• Mercedes-AMG and Porsche go back and forth at the top as season heads past half-distance
• Ferrari closing on leaders with strong scores on all four continents
• Three-week summer break followed by triple-header on 29/30 August

 

The battle for the GT World Challenge powered by AWS title is finely poised as Mercedes-AMG and Porsche continue to trade places at the top of the global standings. Just 29 points separate the front-runners with 27 of 46 events complete, while a third contender has emerged with serious championship aspirations. 

 

There have already been five lead changes between the German brands, with Mercedes-AMG most recently reclaiming the advantage following the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup event at Magny-Cours. Porsche reduced the gap with victory in the second of the weekend’s races, aided by a rare off day for the AMG contingent.

 

But don't think this is a two-horse race. Ferrari has matched Porsche and outscored Mercedes-AMG across the past seven rounds, which began with a GT World Challenge doubleheader on 13/14 June as both Australia and America returned to action. 

 

The former was at Queensland Raceway, where Will Davison and Renee Gracie gave Ferrari its third victory of the season. Gracie laid the foundations with a stellar opening stint before two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Davison brought the OnlyFans-liveried car home. This was a significant result, with Gracie becoming the first female winner of a GT World Challenge race since the global contest launched in 2019. 

 

Race 2 went to Mercedes-AMG as Brendon Leitch and Sergio Pires put Tigani Motorsport on top for the fourth time in six races Down Under. The Geyer Valmont Racing-backed entry benefitted from Leitch's strong opening stint, followed by a mature run to the flag from Pires. 

 

GT World Challenge America tackled Road Atlanta, just north of Braselton, Georgia. Its sweeping elevation changes and high-speed corners proved to be the ideal venue for Mercedes-AMG, with JMF Motorsports taking a one-two finish. The Pro-Am pairing of Jason Daskalos and Philip Ellis led the way for the Canadian squad, Ellis passing fellow factory driver Mikael Grenier with less than 20 minutes remaining to secure another AMG victory. 

 

Archangel Motorsports completed the podium with its McLaren, while Porsche's best finisher was one spot back in P4. This allowed Mercedes-AMG to put significant distance between the leading duo, with 89 points the difference after the doubleheader. 

 

At this point, Porsche needed a win. And, given that the next round was the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa on 27/28 June, the incentive was significantly greater. The Lionspeed GP squad was considered to be among its strongest contenders heading into the marquee race, though its chance appeared to be over when the car required a pre-race engine change, consigning it to a pit lane start. 

 

Incredibly, the trio of Ricardo Feller, Thomas Preining and Bastian Buus carved though the 69-car field to secure one of the most remarkable victories in more than a century of endurance racing at Spa-Francorchamps. Mercedes-AMG captured a brilliant runner-up finish thanks to Winward Racing, which spent considerably less time in the pits than its chief rivals.

 

Ferrari was third, though the AF Corse-run entry was arguably the fastest package at this year's race. The sister car took fourth, ensuring that Ferrari outscored Mercedes-AMG at Spa-Francorchamps; so too did Porsche, which trimmed the gap at the top to just 15 points. Try as it might, AMG could not shake its pursuers.

 

The theme continued when racing resumed two weeks later at Fuji, which hosted the third GT World Challenge Asia event on 11/12 July. Ferrari took the opening race with Liu Kaishun and David Chen Weian sharing Harmony Racing's 296. They led home LM Corsa to give the Prancing Horse a one-two, ahead of Origine Motorsport's ever-present Porsche. 

 

The Origine entry had undergone something of a makeover ahead of the Fuji weekend, with its purple livery replaced by a more minimalist black colour scheme. 2025’s championship runner-up Lu Wei was joined by one of Weissach’s top factory drivers, Laurin Heinrich, to secure the victory. Phantom Global made it a Porsche one-two, with Team KRC finishing third to give BMW its first Asian podium of 2026.

 

Ferrari led the scoring at Fuji, beating Porsche by a single point. Mercedes-AMG, meanwhile, took just four points from the Japanese circuit, allowing Porsche to jump ahead with an advantage of 45. For the fifth time in 2026, the weekend concluded with a different name at the top of the table. 

 

Misano came next, the long-time GT World Challenge Europe venue hosting its event on 18/19 July. The Italian track has long been a stronghold for Team WRT, be it with the Audi R8 or during its more recent partnership with BMW, and the Belgian squad underlined this dominance by sweeping the weekend with its flagship crew of Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde. Mercedes-AMG also enjoyed a good showing on the Adriatic coast by scoring runner-up in Race 2 courtesy of Verstappen Racing and a brace of P3 finishes for Winward.

 

It was a mixed meeting for Porsche. Lionspeed finished as runner-up in Race 1 – and achieved the not inconsiderable feat of bettering Team WRT's pit stop times – but the Weissach marque did not score in Race 2. This was the first time that Porsche had failed to register points since the opening weekend at Phillip Island, allowing AMG to bring the gap back down to 25. 

 

Like Misano, Darwin's Hidden Valley Raceway is a stone's throw from the ocean. And, as at Misano, the opening race began with cars pointing the wrong way. Team BRM’s Mark Rosser managed to dodge the carnage in his Audi, handing over to Alex Peroni to seal victory. Tigani Motorsport gave Mercedes-AMG a P2 finish with the OnlyFans Racing Ferrari in third.

 

Audi completed a weekend sweep in Race 2 as the Kelso Electrical Team MPC pairing of Brad Schumacher and Broc Feeney reestablished themselves at the top of the championship standings. Wolfbrook Motorsport Team BRM was second with its paring of Ryan Wood and Steve Brooks, while Ferrari outfit Zagame Autosport took its first podium of 2026. Audi's reward for a near-perfect weekend was a tally of 80 points – matching the biggest score this season for a sprint meeting – while AMG cut Porsche’s gap to just 19 ahead of GT World Challenge Europe’s trip to Magny-Cours.

 

At the halfway stage in the European season, Mercedes-AMG was without a win – though it had scored five runner-up finishes from a possible seven. Verstappen Racing was searching for its maiden overall triumph and made the breakthrough thanks to the all-star duo of Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella. Comtoyou Racing and AF Corse completed the podium for Aston Martin and Ferrari respectively. 

 

Porsche scored just six points in the opening contest but made amends in the second run thanks to another stellar drive – and another remarkably rapid pit stop – from Lionspeed GP. In a race that could have been won by Aston Martin, McLaren or BMW, it was the 911 of Feller and Buus that took the spoils. 

 

Team WRT was runner-up with its M4, the Silver Cup entry of Matisse Lismont and Ignacio Montenegro making the undercut work to brilliant effect. Third place was also significant, with Rutronik Racing giving the new Lamborghini Temerario its first-ever GT World Challenge podium.

 

Mercedes-AMG was not a factor in Race 2, allowing Porsche to mitigate the damage done by Verstappen’s victory. Nevertheless, the lead changed hands once again with AMG moving 29 points clear at the top of the standings. While Porsche remains its most potent threat, neither can afford to ignore Ferrari, which is 95 points back but consistently reducing the deficit. 

 

There is then a sizable gap to BMW, which retains fourth but is under considerable pressure from Audi following a string of good weekends for the R8. McLaren, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Ford and Chevrolet complete the table.

 

There is now a three-week break – the longest pause between March and November – before battle resumes with a three-in-one weekend on 29/30 August. The results in Asia (Okayama), America (Road America) and Europe (Nürburgring) could provide a clearer picture of which brand holds the advantage – or, just as likely, close the gap at the front even further.