Raffaele Marciello set the early benchmark as the GT World Challenge (GTWC) Europe Endurance Cup field began its competitive part of the Nürburgring weekend with Free Practice 1 (FP1) on Saturday morning.
The #98 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO led a closely contested 90-minute session, with Marciello’s 1:54.855 proving enough to keep Arthur Rougier’s Gold Cup-leading CSA Racing McLaren at bay. Five different manufacturers occupied the top five, while just one second covered the fastest 29 cars in the 55-car field.
Marciello strikes early for ROWE Racing
Marciello wasted little time establishing himself at the front of the order, setting his fastest lap on the third tour in the #98 BMW he shares with Augusto Farfus and Jake Dennis. His 1:54.855 remained unbeaten for the rest of the session and gave ROWE Racing the perfect start to a weekend at a circuit where the squad enjoyed victory last season.
Arthur Rougier emerged as Marciello’s closest challenger in the #111 CSA Racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVO. The Frenchman recorded a 1:54.970, ending the session just 0.115s away from the overall benchmark while comfortably leading the Gold Cup classification. Jules Gounon placed the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing entry third with a 1:55.020. The Mercedes-AMG finished only 0.165s behind Marciello as Gounon, Dani Juncadella and Chris Lulham began their preparations for the three-hour race.
Team WRT’s #46 BMW followed in fourth courtesy of Max Hesse, while Jamie Day completed the top five for natural elements by Walkenhorst Motorsport. Day’s 1:55.100 put the #34 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO just 0.245s off the pace. The variety at the front meant BMW, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Aston Martin all featured inside the first five positions, highlighting the tightly matched nature of the field from the beginning of the weekend.
Class contenders make strong starts
Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed placed sixth with the #17 Mercedes-AMG of Maxime Martin, Maximilian Götz and Fabian Schiller. Schiller set a 1:55.115, finishing only 0.260s behind the session-leading BMW. HRT Ford Racing followed in seventh with its #64 Ford Mustang GT3 EVO, while Thierry Vermeulen put the revised #60 JMW Motorsport Ferrari line-up eighth overall. Vermeulen shares the car with Konsta Lappalainen and Tim Heinemann at the Nürburgring.
Team WRT also made an impressive start in the Silver Cup. Matisse Lismont took the #30 BMW to ninth overall with a 1:55.302 and placed the championship-contending crew at the head of its class. The team arrived at the Nürburgring with an opportunity to secure the Silver Cup title during the weekend. Alex Aka rounded out the overall top 10 aboard the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II. His effort also gave the team second place in the Gold Cup behind the CSA Racing McLaren.
Marvin Dienst led the Bronze Cup from 11th overall in the #87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG. Dienst posted a 1:55.339, with Colin Caresani finishing just 0.041s behind in the #177 Grupo Prom Racing Team Mercedes-AMG.
Tight margins underline competitive opening session
The small gaps extended deep into the field, with exactly one second separating Marciello from the car in 29th position. The tightly packed order demonstrated how little margin separated the teams during the opening 90 minutes of running. FP1 at the 2026 GTWC Europe Endurance Cup weekend at the Nürburgring ran largely without incident. Race control briefly stopped proceedings to allow marshals to clear gravel from the circuit, but the session featured no serious accidents.
The opening session therefore offered few clear conclusions about the competitive order. ROWE Racing set the outright pace, but several manufacturers featured towards the front, while the leading Gold, Silver and Bronze Cup entries all ran close to the overall top 10. With such narrow margins throughout the field, FP1 suggested that the battle at the Nürburgring would remain finely balanced as teams continued their preparations across the remainder of the weekend.
GTWC Europe Endurance Cup Nürburgring FP1 full results
