Mercedes-AMG, Porsche and Ferrari will take the 2026 GT World Challenge powered by AWS manufacturers’ title fight into the final four events of the season after a dramatic run of results across all four continental championships.
Only six points separate Mercedes-AMG and Porsche at the top of the global manufacturers’ standings, while Ferrari sits 79 points behind the leader following an increasingly successful second half of the campaign. BMW and Audi occupy fourth and fifth, but the championship battle has developed into a three-way contest with six scoring races still to come.
Each continental series now has one event remaining. GT World Challenge America concludes at Indianapolis this weekend before Europe heads to Portimão, Asia finishes at Shanghai and Australia brings the global season to a close on the streets of Adelaide in December.
Audi makes its mark during three-series weekend
The championship resumed after a three-week break with its only triple-header of 2026 on 29-30 August, when Asia, Europe and America all staged events.
Audi enjoyed the strongest possible start to the weekend at Okayama, where Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom swept both GTWC Asia races. Cheng Congfu and Yu Kuai won the opener after Absolute Racing’s decision to switch to wet tyres failed to pay off, before Jaxon Evans and Andrés Pato completed the double in Race 2.
The second contest produced one of the closest finishes of the season. Pato held off championship leader Lu Wei by just 0.089s, completing an Audi sweep at Okayama while Porsche still collected valuable points through Origine Motorsport.
A few hours later, Aston Martin claimed its second global victory of the season at the Nürburgring. Nicki Thiim, Marco Sørensen and Mattia Drudi dominated for Comtoyou Racing, converting pole into victory ahead of Team WRT’s BMW and Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing. The latter’s first Endurance Cup podium added another important score to Mercedes-AMG’s global total during a weekend in which the Nürburgring race also settled the Endurance Cup Drivers’ title.
GTWC America then completed the weekend at Road America, where Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg delivered Turner Motorsport’s second win of the season. Their BMW beat the Mercedes-AMG entries from JMF Motorsports and TR3 Racing, although the pair of podium finishes helped Mercedes-AMG extend its global advantage at that stage of the campaign. The result also strengthened Turner’s domestic challenge as the Road America victory brought Foley and Rothberg closer to JMF in the Pro standings.
Australia and Zandvoort keep Mercedes-AMG ahead
GT World Challenge Australia and Europe returned to action on 19-20 September, with Mercedes-AMG initially strengthening its position through victory at Sydney.
Oscar Targett and Shane Smollen won for Kollosche AMG by Tigani Motorsport, giving Mercedes-AMG another global success while Targett continued his strong pursuit of the SRO GT Academy prize. Audi responded in Race 2 as Brad Schumacher and Broc Feeney triumphed for Kelso Electrical Melbourne Performance Centre, moving ahead in their attempt to secure consecutive Australian titles.
Zandvoort produced a more significant swing towards Ferrari. Garage 59 opened the GTWC Europe weekend with McLaren’s first overall victory of the season as Tom Fleming and Louis Prette defeated the Boutsen VDS Porsche, while Emil Frey Racing’s Ferrari finished third.
Ferrari then went one better in Race 2. Ben Green and Thierry Vermeulen took Emil Frey Racing to victory after Green passed the sister Ferrari of Konsta Lappalainen, while Lionspeed GP split the two 296 GT3 EVOs. The result helped Ferrari emerge as the highest-scoring manufacturer from the Dutch weekend and began to reduce the gap to the two German marques.
Mercedes-AMG still left Zandvoort with a 59-point advantage over Porsche, but the weekend provided an early indication that Ferrari could turn what had looked like a two-manufacturer fight into a three-way contest.
Ferrari gains momentum at Barber and Beijing
Ferrari continued its late-season charge at Barber Motorsports Park one week later. Matías Pérez Companc and Frederik Schandorff took AF Corse USA to victory in the three-hour GTWC America race, finishing ahead of JMF Motorsports’ Mercedes-AMG and Archangel Motorsport’s McLaren.
The victory marked Ferrari’s first outright GTWC America success since 2023 and made AF Corse the first team to win on two continents during the 2026 campaign. It also strengthened Pérez Companc’s domestic title hopes, with the Barber victory moving him to within nine points of the GTWC America lead.
