The long wait is over! Everything is ready for the 2025 season of the International GT Open to kick off, on 24-27 April, in the beautiful and challenging Autódromo do Algarve in Portimão (4,684 km) as per the tradition. Following a stellar season in 2024, all the ingredients are there for another great season, in quantity and quality, spectacular action and a close fight at the top.
2025 is a year of milestones, as this will be the 20th edition of the series, launched in 2006 by GT Sport. Later in the year, at the Hungaroring, it will be time to celebrate the 300th GT Open race.
Again, the series will include eight events, with Spa and Monza hosting a GT Open 500, i.e. a single endurance race of 500 km.Thirty-two cars are entered in the first round, of which 30 are full-season, and the number of additional entries in selected events is on the rise. At the moment, six car brands are represented (Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes and Porsche).
Looking at the season about to start, Jesús Pareja, CEO of GT Sport is confident: “It is rewarding to see that the trend initiated in the last couple of years is confirmed. We have a great grid, with a lot of new entrants and more young drivers, who turn to GT racing to build their professional present and future. All this fresh blood is making the competition fiercer and offering fans a terrific show, as we saw last year. We will continue working hard to keep the GT Open at the highest level and as one of the preferred platforms for Pro, Pro-Am and Am GT racing in Europe.”
PRO: MORE CARS, MORE TITLE CANDIDATES – With 13 cars entered at the Algarve, and six car brands represented, the Pro class is growing, both in numbers and candidates to victory.
Sporting the #1, reigning champions Simon Reicher and Christopher Haase are back to defend their title, always faithful to their Audi R8 LMS entered by Austrian outfit Eastalent Racing.
Mercedes will be very well represented with two teams that need no presentation, both fielding two AMGs. At GetSpeed, Anthony Bartone and Fabian Schiller are back for a second campaign together, joined by the new pair formed by Mexico’s Marcelo Ramírez and Estonian star Ralf Aron. Team Motopark is also back, with renewed line-ups, as GT rookie Levente Révész from Hungary is paired to GT star Matteo Cairoli, and Robert Viseiu and Niklas Krütten share another car. The Stuttgart delegation is completed by one car of new entry BDR Grupo Prom RT, entrusted to a Mexican-Belgian pair Luis Michael Dörrbecker-Amaury Bonduel.
Oregon Team is another faithful contender continuing its journey in the series and the top Lamborghini team. The Italian squad will defend its Teams’ title with two cars in the top class for Antoine Doquin-Artem Petrov and Robin Rogalski-Filip Ugran.
Also McLaren has a two-car presence in the class, thanks to two British teams familiar with the series and fielding both great young talents. Optimum Motorsport entrusts its 720S to Michael Porter and Zak Meakin while Greystone GT enters Dean Macdonald and James Kell, winners at the Monza GT Open 500 last year.
Youth is also the key word for the Prancing Horse representatives, as Carl Bennett and Tommaso Mosca will defend the colours of AF Corse, and GT squad Elite Motorsport makes its debut in the series with Britons Tom Lebbon and Tom Emson.
One of the best Porsche teams is also at the start: Italy’s Dinamic GT is back to the series with a 911 R for the Russian pair Alexey Nesov-Maksim Kizilov.
PRO-AM: A STRONG CORE OF THE BUSINESS – With no surprise, the Pro-Am class continues to be the best-attended one and promises exciting action as always. No less than twelve teams are present in this class.
Mercedes will have the strongest presence: another faithful contender as SPS automotive performance will field two cars, for Dexter Müller-Yannick Metller in their third season together, and Valentin Pierburg-Dominik Baumann, while GetSpeed enters Steve Jans-Aaron Walker and Ameerh Naran-Tom Jackson in the Vimana-backed car and Motopark entrusts its third AMG to Am reigning champion Heiko Neumann paired with Lukas Dunner.
The novelty in the Algarve will be Iron Lynx, the top Italian squad, who’ll make its debut in the series entering on a one-off basis an AMG for the Australian father-and-son pair of Stephen and Brenton Grove.
Car Collection is back this year with one Porsche for ‘Hash’-Alex Fontana, already seen last season, and another 911 R is fielded by Tsunami RT for Johannes Ziegler-Fabio Babini. The Sanmarinese squad graduates from the GT Cup Europe.
So does as well, in the Ferrari camp, Germany’s Mertel Motorsport, which enters a 488 for the reigning GT Cup Europe champions, Luca Ludwig-Iván Velasco. Poland’s Olimp Racing is back one more year, with the popular Marcin Jedlinski-Karol Basz pair now at the wheel of a 296, while AF Corse enters Laurent De Meeus associated with GT star Vincent Abril, and Austrian outfit Baron Motorsport fields a new duo, composed of Iran’s Masoud Jaberian and Edoardo Bacci from Italy.
Two Audi R8 LMS are present in the class, as Czechia’s Team ISR are back with Libor Milota-Filip Salaquarda and Saintéloc Racing will take part in their first ful campaign with Michael Blanchemain and returnee Marcus Påverud.
AM: NEW GENTLEMEN ON THE STARTING BLOCKS – There will be new faces in the Am class, by virtue also of a small regulatory change, which now allows pairs composed of a Bronze driver with a Silver driver over 40 years of age, along the usual Bronze-Bronze pairing.
This is why the AF Corse tandem composed of Gino Forgione and Michele Rugolo will be fighting in this class with their Ferrari. The will have as contenders the other 296 of Olimp Racing, with Am regulars Stanislaw Jedlinski-Krystian Korzeniowski.
An absolute novelty will be the Porsche of Team Thor, fielding Audunn Gudmunsson and Thorvaldur Gissurarson: this will be the all-Icelandic outfit to ever enter the series.
The only solo driver in the class this year (except at the GT Open 500 races, of course) is Mexico’s Alfredo Hernández, who debut at the wheel of a Mercedes AMG by BDR Grupo Prom RT.
Last but certainly not least, top team Garage 59 is back to the series, entering a McLaren 720S for Mark Sansom and Muguel Ramos. The latter of course is anything but a new face in the series. The Portuguese, who will be a true local hero at Portimão, is back after some years to a series where he has spent many seasons. As a matter of fact, he co-holds the record of overall titles won (two) and of most race wins (20), and he is the single record holder of race starts (146). Figures that with no doubt he will try to improve!