- Japanese brand a little over 100 points clear of defending global champion BMW
- Race wins for all nine brands across opening third of 2026 campaign
- Upcoming events include combined British-French grid at Spa Speedweek
- GT4 Manufacturer Ranking standings
Toyota has consolidated its advantage at the top of the GT4 Manufacturer Ranking table, but defending champion BMW has emerged as a serious contender to retain its crown after a strong set of performances in America and Europe.
The Supra was the star of the opening five rounds, recording four victories and surging to the top of the global standings with 296 points. That was nearly double the amount of its nearest challenger BMW, which failed to win during the initial run of races.
The Bavarian marque is now firmly in contention after hitting its stride with three wins and a clutch of podiums, though Toyota has continued to score well and rack up the victories. The recent stretch of events began on the weekend of 25/26 April with three series in action.
M4 to the fore with wins in U.S. and Germany
BMW began its fightback with a much-needed victory in the Pirelli GT4 America contest at COTA. The three-hour Lone Star Enduro was won by Random Vandals pairing Kenton Koch and Sam Craven, who beat Porsche squads Nolasport and ACI in the marquee event.
There was more good news for BMW when the ADAC GT4 Germany season launched at the Red Bull Ring. The opening contest was won by FK Performance Motorsport's combination of experience and youth, with Gabriele Piana collecting his 18th series victory alongside 18-year-old debutant Benjamin Sylvestersson. Porsche again finished second and third, this time thanks to a pair of W&S entries.
Jan Philipp Springob and Philipp Gogollok gave Aston Martin its first win of the year in Race 2, the COSY Racing by ESM duo beating FK's BMW and one of the four-car W&S Porsche contingent. The ADAC opener resulted in a major points swing towards BMW – which is always strong in its home series – with a score of 65 to Toyota's 12.
British GT also ran a three-hour race on the final weekend in April when Silverstone staged its blue riband meeting. For the first time since joining the global contest this year, Ginetta collected the overall GT4 win thanks to a controlled drive from the Innovation pairing of Thomas Holland and Hadley Simpson. MK Racing took runner-up with its Aston Martin, while Optimum Motorsport rounded out the podium for McLaren.
The upshot of the races in America, Germany and Britain was that BMW slashed Toyota's advantage from well over 100 points to just 10. This demonstrated just how quickly the tide can turn – and that when it comes to GT4 racing, BMW should never be discounted.
Toyota hits back, GT4 Italian Series debuts at Misano
After a one-week break the campaign resumed with a vengeance on 9/10 May. Four different series were in action, the first of only two such weekends on the calendar.
Monochrome GT4 Australia was at The Bend for its second round of the season, which began with Blake Purdie and Jobe Stewart scoring Audi's first win of the year aboard their Purdie Racing-run R8. Miedecke Motorsport was second with its Ford Mustang, while McElrea Racing took P3 for BMW.
History was made in Race 2 when teenager Summer Rintoule became the first woman to secure victory in Monochrome GT4 Australia, triumphing alongside Jarrod Hughes in their Method Motorsport McLaren. BMW (Thunder Buddies) and Toyota (Exedra Motorsport) also scored podiums to complete a very competitive weekend Down Under.
A fortnight on from COTA, Pirelli GT4 America resumed its traditional two-race format at Sebring. This time it was Porsche's turn to score big, with RS1 sweeping the weekend thanks to Luca Mars and Spencer Pumpelly. Like the aforementioned Piana-Sylvestersson pairing, this is a classic example of youth and experience combining to good effect. Auto Technic (BMW) and RAFA Racing (Toyota) shared the runner-up finishes, while Random Vandals bagged a brace of P3 results at the Florida track.
In China, SRO GT Cup staged its second round of the season at the Zhuhai International Circuit. Located in Guangdong Province, the venue was the first to be constructed in China and hosted its maiden international race in 1996 when the BPR Global GT Series visited for a four-hour enduro.
Returning to 2026, defending series champion Han Lichao swept the weekend aboard his Toyota. The TGR China ace won both from teammate Huang Kuisheng to significantly bolster Toyota's global assault.
There are not many obvious parallels between Zhuhai and Misano, but it is a fact that both host GT4 events and both are well suited to the Supra. When the GT4 Italian Series staged its inaugural race at the seaside venue, it was Gazoo Racing Sweden that took both wins courtesy of Maximilian Bostrom and his British teammate Henry Joslyn. With an 18-car grid featuring eight brands, this was a successful debut for the latest addition to global GT4 racing.
Mercedes-AMG delivers star performance at Monza
The four-event weekend changed the competitive picture again, with Toyota building its lead back to 55 points. It would pull even further clear when Championnat de France FFSA GT staged its second event of the year at Dijon-Prenois on 16/17 May. As was the case at the opener, both races were won by a non-competing brand. Toyota capitalised, performing best among the eligible scorers to pull 136 points clear of BMW.
One week later, British GT was at Oulton Park for a pair of sprint races. BMW prevailed in the opening contest thanks to Century's dragon-liveried M4, shared by Branden Templeton and Jack Collins, who edged the MK Racing Aston Martin and Innovation's Ginetta.
In the second outing, Grange Racing by FSR became the first Pro-Am entry to win overall this term thanks to Darren Turner and Daniel Lavery, who led an Aston Martin one-two ahead of the MK car of Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton – who have finished all three races as runner-up – and the championship-leading Innovation Ginetta.
The most recent event saw the GT4 European Series in action at Monza on 30/31 May. SR by Schnitzelalm is an established name in GT4 racing having won last year's ADAC title. The German squad is now taking on Europe and, after winning Race 2 at the opener, Enrico Förderer and Cedric Fuchs swept the board in Italy. Ford bagged a brace of podiums courtesy of Team Floral and Academy Motorsport, while Audi (Speedcar) and Toyota (CRT-Sport) also recorded top three finishes.
With 17 races complete – roughly one-third distance – Toyota leads with 660 points to 556 for BMW. The Supra has already scored 10 wins, which have been achieved on four continents. BMW, in contrast, has only three wins on the board. The leading duo are followed by Porsche, which occupies a somewhat lonely third place with 439 points. Mercedes-AMG (323), Aston Martin (223), Ford (222), Audi (208), McLaren (198) and Ginetta (118) make up the table.
The action continues to come thick and fast with seven series in action across the next four weeks. It begins this weekend with Pirelli GT4 America at Road Atlanta and Monochrome GT4 Australia at Queensland, while the weekend of 20/21 June features a unique double bill as British GT and Championnat de France FFSA GT join forces to race at Spa-Francorchamps.