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Chris Lulham’s fledgling motorsport career continued impressively over the weekend, as the Tunbridge Wells driver claimed his first GT World Challenge Sprint Cup podium.
Driving for the Verstappen.com Racing team, supported by Emil Frey Racing, Lulham and his co-driver Thierry Vermeulen claimed third position in the opening round of the season, holding off a phalanx of more experienced GT drivers in the process.
Lulham began his karting career at the age of 7, competing in various national championships before finding success on the continent by winning the 2016 X30 Junior IAME Euro and 2017 IAME Euro Series.
Budgetary constraints forced Lulham to pivot toward sim racing, where he proved himself to be one of the quickest virtual racers on the planet, joining four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen at the crack Team Redline outfit.
Lulham used this as a launch pad for another stab at motorsport success, self-funding a drive in the 2024 Radical Cup UK driving a Radical SR3. Dominance in this championship (16 wins from 18 races) paved the way for his 2025 attacks on the GTWC Sprint and Endurance series, with Verstappen funding his drives.
“It has always been my dream to support young drivers, and for a while now, I have been trying to create the possibility for a sim driver to progress to real-world racing,” stated Verstappen, underlining his passion and commitment to sim racing.
GT World Challenge 2025
Vermeulen, a friend of Verstappen and the son of the Dutch racer’s manager, started Race 1 at Brands Hatch from pole position, after a blistering qualifying lap in dry conditions in the team’s Ferrari 296 GT3.
From the rolling start, the Dutchman led into Paddock Hill Bend and kept the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Marvin Kirchhöfer at bay until the mandatory pitstop phase began. Lulham was gazumped by AF Corse’s Alessio Rovera on the run to Druids, and found himself boxed in as the McLaren of Benjamin Goethe swept around the outside.
Lulham impressively stayed with his more experienced opponents for the remainder of the race but had to settle for third overall. The silver lining – or rather golden lining – was that the Verstappen.com car finished first in the Gold Cup classification.
The Gold Cup is for teams of drivers ranked Gold and under, with Lulham punching well above his Silver classification. Platinum drivers are considered to be full-time professionals, underlining how well Lulham (and Vermeulen) performed. Lulham’s abilities behind the wheel probably mean he won’t be Silver-ranked for too much longer…
The 21-year-old ran second for much of Race 2, impressively holding off former British GT champion and factory Lamborghini driver Sandy Mitchel in the process. Sadly, the car dropped down the field due to another slow pitstop, and with Brands Hatch providing nary a chance to overtake, the pair could only muster ninth overall and second in Gold.
However, it was an incredibly competitive showing for Lulham, who easily matched the pace of his professional factory opposition, with Verstappen.com Racing surely now favourites for 2025 Gold Cup success.
You can follow Lulham’s progress when the GTWC Sprint Cup resumes at Zandvoort on the 16th of May, with the races broadcast live on the GT World YouTube channel.
Featured image courtesy of SRO
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