Porsche claims maiden Endurance Cup title with Rutronik Racing as Garage 59 McLaren dominates sensational season finale in Barcelona

Dean MacDonald started from pole aboard the #58 McLaren and led the opening phase, setting a string of fastest laps to edge clear of the pack. The path to victory was not simple, however, with a safety car period during the first hour shuffling the order.

Adam Smalley took over for the second stint and ran in third, though the two cars ahead of him were both off strategy. Garage 59 still required another safety car period to extend the final stint, and this came when the #88 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi crashed heavily between Turns 8 and 9.

This put Louis Prette at the head of the order for the run to the flag and the Monegasque took full advantage of the McLaren's pace. He pulled more than 18 seconds clear to give the British brand its first Endurance victory since 2016 and secure a maiden overall triumph for all three drivers. The podium was completed by the #777 AlManar Racing BMW – which, like the #58 McLaren, was entered in the Gold Cup class – and the #98 ROWE Racing BMW.

In terms of the title battles, the most important action was taking place a little further back. When the final stint began, Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter led both the Endurance Cup and the full-season GT World Challenge drivers' standings. But the #48 crew was not enjoying an easy race, receiving a time penalty for going off-track at the start and generally struggling for speed against its rivals.

The #96 Porsche looked much more competitive, with Alessio Picariello producing a brilliant start to leap from 10th to fourth. The car dropped into the pack during the middle stint, forcing Sven Müller to fight his way forward, before Patric Niederhauser took over for the final hour. The #96 Porsche was back where it started in 10th and needed to make up three spots to take the Endurance title away from Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter.

The first two positions did not take long, the Porsche quickly settling into eighth behind the #33 Verstappen.Com Racing Aston Martin of Harry King. The British driver was in no mood to allow Niederhauser past, fighting for every inch of track. But with the title on the line Niederhauser dug deeper. With less than 10 minutes left on the clock he launched the Porsche up the inside at Turn 5, taking seventh place. This was enough to secure Endurance Cup glory by a single point, giving Porsche its first overall GT World Challenge teams' and drivers' title.

The destination of the full-season GT World Challenge crown also changed hands during the final hour, with a sixth-place finish enough to edge Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde ahead of Maro Engel and Lucas Auer. This was a stellar comeback from the #32 BMW crew, which also featured Ugo de Wilde, who started 31st but benefited from a smart strategy when the first safety car was called.

The #33 Verstappen.com Racing crew of King/Vermeulen/Lulham wrapped up the Gold Cup title by finishing eighth overall and third in class. This result was never really in doubt, but there was considerable uncertainty in the Silver Cup when the championship-leading #42 Century Motorsport BMW was tipped into a spin on the opening lap. This dropped the car to the rear of the field and, with the #10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG running second, the Belgian squad was in place to snatch the title.

But the Century car was able to climb back up to fifth in class at the chequered flag, while the #10 ultimately fell to third. This gave the #42 BMW crew of Waberski/Moore/Jansen the title, while Boutsen VDS drivers Aurélien Panis and César Gazeau had the consolation of successfully defending their full-season Silver Cup crown. The final win of the season went to Tresor Attempto Racing, which finished an excellent P5 overall with Aka/Moncini/Øgaard at the wheel of its #99 Audi.

In addition to celebrating the Endurance title, Rutronik Racing also scored class victory in the Bronze Cup with its #97 crew of Au/Hartog/Schuring. The title went to Kessel Racing, which required only a handful of points to secure the crown and made absolutely certain with a third-place finish. The #74 Ferrari of Blattner/Laursen/Marschall completed a perfect season for the Swiss squad, which had already secured full-season and Sprint Cup honours. 

This weekend's event drew a crowd of more than 26,000 to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and brought the curtain down on the 2025 campaign, which began six months ago at Circuit Paul Ricard and featured a record field at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. Indeed, the average starting grid this year has been the biggest in the history of the Endurance Cup, a fact that can only whet the appetite for next year. The 2026 season begins at Circuit Paul Ricard, with a six-hour race scheduled for 10–12 April.

Results are HERE