BMW M Motorsport customer teams left the GT World Challenge Europe season finale in Portimão with more silverware. Team WRT won the overall team championship, and ROWE Racing’s Jens Klingmann, Tim Tramnitz and Ugo de Wilde took the Endurance Cup Gold Cup titles. The BMW M4 GT3 EVO also won the Silver Cup in the final three-hour race.

Team WRT and ROWE Racing both added to their 2026 tallies at the last round of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS in Portimão, Portugal. The two BMW M Motorsport outfits came away with team and driver titles, although the Pro-class BMWs had a difficult weekend.

WRT completes the overall team double

Team WRT already had the Sprint Team Championship, which it secured two weeks earlier. In Portimão it also took the overall team championship, which combines points from the Sprint and Endurance races. Team principal Vincent Vosse says this is the Belgian squad’s 80th title.

The #30 BMW M4 GT3 EVO sealed it. Matisse Lismont, Amaury Cordeel (both BEL) and Ignacio Montenegro (ARG) finished fifth overall in an eventful race and won the Silver Cup class. The trio had already secured the Silver Cup titles in the Sprint, Endurance and combined standings before the finale. Until Portimão, though, they had not won a Silver Cup endurance race.

“I’m thrilled with this 80th title for the team! That’s a great achievement. Our Silver car has played a huge part in making it happen.” — Vincent Vosse, Team Principal, Team WRT

Gold Cup title goes to the Spa class winners

Klingmann, Tramnitz (both GER) and de Wilde (BEL) arrived in Portugal leading the Gold Cup standings. Earlier in the summer they had won their class at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in ROWE Racing’s #998 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. In the three-hour finale they fought their class rivals to the last laps. Klingmann brought the car home second in the Gold Cup, which was enough for the drivers’ title. ROWE Racing also won the Endurance Gold Cup team title, in its first season in the class.

“We have to say that we weren’t the fastest, but we were the most consistent throughout the year. We made it happen as a team.” — Jens Klingmann, ROWE Racing

Team principal Hans-Peter Naundorf said the team had “a clear mission” in the Gold Cup, with Klingmann acting as mentor to his two younger team-mates.

Bronze Cup podium for Oman Racing

In the Bronze Cup, Oman Racing by Century Motorsport took third place with the #42 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. Ahmad Al Harthy (OMA), Javier Sagrera (ESP) and Calan Williams (AUS) shared the car. The Paradine Competition #991 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Darren Leung, James Kellett (both GBR) and Robert de Haan (NED) finished fourth in class.

A difficult race for the Pro cars

All three BMWs in the top Pro class had problems. Marco Wittmann (GER), Jake Dennis (GBR) and Philipp Eng (AUT) started the ROWE Racing #98 from 35th after a poor qualifying session and climbed as high as sixth or seventh. Then another car hit them from behind and gave them a puncture. BMW lists the car’s final result as 22nd overall.

Team WRT’s #32, shared by Jordan Pepper (RSA), Charles Weerts (BEL) and Kelvin van der Linde (RSA), was running sixth after the opening phase. Pepper then received a drive-through penalty for causing a collision. The crew worked back towards the points, but shortly before the finish a rival hit van der Linde and his car also suffered a puncture.

The #46 Team WRT entry of Valentino Rossi (ITA), Neil Verhagen (USA) and Max Hesse (GER) got a puncture on the opening lap and dropped to 60th. It had recovered to 14th when a technical problem forced it to retire.

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. This year we did both. We had some wins and we learned a lot.” — Jordan Pepper, Team WRT

What it means

WRT’s Silver Cup crew gave BMW its biggest result of the weekend, scoring consistently enough to secure the overall team crown. ROWE Racing won both Spa and the Gold Cup in its first season in that class. The BMW M4 GT3 EVO ends 2026 with titles in several classes of the series, even though the Pro-class cars could not turn their pace into results at the finale.

Facts: GT World Challenge Europe finale, Portimão

  • Overall team champion: Team WRT (also Sprint team champion)
  • Gold Cup Endurance drivers’ champions: Jens Klingmann, Tim Tramnitz, Ugo de Wilde (#998, ROWE Racing)
  • Gold Cup Endurance team champion: ROWE Racing
  • Silver Cup race win: #30 Team WRT, 5th overall
  • Bronze Cup: #42 Oman Racing by Century Motorsport 3rd, #991 Paradine Competition 4th
  • Race length: Three hours
  • Car: BMW M4 GT3 EVO

The 2026 GT World Challenge Europe season ended with the Portimão race.

Source: www.press.bmwgroup.com