•    Danny Soufi and Valentino Catalano charge to superb victory in Germany
•    Impressive performance from GMS Team in opening Nürburgring GP race
•    Aust Motorsport Ligier and No.8 BWT Mücke Duqueine complete podium
•    Second race starts at 09.00 local tomorrow – live at Creventic Motorsports TV

Nürburgring, Germany (4 July 2026):
Valentino Catalano and Danny Soufi produced a faultless run to victory in the first Prototype Cup Europe race of the weekend at Germany’s Nürburgring this morning, the GMS Team Ligier JS P325 duo taking the win by almost half a minute.

Soufi made no mistakes at the start of the race to lead cleanly into Turn One from pole and he built a healthy cushion over the rest, before handing the No.11 car over to Catalano at the mid-race pitstop. The outright win also gave Catalano victory in the Prototype Cup Europe Junior Championship.

Second place overall went to Aust Motorsport duo Maxim Dirickx and Nigel Moore, in the No.3 Ligier, while the BWT Mücke Motorsport duo of Mattis Pluschkell and Tobias Bille Clausen rounded out the podium in their No.8 Duqueine D09.

“It was an amazing race, the car was mega – GMS did a mega job with the car and I felt really comfortable”, said Catalano, “At the end it got tricky because the tyres were really worn, but I think the pace was still good. Danny did an awesome job in the first stint, so my life was a bit easier in the second stint. I’m really happy with the result, with the win, especially for the championship.”

Pole qualifier Soufi made a perfect launch to hold the lead into the first corner in the GMS Team Ligier, followed by the Aust Ligier of Dirickx who managed to get ahead of Pluschkell’s No.8 BWT Mücke Duqueine. 

Soufi immediately pulled away at the front while, a little further behind at the start of lap two, Linus Hellberg in the No.43 Allay Racing Ligier sought to grab sixth from the No.18 BWT Mücke Duqueine of Mads Kjelde Larsen. As Hellberg pulled alongside Larsen into Turn One, he almost tagged the rear of his brother Emil’s fifth placed Ligier at the apex and spun as a result – undoing his hard work.

As Soufi pulled away, reeling off fastest laps, Dirickx lost second place to a resurgent Pluschkell on lap three. Dirickx initially stayed with the Duqueine, but as the laps ticked by Pluschkell was able to move clear. 

The race leader stayed on track as the pit-stop window opened at mid-distance, the first car into pitlane was the fourth placed Larea GT1 Racing Duqueine of Zino Fahlke. Dirickx pitted soon after from third, handing over the Aust machine to Moore, as the top two continued on track with just over nine seconds between them.

With 27 minutes to go Pluschkell pitted from second, handing over the No.8 to Clausen, but Soufi continued to build his advantage yet further. Pitting next time around, the leader entered the pits with under 25 minutes to go – Catalano getting behind the wheel of the No.11.

With all stops completed, Catalano led for GMS Team by 11 seconds over the No.8 BWT Mücke car of Clausen, with Moore holding third for Aust and within just under four seconds of the Duqueine. Quickly catching the second placed car, Moore pushed incredibly hard – suffering a few lock-ups in the process – and with less than 15 minutes to go he was with Clausen.

Into Turn One on lap 22, Clausen had an unfortunate spin as Moore closed in and so the Aust Ligier moved through to second, thankfully just avoiding contact. Catalano, meanwhile, serenely motored on to a terrific winning margin of 27 seconds with Moore taking the flag 12 seconds clear of Clausen.

The closest finish came in the scrap for fourth. During the closing stages Emil Hellberg came under huge pressure from Fahlke and Pommer, nothing between the trio over the final few laps. Fahlke made some bold attempts to pass, with more than a few lairy moments leaving him open to attack from Pommer, but on lap 28 both he and Pommer finally made the breakthrough.

Emil Hellberg ended the race sixth, first place in the Prototype Cup Europe Trophy Championship, his brother Linus was seventh and just a fraction ahead of the P4 Racing Ligier of Louis Hamilton-Smith and Andrew Ferguson. 

Race two of the weekend for the Prototype Cup Europe competitors will begin at 09.00 local time tomorrow, Sunday, 5 July, with the action streamed live online at Creventic Motorsports TV via YouTube. Live timing and streaming links are available at www.prototype-cup-europe.com