Cheever and Dempsey take the Sprint Cup Bronze title for Ziggo Sport Tempesta
Two class wins in Barcelona give the Ziggo Sport Tempesta Porsche crew the Bronze Cup with 104 points, 21 ahead of Salikhov and Dienst
Eddie Cheever and Peter Dempsey are the 2026 Bronze Cup champions of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup. The Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing Porsche won the Bronze class in both races in Barcelona this weekend. They take the title with 104 points in the official SRO standings, 21 ahead of Rinat Salikhov and Marvin Dienst.
Two class wins in Barcelona
Cheever and Dempsey came to Barcelona as Bronze Cup leaders. On Saturday they won the class in Race 1 with fifth place overall, ahead of Dennis Marschall and Constantin Dressler in the Kessel Racing Ferrari. That took them to 87.5 points in the SRO standings. Their closest rivals, Rinat Salikhov and Marvin Dienst in the Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, finished third in class and were on 73.5.
In Race 2 on Sunday evening the number 93 Porsche finished 20th overall and was again the first Bronze car home, according to SRO’s final classification. Marschall and Dressler were second in class in 21st, Salikhov and Dienst third in 23rd. A class win is worth 16.5 points, which takes Cheever and Dempsey to 104. Even second in class, worth 12 points, would have left Salikhov and Dienst on 85.5 at most. As they finished third, the gap is bigger still.
The Bronze Cup standings
The top four of the final Sprint Cup Bronze standings after Barcelona, as published by SRO.
| Pos | Drivers | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eddie Cheever / Peter Dempsey | 104 |
| 2 | Rinat Salikhov / Marvin Dienst | 83 |
| 3 | Kiern Jewiss / Charles Dawson | 69.5 |
| 4 | Darren Leung / Augusto Farfus | 65 |
Our read
The Bronze Cup is where the Bronze-rated drivers in the GT World Challenge race, and one mistake can cost a whole race. Cheever and Dempsey did not make that mistake when it mattered. A fifth place overall on Saturday, in a race full of penalties and Safety Cars, shows how far ahead of their class they were in Barcelona. For Ziggo Sport Tempesta it is a title with a Dutch name on the car, on a weekend when Thierry Vermeulen won the final race for the Netherlands as well.
Does the Bronze Cup get enough attention in the GT World Challenge? Tell us in the comments.
What comes next
Read how Thierry Vermeulen and Ben Green won the finale in our Race 2 report, how Bastian Buus and Ricardo Feller took the overall title in our Race 1 report, and see the overall points on our Sprint Cup standings page. New to the series? Our GT World Challenge Europe explainer covers the classes and the points.
