GT World Challenge Europe Preview: Nürburgring
- Marios Gantzoudis
- 22 minutes ago
- 3 min read
After two consecutive Sprint Cup events, the GT World Challenge Europe (GTWCE) Endurance Cup returns to action, with Nürburgring awaiting its challengers.
The GT World Challenge Endurance Cup continues its 2026 journey with the Nürburgring GP circuit marking the penultimate Endurance event of the season.
Magny-Cours’ two one-hour sprint races delivered two different winners, and yet more dramatic moments. Expect Nürburgring to bring yet more drama and action.
With Verstappen Racing and Lionspeed GP keen to achieve victory once again, and the likes of Team WRT looking to bounce back after disappointing outings, the battle for the top spot will be another intense fight around the German venue.
Entry list
55 cars, divided into 17 Pro, 8 Gold, 16 Silver and 14 Bronze entries will enter the 3 Hours of Nürburgring this weekend.
Changes from the Magny-Cours event include ex-BTCC racer Bobby Thompson and Dries Vanthoor re-joining Paradine Competition in the team’s Silver and Bronze entries respectively.
It’s also a return to action for drivers racing only endurance events, such as natural elements by Walkenhorst Motorsport’s Pro entry, consisting of Jamie Day, Christian Krognes and Henrique Chaves.
The full entry list for the upcoming 3 Hours of Nürburgring can be found here.
Championship standings
Entering this weekend, Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter are looking forward to the potential Endurance Cup champions' crowning of the No.48 trio of Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and Lucas Auer.
Finishing fourth in Germany will be enough for the trio to seal the title, as they enter the penultimate endurance round with a colossal 41-point advantage over the second-placed No.7 Comtoyou Racing entry of Nicki Thiim, Mattia Drudi and Marco Sørensen.
A similar fate is befalling the Silver Cup title fight, with Team WRT’s No.30 entry, consisting of Amaury Cordeel, Ignacio Montenegro and Matisse Lismont, holding a 27-point lead, ahead of the pursuing Tresor Attempto Racing No.66 car, of Ariel Levi, Rocco Mazzola and Sebastian Øgaard.
Kessel Racing is also in a quite strong position to retain its Bronze Endurance title, with the No.74 duo of Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall holding a 22-point lead over Paradine Competition’s No.991 British duo of James Kellett and Darren Leung.
Gold Cup affairs are more intriguing entering the weekend, with only eight points separating Garage 59’s No.58 trio of Tom Fleming, Benjamin Goethe and Louis Prette from ROWE Racing’s No.998 one, consisting of Ugo de Wilde, Tim Tramnitz and Jens Klingmann.
The track
Although not as famous as the full Nürburgring Nordschleife, this Grand Prix layout, opened in 1984, remains an enjoyable track in its own right, having hosted countless major motorsport events, none more so than Formula One..
As for the GT World Challenge Europe, this weekend’s event marks the 15th trip for the grid to the Nürburgring circuit, since the first event in 2014.
The varied nature of the track opens up high-speed as well as tricky low-speed sections, and is bound to provide viewers with tons of wheel-to-wheel action, as well as give the drivers a challenge.
As always, drivers will need to be precise to nail the best lap times and avoid giving an inch to their rivals in the race.
Schedule
Track action begins on Friday, 28 August 2026, with the Official Paid Test session taking place at 11:45 local time (09:45 GMT), followed by the Bronze orientation test session at 16:40 local time (14:40 GMT).
Saturday, 29 August 2026 brings the two Free Practice sessions at 10:50 (08:50 GMT) and 16:15 local time (14:15 GMT), respectively, with Sunday, 30 August 2026 giving us the most important sessions of them all.
Qualifying 1 takes place at 09:45 (07:45 GMT), followed by Qualifying 2 at 10:20 (08:20 GMT) and Qualifying 3 at 10:35 (08:35 GMT), with Combined Qualifying following 20 minutes later.
Finally, the marquee event, the three-hour race will start at 15:00 local time (13:00 GMT), with both Qualifying and the Race free to watch for everyone on the GTWorld YouTube channel, as will the supporting series’ races, with Lamborghini Super Trofeo, GT3 Revival and Mazda MX-5 Cup Benelux action on offer.
Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
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