The stars of international GT racing gathered in Venice on Saturday evening (22 November) to mark the end of the 2025 season at the annual SRO Motorsports Group Awards.
This year's celebration was staged at the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a striking example of Renaissance architecture located in the north of the historic Italian city. Inspired by Roman classicism, the building has been developed into a modern events space that fuses the past and present of Venetian style.
On Saturday evening it welcomed some of the biggest names in world motorsport. Among the prize-winners, Mercedes-AMG retained the global GT World Challenge powered by AWS title for a seventh year in succession, while BMW completed a successful defence of the GT4 Manufacturer Ranking. These prestigious awards were collected by Chris Sagemueller (Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport) and Daniela Schmid (BMW M Motorsport Head of Race and Test Organisation) respectively.
The Bavarian manufacturer also collected its first Intercontinental GT Challenge manufacturers’ title after winning four of the season's five events. Indeed, the only IGTC round at which BMW did not scale the top step of the podium was the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, which was won for the very first time by Lamborghini. The victorious Grasser Racing trio of Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper and Luca Engstler were on hand to celebrate this landmark triumph for the Italian manufacturer.
Ferrari factory ace Antonio Fuoco was in Venice less than a week after clinching FIA GT World Cup glory on the streets of Macau. The champions of GT World Challenge Europe, GT World Challenge Asia and Intercontinental GT Challenge were presented with their trophies, while representatives from SRO’s American and Australian series joined the festivities after staging their own awards ceremonies on home soil.
Though GT racing is first and foremost a team pursuit, the evening also included several individual honours. First presented in 2019, the Philippe Charriol Award recognises an outstanding amateur driver in memory of the late French racer. This year's recipient was Ajith Kumar who displayed both passion and sportsmanship during his debut season in the GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club whilst also promoting the championship to his considerable fanbase.
Kiern Jewiss received the Allan Simonsen Award, which is presented annually to a British GT driver who embodies the same speed and spirit as the much-missed Danish ace. Jewiss was crowned GT3 champion this year after a stellar debut campaign alongside Charles Dawson at 2 Seas Motorsport.
Aimed at unearthing the next generation of racing talent, the SRO GT Academy was launched in 2025 as part of the FFSA French GT Championship. Its inaugural winner was 19-year-old Gaspard Simon, who will receive vital support as he makes the step up to either GT World Challenge Europe or the GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli next season.
The GT World Challenge Promoters Award marked another new addition to the list of prizes. The inaugural winner was Zou Sirui, who was recognised for successfully delivering the season-closing GT World Challenge Asia round in Beijing. The event was the first street circuit to feature on Asia’s calendar and drew an attendance of 30,000 fans, the largest ever for the series.
On a busy day of trophy presentations, there was further recognition for the top performers in the GT2 European Series, GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club, FFSA French GT Championship, FFSA TC France, British GT Championship, Japan Cup, SRO GT Cup, and IGTC Independent Cup.
The evening also presented an opportunity for SRO Motorsports Group to celebrate the essential partnerships that it enjoys around the world. The distinguished guests included Pierre Fillon (President of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest); Frédéric Lequien (CEO of the FIA World Endurance Championship); Masaaki Bandoh (President of Super GT); Thomas Voss (ADAC Motorsport Director); and representatives from the many series that run categories and services under licence from SRO.
The company’s ongoing sustainability efforts were acknowledged, too. SRO continued to reduce its own environmental impact throughout 2025 while encouraging best practices from competitors, partners and stakeholders alike.
Saturday evening’s ceremony brought the curtain down on a packed 2025 season which has seen SRO organise some 200 races around the globe, ranging from sprint contests to the flagship CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. The months ahead present an opportunity to recharge before what promises to be an equally busy 2026, which launches in style when the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour kicks off the new IGTC season on 13–15 February.
