in
After having to miss out on the Nurburgring 3 Hours due to the event clashing with GT World Challenge Asia's Okayama round, Maxime Oosten finds himself back in the No.65 HRT Ford Mustang seat, which had been filled for the Germany event by Niklas Kalus.
No.98 ROWE Racing BMW - Augusto Farfus & Raffaele Marciello out - Philipp Eng & Marco Wittmann in
Finally, another huge lineup change comes at ROWE, as both Farfus and Marciello will be driving for Team WRT in WEC, the former in the No.32 BMW M4 GT3 and the latter in the No.15 M Hybrid V8 Hypercar.
Their places will be taken by two BMW works drivers. Phillip Eng, one of WRT's IMSA Hypercar regulars, who also has a ton of GT racing experience, having raced on and off in GTWC EU since 2013. Marco Wittmann, also part of WRT's IMSA Hypercar team, brings substantial GT Racing experience, with the German finishing this year's DTM season in third overall.
No.991 Paradine Competition BMW - Dries Vanthoor out - Robert de Haan in
A similar case to the one above, as Dries Vanthoor will be driving the No.15 BMW M Hybrid V8, with Dutchman De Haan returning to Paradine, having also competed with the team in the Paul Ricard and Monza rounds. The 20-year old also competed with success in various Porsche one-make series this year, finishing second in the Porsche Supercup standings.
No.992 Paradine Competition - Robert Thompson out - Daryl De Leon in
This appears to be a more complicated matter, as Paradine themselves have not given any concrete reasoning, but Thompson has regularly been on and off this year, with the team deciding to use this last round to ''check out'' a younger driver, who could potentially be a candidate for a 2027 drive.
The 21-year-old De Leon fits exactly this profile, with him having just finished his third BTCC campaign, driving for WSR, where he finished 12th overall, with three podiums to his name.
More driver lineups are yet to be finalised. The article will be updated accordingly.
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