Five rounds into the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign and the LMGT3 battle is simmering away nicely, with at least three different marques firmly in the mix for glory – and a familiar name at the top of the table...
Reigning champion Manthey’s title defence got off to a slow start in the Qatar curtain-raiser, where the Manthey 1st Phorm car piloted by Ryan Hardwick, Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera both started and finished outside of the top ten – around a circuit where the Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 had dominated 12 months earlier.
If Manthey’s rivals thought the tide was turning, however, they were swiftly forced to think again. In round two at Imola, the #92 trio produced a strategic masterclass to convert seventh on the grid into a first victory of the season, as Lietz artfully withstood the pressure applied by a hard-charging Kelvin van der Linde (#46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo) in a tense duel that went right the way to the chequered flag.
The Manthey crew triumphed again two months later at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – repeating the Eifel-based team’s 2024 success in the legendary twice-round-the-clock contest – to vault to the summit of the standings, and that is where they remain following a sixth-place finish in São Paulo, 13 points clear of their closest pursuer with 91 still to play for over the final three outings.
That closest pursuer is Vista AF Corse’s #21 Ferrari 296 LMGT3. Alessio Rovera, Simon Mann and François Heriau won at Spa-Francorchamps and scooped the runner-up spoils at La Sarthe, with the Italian – a Ferrari factory driver – receiving particular praise for his performances. They were denied another shot at a trophy at Imola when Mann was the victim of a collision with Valentino Rossi.
TF Sport’s #33 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R came out-of-the-blocks quickest to prevail in Qatar – where Daniel Juncadella fended off a fired-up Grégoire Saucy (#59 United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo) in a thrilling fight to the finish – but the Spaniard and stablemates Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating have yet to reach the rostrum again, causing them to slip to third in the overall ranking.
They are just nine points in front of the #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3, with José María López, Clemens Schmid and Petru Umbrărescu finally converting the promise shown by the Jérôme Policand-helmed squad all year to triumph in Brazil last month – making Toyota’s premium brand FIA WEC’s newest winner.
The #81 Corvette and #78 Lexus are next in the order – the former climbing the classification off the back of consecutive podium appearances at Le Mans and Interlagos, and the latter tallying three top five finishes including a rostrum result at Imola.
Aston Martin factory driver Mattia Drudi qualified Heart of Racing Team’s Vantage AMR LMGT3 on pole position at Le Mans, but the #27 line-up has so far fallen short of the podium in 2025. The similar car run by Racing Spirit of Léman did, however, have cause to celebrate in São Paulo, as head-turning rookie Eduardo Barrichello sent the partisan crowd into rapture with a late charge to third on home soil.
Completing the top ten, the #59 United Autosports McLaren has yet to repeat its Qatar heroics – drawing a blank from the subsequent three rounds before returning to the points with eighth place in Brazil – while the #54 Vista AF Corse entry has generally struggled to match the form of its headline-grabbing sister car, a trip to the Spa podium aside.
The chase for the crown will continue with the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans at Texas’ Circuit of The Americas on 5-7 September.
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