Weerts and Van der Linde win thrilling Valencia finale to seal Sprint Cup title for Team WRT and BMW

The #32 BMW triumphed in the most competitive season yet for the Sprint Cup, with almost nothing separating the title contenders ahead of the final 60-minute contest on Sunday afternoon.

Initially, it looked as though the #63 Grasser Racing Lamborghini was on course to take the crown. Jordan Pepper held the advantage from pole, while title rival Marvin Kirchhöfer moved the #59 Garage 59 McLaren up to second at Turn 1 with a decisive move on Aurélien Panis (#10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG).

The #32 BMW ran fourth during the opening stages, but the car really came alive on the 10-minute mark when Van der Linde charged past the #10 Mercedes-AMG on the start-finish straight. The South African quickly caught Kirchhöfer and was able to make a similar move on the McLaren, completing his pass before the cars had braked for Turn 1.

But the BMW would still have to overhaul the Lamborghini to take the title. Van der Linde needed a few laps, but he was soon all over the rear of his fellow countryman. Friends since childhood, the two South Africans were now wheel to wheel at the pinnacle of GT racing. Pepper fought with everything he had, but Van der Linde was able to make a move just as the pit window opened.

There was little to separate the two teams when they made their stops, with Weerts taking the controls of the #32 BMW ahead of Luca Engstler in the #63 Lamborghini. They ran at a similar pace throughout the second half of the race, but there was a final challenge ahead for the BMW driver. Lapped traffic allowed Engstler to gain time, the Austrian cutting the gap to less than a second with just a handful of laps remaining.

Despite the pressure, Weerts hung on to win the race – and his fourth Sprint Cup title – by just 0.885 seconds. Van der Linde earned his first GT World Challenge crown in his first year as a BMW works driver, while Team WRT won its 11th Sprint Cup title. The #63 Lamborghini finished second ahead of the #59 McLaren, the podium for the final race reflecting the order in the standings.

Fourth overall and Silver Cup victory went to the #10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG of Aurélien Panis and Cesar Gazeau. Given the drama of the finale, it would be easy to overlook what an impressive showing this was from the French duo and their team. Though the Sprint crown slipped away on Saturday, they nevertheless scored important points towards the full-season Silver Cup title.

Fifth and sixth went to the other defeated title protagonists: the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche and the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG respectively. The latter made significant progress from 16th on the grid but was never in serious contention to retain the crown that Maro Engel and Lucas Auer won 12 months ago. A pair of BMW squads were next to take the chequered flag and completed the Silver Cup podium, with the #992 Paradine Competition crew edging the #30 Team WRT entry.

Ninth overall went to the Gold Cup winner, Emil Frey Racing, which also captured the title with its #69 Ferrari crew of Thierry Vermeulen and Chris Lulham. They ran second in class to the #58 Garage 59 McLaren during the opening stint and were at risk of losing the crown, but a 10-second penalty for their rival allowed the Swiss squad to take the lead during the pit stop window.

Bronze Cup honours went to the #89 Lionspeed GP Porsche of Bashar Mardini and Bastian Buus, but this was not quite enough for the German squad to snatch the title. The #93 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Ferrari was second, while the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari came home third to seal the crown for Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall.

The 2025 Sprint Cup season may be over, but the Endurance Cup still has one race left to run. The final set of title-winners will be decided at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which stages the season-closing three-hour event on 10–12 October.

Results are HERE