The provisional entry list for the 2023 Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS has been published. 22 cars are scheduled to take part in what is simultaneously the fourth round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, and the 13th and final race of the Fanatec GT World Challenge America season.
On the entry list are 11 Pro-Am and 11 Pro class cars, mostly from GT World Challenge America with some notable challengers from abroad.
This year, the Pro category itself is separated into two categories as the IGTC Pro class no longer requires eligible teams to field a Silver-graded driver, versus the FGTWCA Pro class which comprises of full-time GT World Challenge America teams who’ve been running with at least one Silver driver all season per the series’ sporting regulations.
Headlining the IGTC Pro class are the two dominant manufacturers, BMW and Mercedes-AMG, and their respective all-Platinum cast of drivers.
Team WRT represents BMW with two cars: The #30 BMW M4 GT3 for Spa 24 Hours winner Philipp Eng, joined by Kyalami 9 Hours winners Dries Vanthoor and Sheldon van der Linde; and the #31 BMW for 2020 Indy 8h winner Augusto Farfus, Charles Weerts, and Maxime Martin.
BMW’s two wins at Kyalami and Spa give them a nine-point lead over Mercedes heading into Indianapolis.
Mercedes-AMG’s efforts are led by defending Indy 8h winning team Craft-Bamboo Racing and Team Gruppe M Racing.
The #77 Craft-Bamboo Mercedes has Maximilian Götz, defending Indy 8h champion Raffaele Marciello, and IGTC Drivers’ Championship leader Jules Gounon – who has a 15-point lead over Luca Stolz and the aforementioned Eng, and could clinch the championship next week.
Stolz will join Gruppe M in the #999 Mercedes, joined by Maro Engel, and Daniel Juncadella, another of last year’s race-winning trio. Adding to Mercedes’ chances of success at Indy, Gounon and Juncadella recently won their class in the IMSA Battle on the Bricks.
Provisionally nominated as the fifth entry in IGTC Pro is Rearden Racing, a team last seen in GT World Challenge America in 2021. The team from Park City, Utah is now fielding a new #85 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) for Porsche Carrera Cup North America driver Jake Pedersen, Bulgarian-born Vesko Kozarov, and ex-Lamborghini Squadra Corse driver Christian Engelhart.
All six full-time FGTWCA Pro teams are in action as well. Conquest Racing has recruited the trailblazing young French woman Lilou Wadoux, the first woman to win a race in the FIA World Endurance Championship, to drive the #21 Ferrari 296 GT3 alongside Manny Franco and Alessandro Balzan. Trent Hindman, who represents Wright Motorsports in IMSA, will join Madison Snow and Jan Heylen in their #45 Porsche 992, which swept the doubleheader at Sebring last time out.
FGTWCA Pro Championship leaders RS1 recruited Porsche ace Klaus Bachler to join the duo of Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer, who are taking a 30-point lead in the standings into Indianapolis and could wrap up the title as long as they avoid misfortune.
Three other teams still have a shot at the title including BimmerWorld, whose #94 BMW won the Pro-Am class in last year’s Indy 8h. Robby Foley will join Chandler Hull and Bill Auberlen in this year’s race. Racers Edge Motorsports have confirmed Kyle Marcelli alongside regulars Ashton Harrison and Mario Farnbacher, driving the #93 Acura NSX GT3 Evo22.
Finally, Matteo Cairoli will join MDK Motorsports’ Seth Lucas and Trenton Estep in their #53 Porsche 992.
The eleven Pro-Am teams are a combination of GTWCA regulars and challengers from abroad.
Grove Racing will enter a previous-generation Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2) for two-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Earl Bamber, joined by the father-son duo of Stephen and Brenton Grove. Another older GT3 model is the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo entered by Sky Tempesta Racing, driven by Jonathan Hui, Christopher Froggatt, and Edward Cheever III, son of the 1998 Indy 500 winner Eddie Jnr. Huber Motorsport will enter the newest Porsche 992 for Antares Au, Laurin Heinrich, and Alfred Renauer.
The Pro-Am Championship in GTWCA is set to be a winner-take-all showdown between CrowdStrike by Riley and Wright Motorsports. Joining George Kurtz and Daytona 24 Hours winner Colin Braun in the #04 CrowdStrike/Riley Mercedes is Nolan Siegel, a top young sports car driver who was named Rookie of the Year in Indy NXT (formerly Indy Lights) this year.
Wright Motorsports counters by adding IndyCar Series star and Ferrari alumnus Callum Ilott to join Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer in the other 991.2-generation #120 Porsche.
ST Racing’s appeal of their penalty from Sebring Race 2 is still under appeal as of publication, but the Canadian-American team is moving ahead to Indy with a lineup bolstered by the addition of American teenager Jake Walker, a regular in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series this year. Walker joins team owner/namesake Samantha Tan, and rising American star Neil Verhagen in the #38 BMW.
TR3 Racing returns to the series after a weekend off – but without Ziad Ghandour who’s been ruled out for the rest of the season due to personal reasons, and without defending Indy 8h winner Daniel Morad. Instead, it will be the trio of Paul Kiebler, Jon Branam, and Matthew Bell driving their sole Mercedes-AMG GT3.
DXDT Racing brings a pair of Mercedes – the #08 for Scott Smithson, Bryan Sellers, and Australian youngster Thomas Sargent, and the #91 for Utah’s Jeff Burton, Corey Lewis, and Philip Ellis. Ellis won his class at the IMSA Battle on the Bricks and started on the pole in last year’s Indy 8 Hour.
Valentin Hasse-Clot is back in the #007 TRG Aston Martin Vantage GT3, to join Derek DeBoer and European Le Mans Series rookie Ben Tuck; and Triarsi Competizione welcomes back Onofrio Triarsi Jnr alongside Justin Wetherill and Ryan Dalziel in the #33 Ferrari 296 GT3.
Absent from this provisional entry list is SunEnergy1, which was previously announced by Mercedes-AMG to run with Kenny Habul, Mikaël Grenier and a third driver to be named later.
Feature image © SRO Motorsports America
