As the season moves into the final stretch, there have been even more developments and shakeups in the GT World Challenge Global Manufacturers Championship points standings, with notable changes amongst the frontrunners.
Following events at Sandown, Magny-Cours, and Road America, Mercedes-AMG has surged to the top of the leaderboard with 822.5 points, pulling ahead of BMW after the two manufacturers had previously been neck-and-neck.
BMW, sitting at 784.5 points, is now under pressure from Porsche, who trails in third with 760.5 points. With fifteen rounds remaining, there is still room for more twists and turns and the stakes remain high with so little separating the world’s premier GT3 brands.
Mercedes-AMG
Although Mother Nature came into the mix at Road America, Mercedes-AMG didn’t let it rain on their parade, winning both Race 1 and Race 2.
Regulator Racing started from pole position for the first race of the weekend in the No. 91 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and held the top spot once the red flag came out due to inclement weather. Although only half points were awarded, it was still an important result for Jeff Burton and Philip Ellis in their Pro-Am championship campaign.
JMF Motorsports prevailed in the Pro class in Race 2, with Mikael Grenier leading the way in the No. 34 machine for the opening half of the 90-minute showdown. Once teammate Michai Stephens took over, it appeared as though he would cruise to victory after having built up a sizable gap to the rest of the field. However, a late-stage full course caution resulted in a final lap sprint to the finish, in which he brilliantly fended off attacks in order to secure the win.
BMW
BMW took the shortened Race 1 win in the Pro class with the likes of Kenton Koch and Connor De Phillippi in the No. 99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3, where they shared the podium with teammates Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey in the No. 51 entry. The win allowed Koch and De Phillippi to further extend their championship lead, and this was further aided by also taking home a P2 finish in Race 2.
On the Pro-Am side, Turner Motorsport’s Justin Rothberg and Robby Foley scored a second-place finish of their own in Race 2 with the No. 29 BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
Porsche
RS1’s Alex Sedgwick and Jan Heylen delivered a third-place finish in Race 1 with their No. 18 Porsche 911 GT3 R, keeping the brand within close striking distance to BMW heading into the next rounds. Additionally, they still find themselves in a heated battle with JMF Motorsports in the Pro class standings.
Up Next
The battles will continue in Europe and Asia next, as GT World Challenge Europe makes its way to the Nürburgring from August 29th to 31st for Round 8, while GT World Challenge Asia heads to Okayama International Circuit that same weekend for Rounds 9 & 10.
On the American front, the GT World Challenge America championship fight will resume at Barber Motorsports Park from September 5th to 7th for Rounds 11 and 12 for the penultimate event of the season.