The 2026 GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS is a planned motor racing championship for GT3 cars, marking the 13th edition of the GT World Challenge Europe. Organised by the SRO Motorsports Group, it will form the European part of the broader GT World Challenge, which will also include GT World Challenge America, GT World Challenge Australia and GT World Challenge Asia.
The championship will split into the Endurance Cup and the Sprint Cup, each with its respective titles, alongside the overall GT World Challenge Europe championship. The season will take place over ten rounds at various European circuits. The annual season prologue, which acts as the championship's pre-season testing, is scheduled to take place between 8 and 9 April, with testing for the 24 Hours of Spa occurring between 19 and 20 May. Racing is planned to commence in April and conclude in October.
All Sprint Cup rounds consist of two one-hour races, totalling 15 races throughout the season, alongside the single 3-hour (Monza, Nürburgring and Portimão), 6-hour (Paul Ricard), or 24-hour (Spa) races in Endurance Cup rounds.
2026 is scheduled to feature a largely unchanged calendar. With the only significant alterations being the return of the Algarve International Circuit as the season finale, marking its first appearance since 2015, and Circuit Zandvoort being moved from May to September.
Bronze Cup entries will not compete at the Brands Hatch round and will instead begin their Sprint Cup season at Misano World Circuit, the second round of the Sprint Cup and the fifth round of the season.
Rutronik Racing, last season's Endurance Cup winners and former Porsche partners, will switch to Lamborghini for 2026. The team will enter the new Lamborghini Temerario GT3 in the Pro class, with Patric Niederhauser and Luca Engstler competing in all 10 rounds.
Boutsen VDS, following its split from Mercedes-AMG, will field two full-season Porsche entries. Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Picariello are confirmed for one car, while Gilles Magnus and Robin Knutsson will compete in the Gold Cup with the other. Additional Porsche entries will be provided by Dinamic GT, Razoon â more than racing, and Ziggo Tempesta Racing.
Verstappen Racing returns for a second season, now competing with a Mercedes-AMG for the overall championship. Chris Lulham, last year's Gold Cup champion, will partner with Mercedes-AMG factory driver Daniel Juncadella. Winward RacingâÂÂs Mann-Filter No. 48 car returns for a third year with Lucas Auer and Maro Engel. The team will also field a Bronze Cup car for Marvin Dienst and Rinat Salikhov. GetSpeed will enter two full-season Mercedes-AMGs: the No. 6 Silver Cup with Anthony Bartone and Aurélien Panis, and the No. 12 Bronze Cup with Gabriel Rindone and Fabian Schiller. 2 Seas Motorsport will run the No. 222 Mercedes-AMG, driven by 2025 British GT champions Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss.
Valentino Rossi will return full-time in 2026, driving the No. 46 Team WRT BMW alongside Max Hesse. Last season, he competed only at Spa and Misano. In the No. 32 Pro car, reigning champions Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts will defend their title, joined by Jordan Pepper for the Endurance Cup. Pepper will also race full-time, sharing duties with the No. 31 Sprint Cup car. The No. 30 entry will feature Matisse Lismont and Ignacio Montenegro in the Silver Cup. Century Motorsport and Paradine Competition will each enter a full-season BMW in the Bronze Cup.
Comtoyou Racing will expand its European program with three full-season Aston Martin entries in 2026. Nicki Thiim will drive the No. 7 for overall honours. Kobe Pauwels will alternate between the No. 7 in Sprint Cup rounds and the No. 21 Silver Cup entry in Endurance rounds, sharing the No. 21 with Oliver Söderström who also competes the full season. Marcelo Tomasoni will drive the No. 11 Bronze Cup entry in all rounds. Walkenhorst Motorsport will also field Aston Martins: the No. 34 will compete in the Pro class for Endurance and Silver Cup for Sprint, while the No. 35 will remain in Silver.
CSA Racing will field two full-season McLaren entries. James Kell and Arthur Rougier will drive the No. 111 in both the Sprint and Endurance Gold Cup. Romain Andriolo will compete in the No. 555, entering the Gold Cup for Sprint and Silver Cup for Endurance, with Simon Gachet sharing driving duties across both cars. Garage 59 will also enter two McLarens: Marvin Kirchhöfer and Dean MacDonald in the No. 59 Pro car, and Tom Fleming and Louis Prette in the No. 58 Gold Cup entry. Optimum Motorsport will complete the McLaren line-up with Guilherme Oliveira and Mikey Porter contesting the Gold Cup.
Reigning Bronze Cup champions Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall will return in 2026, sharing the No. 74 Kessel Racing car after their dominant 2025 season. AF Corse will continue with Arthur Leclerc in the No. 50 and will also field two additional full-season Ferraris.
After ending its factory sports car program, Audi will return to the overall championship for the first time since 2024 with Eastalent Racing. Christopher Haase and Simon Reicher will drive the No. 84 in all 2026 rounds.
Championship points are awarded for the first ten positions in each race. The pole-sitter in each class also receives one point and entries are required to complete 75% of the winning car's race distance in order to be classified and earn points. Individual drivers are required to participate for a minimum of 25 minutes in order to earn championship points in any race. In the teams' standings, only the best-placed car for each team is classified.
Points are awarded after six hours, after twelve hours and at the finish.
Additionally, points are awarded to the top 3 in Superpole.
Drivers compete for their respective GT World Challenge Powered by AWS championships which are split into Overall, Gold, Silver and Bronze titles.