M.Paluch’s Pro-Am Champion & 2nd In Team Standings For CoRe in ARL GT Season 10!
The Apex Racing League GT Trophy returned for its 10th season in 2025 with a full car grid. 60 drivers signed up, creating the highest iRating SOF the series has seen, splitting it up in a fiercely competitive field across Pro, Pro-Am and Am categories. With a surge of new members joining earlier in the year, no fewer than 9 CoRe drivers lined up to represent the team. Three CoRe teams were entered into the Pro-Am class to aim high in the Pro-Am driver championship and team standings. The lineup consisted of Maik Paluch, Carl Winkler, Ronald Großmann, Dominik Engel, Sven Lottmann, Mikko Nurmi, Marcus Fox, Jan Vollmers and Sami Heiskanen. While Heiskanen had to step away from the season due to personal commitments, the rest of the squad carried CoRe’s colors throughout all ten rounds. The season kicked off just after a major iRacing GT3 update, making car choice and BoP adjustments a significant role. Paluch and Nurmi committed early to the new Ford Mustang GT3, while others adapted along the way. Engel initially opted for the Porsche 992 before moving to the Mustang, same as Winkler, Fox and Vollmers, who then switched to the Mercedes AMG GT3 as the season developed.
The season opened with a traditional curtain-raiser at Daytona, and with sixty cars on track, heavy traffic and multiple accidents shaped the race. Paluch managed to get ahead of the chaos and secured an important Pro-Am win, while the rest of the CoRe drivers focused on staying clear of trouble and collecting solid opening points for the team standings. Watkins Glen for round two produced one of the most dramatic races of the season. Both Paluch and Nurmi showed excellent pace and lined up towards the front of the Pro-Am grid, but disaster struck in the very first lap when a crash in the Esses left both cars with heavy damage. With two of CoRe’s frontrunners delayed, Großmann capitalised on a clean race to take the Pro-Am win, Winkler followed closely in second and Lottmann in third, handing CoRe a full podium despite the early setbacks. At Sonoma, Paluch converted his pace into another Pro-Am win, supported by Winkler in second and Nurmi in third, giving CoRe a strong points haul. Elsewhere in the field, Engel, Lottmann and Großmann were involved in incidents but managed to reach the finish line, underlining the importance of persistence in such a demanding round.
Spa as round four delivered one of the highlights of the season. Paluch stunned the grid by taking overall pole position against the Pro drivers. A late five second penalty for contact in the bus stop chicane dropped Paluch down the order, though. This handed the win to Nurmi, who had kept a strong pace throughout, while Winkler joined them on the Pro-Am podium for another excellent team result. Later at Mosport, the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park brought scorching temperatures. Nurmi showed composure in the heat to take victory, Winkler delivered another consistent second place, while Paluch spun out of contention for the win and recovered to fourth in Pro-Am category. With several other CoRe drivers bringing home points finishes, it was a valuable round for the overall standings. At VIR, Paluch was back on top, controlling the Pro-Am race to take another victory. Winkler followed in second, with Großmann finishing fourth after a measured drive. Engel, Lottmann and Fox ensured that all CoRe cars finished, adding important contributions to the team totals.
The championship’s first wet race arrived at Road America, and it proved to be one of the most challenging rounds of the season. Paluch adapted best but careful to the slippery conditions and came away with Pro-Am victories in both heat races. Großmann and Winkler also survived in the wet, completing the Pro-Am podium, while Engel, Lottmann and Fox added further strong results to round off a near-perfect team weekend. Another wet race awaited at Magny-Cours. Paluch kept it clean to secure another win, Winkler followed closely in second and Vollmers enjoyed his best performance and pace of the season in third with the AMG. Behind them, Großmann, Fox and Lottmann filled the remaining Pro-Am positions, resulting in a remarkable lockout of the top six spots for CoRe. The penultimate round in Brazil at Interlagos let Paluch win the opening heat but had difficulties in the second, while Winkler worked his way through the field and nearly snatched the class win himself. Though victory just slipped away, CoRe still collected a large haul of points across the team. The finale saw Paluch to manage a safe run to second in Pro-Am, enough to secure the championship title. The team finished to consolidate their positions in the standings, with Nurmi, Winkler, Engel, Fox and Vollmers who battled through race incidents. Unfortunately, Lottmann’s season ended with a retirement after a crash – and Nurmi’s with a time penalty, but the overall team goals had already been achieved.
Overall, CoRe’s 2025 ARL GT Trophy Season 10 showed a strong campaign built on pace, consistency and teamwork in a competitive season. Maik Paluch secured the Pro-Am championship ahead of teammates Carl Winkler and Ronald Großmann, completing a full CoRe podium, with further top ten finishes from Lottmann, Engel, Nurmi and Fox, and Vollmers in twelfth. In the team standings CoRe finished second overall, with the other two squads placing fifth and ninth. “I’m very happy with the results the team achieved. It was a competitive and exciting season throughout, and it was great to have a team that stuck together and scored points whenever we had the chance. With the amount of points some of us collected, we would have also been competitive in the Pro category as well, so we can definitely be proud of what we accomplished.” – Maik concluded after the season. Thanks to Apex Racing League once again for organising another excellent GT Trophy season and to all competitors for the close and competitive racing.