Gothenburg driver on site in France as major GT championship begins
GT World Challenge Europe | Round 1
Circuit Paul Ricard (France)
24-year-old Robin Knutsson from Gothenburg is ready to take on the biggest challenge of his career so far as the 2026 season of GT World Challenge Europe kicks off this weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard in southern France.
60 cars, 180 drivers, 6 hours. Those are the numbers defining the opening round of the world’s largest dedicated GT3 championship – the global top tier of sports car racing – which begins with a six-hour race in the hills above Marseille on Saturday.
“This is definitely the biggest thing I’ve done in my career so far,” says Robin Knutsson.
“It’s basically the highest level you can compete at in GT3 worldwide, and I’ll be racing against factory drivers and full-time professionals who have won 24-hour races at both Spa and Le Mans. If you can perform here, you have a career in racing. It’s incredibly tough, but also extremely exciting. A real privilege.”
And indeed it is. GT World Challenge Europe is a true hotspot of elite GT racing talent, where the very best drivers in the world compete for manufacturers such as Porsche, McLaren, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, and Mercedes.
Top teams like Verstappen Racing – Max Verstappen’s much-talked-about GT outfit – are on the grid, along with other notable names such as seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi.
The entry list for Paul Ricard also includes Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll, who is using the event to stay race-fit during the enforced F1 break caused by the Middle East conflict.
Robin Knutsson is making a strong push in 2026 to establish himself on the international GT stage, doing so with Belgian team Boutsen VDS (founded by former F1 driver Thierry Boutsen).
The team fields two Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO cars, one of which will feature Swedish representation behind the wheel. Knutsson will share car #10 with Belgian driver Gilles Magnus across all ten rounds of the season, split evenly between the Sprint Cup (short one-hour races) and the Endurance Cup (races of three hours or more). The crown jewel of the calendar is the prestigious 24 Hours of Spa in June.
In the Endurance Cup – which includes this weekend’s season opener at Paul Ricard – Knutsson and Magnus will also be joined by French driver Alessandro Ghiretti.
Ghiretti is the reigning Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup champion and is considered one of the world’s top Porsche specialists at the moment.
Knutsson, Magnus, and Ghiretti will compete in the championship’s Gold class, reserved for drivers rated Gold in the FIA’s international driver categorization system.
“It’s very inspiring to be part of such a strong team already in my first year in the championship,” says Robin Knutsson. “At the same time, it’s hard to know what to expect. I’m completely new to this level, so I have to take it one race at a time. The goal is first and foremost to get through this weekend in a good way, get comfortable, and build from there. I have a lot to learn, but I need to learn quickly. I’ll try to find a way to stand out. It won’t be easy in a field like this, but it’s a challenge I’m really looking forward to.”
Prologue: April 8–9
Ahead of the season opener, the annual Prologue – the championship’s official pre-season test – was held over two days on April 8–9, also at Paul Ricard. For Robin Knutsson, it proved to be a valuable preparation for the challenge ahead.
“I’m very satisfied with the Prologue,” says Knutsson. “I don’t think I’ve ever learned so much in two days before. It’s just testing, of course, but it’s been very valuable to compare myself with my teammates and see that I can keep up with the pace. We’ve been in the top ten and fighting, and it feels like we have a strong package.”
The race weekend officially begins with two free practice sessions on Friday. Saturday features qualifying followed by the race, which starts at 18:00 and finishes six hours later, at midnight.
Robin Knutsson has previously competed and won races in both STCC and Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia in Sweden. In 2025, he made his full international step with a campaign in Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux, where he won multiple races and finished third in the championship – just one point shy of second place.
Now, a major step forward awaits the Gothenburg driver’s racing career with a full-season campaign in GT World Challenge Europe.
All qualifying sessions and races throughout the season can be watched LIVE on the championship’s official website and social media platforms.