Ferrari then made it three consecutive global victories when GTWC Asia visited Beijing. Liu Kaishun and series debutant Takuro Shinohara controlled the opening race for Harmony Racing after starting from pole, while the second contest produced one of the championship’s most dramatic comeback stories.
A fire had badly damaged Huang Ruohan and Alessandro Ghiretti’s Absolute Racing Porsche on Friday, but the team rebuilt its entry overnight before Ghiretti secured pole. Huang later completed the recovery by winning Race 2, with Lu Wei and Loek Hartog taking second after a penalty dropped Cheng and Yu to third. The Beijing turnaround reduced Lu’s GTWC Asia championship lead to five points and also delivered another sizeable score for Porsche in the global contest.
Ferrari one-two at Barcelona transforms global battle
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya provided Ferrari with another opportunity to close the gap during the GTWC Europe Sprint Cup finale.
Heavy rain shaped Race 1, where Alex Aka and Dylan Pereira secured victory for Tresor Attempto Racing’s Audi. Ricardo Feller and Bastian Buus finished second for Lionspeed GP and wrapped up the Sprint Cup title, while Rutronik Racing’s Lamborghini Temerario completed the podium.
Ferrari then delivered one of its most important results of the global season in Race 2. Green and Vermeulen controlled the contest for Emil Frey Racing, while Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer finished second for AF Corse to secure the marque’s first Sprint Cup one-two.
The Barcelona finale ended with Ferrari occupying the top two positions while the leading Mercedes-AMG finished fifth and Porsche failed to score. That combination reduced Mercedes-AMG’s global advantage over Porsche to only six points and brought Ferrari to within 79 of the lead.
The Italian manufacturer’s recent form has consequently transformed the championship picture. Mercedes-AMG remains in control, but it can no longer rely on the sizeable advantage it carried through much of the summer, while Porsche remains close enough to take the lead with one strong weekend.
2026 GT World Challenge global manufacturers’ standings
Mercedes-AMG leads the 2026 GT World Challenge global standings on 1,065 points, but Porsche sits only six points behind. Ferrari has closed to within 79 points of the lead, while BMW and Audi remain closely matched for fourth.
- Mercedes-AMG — 1,065 points
- Porsche — 1,059 points
- Ferrari — 986 points
- BMW M — 696 points
- Audi Sport — 657 points
- McLaren — 283 points
- Lamborghini — 200 points
- Aston Martin — 191 points
- Ford — 84 points
- Corvette — 0 points
The standings underline the separation that has developed between the leading trio and the rest of the field. Mercedes-AMG and Porsche are effectively level heading into the final four weekends, while Ferrari’s recent run has transformed what had looked like an all-German contest into a genuine three-brand title fight. BMW sits 290 points behind Ferrari but holds a 39-point advantage over Audi in the battle for fourth, with McLaren, Lamborghini and Aston Martin following at a considerable distance.
Four events to decide 2026 GT World Challenge title
GTWC America will provide the first opportunity for the three manufacturers to alter the standings when its season concludes at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on 10-11 October. The domestic Pro championship also remains open, with Mercedes-AMG, Ferrari and BMW crews entering the Indianapolis finale firmly in title contention.
Europe follows at Portimão on 17-18 October with a three-hour Endurance Cup race. Mercedes-AMG will have another high-profile opportunity to add points, with Max Verstappen among the drivers set to represent the marque as the European campaign reaches its conclusion.
Attention then shifts to Shanghai on 31 October-1 November. Porsche enters the GTWC Asia finale with significant championship momentum after Huang and Ghiretti’s Beijing victory and Lu’s continued consistency for Origine Motorsport, while Audi and Ferrari have also demonstrated race-winning pace throughout the Asian campaign.
Adelaide will stage the final two scoring races of the global season on 5-6 December. With Mercedes-AMG and Porsche separated by only six points and Ferrari having rapidly reduced its deficit, the Australian finale could ultimately determine which manufacturer succeeds Porsche as — or allows it to retain — the GT World Challenge powered by AWS global crown.
