Barwell Motorsport is well known for its prowess in the Silver Cup and Pro-Am Cup when it comes to GT World Challenge Europe, but the British team will embark in a new challenge for the 2025 season by joining the main game and fielding a car in the Pro Cup.
It is a limited program despite the major step, as their No. 78 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 will only contest the Sprint Cup rounds, but the drivers selected for the task know their way in short races, as Sandy Mitchell and Hugo Cook will do the driving, both with considerable experience in sprint races, in special the British GT champion Mitchell.
While Mitchell is a regular contender for British GT titles and has a long time with Barwell Motorsport, his European appearances were more limited to the Endurance Cup. He contested the last Sprint Cup season in a Bronze Cup entry, and while not comparable with the toughness of the Pro Cup competition, Mitchell and Rob Collard stood in tight contention for the class title with fellow countrymen Dan Harper and Darren Leung in their Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, which also appears in British GT.
Cook appeared recently in Lamborghini machinery, but his GT3 experience is centered towards the Audi R8 and Mercedes AMG, and having done mostly endurance racing in other championships, the 20 years old British driver will need some adaptation as he jumped for a single Sprint Cup weekend last year with Saintéloc Racing, which saw him and Ukranian Ivan Klymenko finish outside the top-15 at Brands Hatch.
Barwell’s step up is a good thing for Lamborghini, as the Italian manufacturer didn’t field a Pro Cup car in the Sprint Cup since 2023 with Vincenzo Sospiri Racing, although Liqui Moly Team Engstler had some near misses to the overall top-5 while being a Gold Cup entry. Add the fact that Iron Lynx departed Lamborghini’s customer list to join Mercedes in the FIA WEC LMGT3 class and here comes the fact that the manufacturer was in serious need of a sure frontrunner in the Sprint Cup while having Grässer Racing in this role for the Endurance Cup races.
The official test sessions for the 2025 GTWC Europe season will be held at Paul Ricard as usual next week, while the Sprint Cup will start only on 3 and 4 May at Brands Hatch, half a month after the overall and Endurance Cup seasons start with the Paul Ricard 1000, with the French circuit taking back the 6 hour format as Jeddah’s contract didn’t receive an extension after last year’s race.
PHOTO: Barwell Motorsport
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