Kobe Pauwels

Kobe Pauwels (born 23 October 2004 in Diest ) is a Belgian racing driver competing for Comtoyou Racing in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cups.

Pauwels is the 2024 24 Hours of Zolder winner.

Early career Karting Pauwels started karting in 2014. During his time in karts, Pauwels most notably was runner-up in the 2018 FIA Karting Academy Trophy and was a factory driver for Birel ART during his final year of karting in 2020.

Rallycross One year after competing in the 25th edition of the Volant Winfield, Pauwels made his debut in Rallycross by competing in the RallyX Nordic Championship in 2020.

In 2021, Pauwels stepped up to the RX3 class of the European Rallycross Championship with Volland Racing KFT. Pauwels won the round in France and finished runner-up in the standings to Yury Belevskiy. During 2021, Pauwels also made his World Rallycross debut in the RX2e category at the Nürburgring round.

Pauwels returned to the European Rallycross Championship in 2022, winning four out of five races on his way to the RX3 title at season's end. Two years after his RX3 title, Pauwels returned to the European Rallycross Championship in 2024 at the Mettet round. On his return to the series, Pauwels took his first win in RX2e.

Touring cars Having made his circuit racing debut in the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup Benelux in 2022, Pauwels joined Comtoyou Racing in early 2023 to compete in the TCR Europe Touring Car Series. Scoring his first overall podium at Pau, Pauwels scored his first overall win at Le Castellet, before taking two more wins at Monza and Barcelona to end the season third in points.

GT career

Pauwels made his GT3 debut at the Nürburgring round of the 2023 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. On his debut, Pauwels scored points by finishing eighth in the three-hour enduro.

Comtoyou Racing retained Pauwels for the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup season, competing in the first three rounds in the Bronze Cup, scoring a class podium at the first round of the season at Le Castellet. After switching to Comtoyou's Silver lineup at Monza and scoring a class podium, Pauwels joined Saintéloc Racing for the season-ending Jeddah round. In the six hour enduro, Pauwels scored a class win in his only race for the French team.

In early 2024, it was announced that Pauwels would compete for NGT Motorsport in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux. Scoring a best result of fourth in race two at Assen, Pauwels was crowned Rookie champion at the season-ending round at Zolder.

Pauwels returned to Comtoyou Racing for 2025, competing in both the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cups. Finishing 33rd in the Silver Cup standings of the former, Pauwels found more success in the latter, scoring three class wins and two more podiums to secure the Silver Cup title at the season finale in Valencia, as he also graduated from the Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy at the end of the year. At the end of the year, Pauwels joined Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn to race in the GT class of the 2025–26 Asian Le Mans Series, taking a lone win at Abu Dhabi to end the season eighth in points.

For the rest of 2026, Pauwels returned to Comtoyou Racing for another dual campaign in both the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cups. During 2026, Pauwels also joined Heart of Racing Team to make his FIA World Endurance Championship debut at the 6 Hours of Imola in LMGT3.

Personal life Pauwels is a third generation racing driver; his grandfather Benny competed in domestic rallycross competitions, whilst his father Koen raced in the inaugural World Rallycross Championship.

Karting record Karting career summary

Racing record Racing career summary

Complete FIA European Rallycross Championship results (key)

RX3

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 ERX Points 2021 Volland Racing KFT Audi A1 BAR SWE FRA BEL POR 2nd 115 2022 Volland Racing KFT Audi A1 HUN SWE NOR POR GER 1st 96

RX2e

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 ERX Points 2024 Kobe Pauwels ZEROID X1 SWE HUN BEL PRT 8th 29

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results (key)

RX2e Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 Points 2021 Ann Luijten ZEROID X1 BAR SWE FRA BEL GER 15th 21

Complete TCR Europe Touring Car Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points 2023 Comtoyou Racing Audi RS 3 LMS TCR ALG1 ALG2 PAU1 PAU2 SPA1 SPA2 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 MNZ1 MNZ2 CAT1 CAT2 3rd 433

Complete TCR World Tour results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points 2023 Comtoyou Racing Audi RS 3 LMS TCR ALG1 ALG2 SPA1 SPA2 VAL1 VAL2 HUN1 HUN2 ELP1 ELP2 VIL1 VIL2 SYD1 SYD2 SYD3 BAT1 BAT2 BAT3 MAC1 MAC2 14th 74

GT World Challenge Europe results GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos. Points 2025 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Silver BRH1 BRH2 ZAN1 ZAN2 MIS1 MIS2 MAG1 MAG2 VAL1 VAL21st102 2026 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Pro BRH1 BRH2 MIS1 MIS2 MAG1 MAG2 ZAN1 ZAN2 CAT1 CAT2 14th* 11.5*

Complete Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points 2024 D’ieteren Luxury Performance SPA1 SPA2 ZAN1ZAN2 IMO1 IMO2 ASS1 ASS2 RBR1 RBR2 ZOL1 ZOL2 8th 112.5

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points 2026 Heart of Racing Team LMGT3 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 IMO SPA LMS SÃO COA FUJ CAT MNZ 22nd* 3*