K-PAX Confirm Double GT3 Lamborghini Effort
K-PAX Racing will lead Lamborghini’s Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli attack on the upcoming Indianapolis 8 Hour Presented by AWS (October 15-17) after confirming a two-car factory-supported entry.
The Californian squad wrapped up the Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS Drivers’ and Teams’ titles at Sebring last weekend and are sticking with the same trusted duo of Jordan Pepper and Andrea Caldarelli for Indy. Another factory ace, Mirko Bortolotti, adds further firepower to what will surely be a front running entry.
Caldarelli’s season-long US commitments with K-PAX and Pepper have resulted in Lamborghini re-thinking its IGTC plans for Indy. As such, Marco Mapelli – who was scheduled to partner Bortolotti and Caldarelli at FFF Racing in all three IGTC rounds – moves across to a second K-PAX Huracan featuring fellow Squadra Corse driver Giovanni Venturini and home favourite Corey Lewis.
Those driver combinations have resulted in FFF Racing opting to skip Indianapolis.
Instead, two more local entries, most likely to be overseen by TR3 Racing, will complete Lamborghini’s four-car IGTC quota.
“We have some unfinished business at the eight-hour event at Indianapolis,” K-PAX Racing Programme Manager Darren Law said. “Last year, we had a very fast car and were leading the race when we were hit by a GT4 car and taken out of contention. We have had a full season with the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO and are becoming more comfortable every weekend with the setup and things required to get the most out of the car. The competition will be extremely strong, and we are looking forward to the challenge.
“Our driver line-up for this race is as strong as any team coming into this event. We are very proud of the performance we have shown this season and also very thankful for the support and trust that Lamborghini Squadra Corse has placed in K-PAX Racing. To be representing Lamborghini in this race and helping to support the effort in the Intercontinental GT Challenge means a lot.”
Pepper also raced with K-PAX at Indy last season when the team oversaw Bentley’s factory entry. The South African is hoping for better luck this time around after an early incident ended his victory chances.
“I have some really good memories there with a not so good result, so it’ll be good to grab redemption heading back,” he said. “I think the team wants to win this race badly, and we should rightfully so be able to compete for it again this season. What will make this year more interesting is that there will be more cars on-track compared to last year, which should make the battles more intense. We should be pretty strong with the package we have.
“It’s not as old-school as you’d think because of the nature of the infield track not having any camber corners or any of that. But I think just the atmosphere at Indy is quite special, you know exactly where you’re racing which makes it unique and special. There are slight differences in track layout this season which will be interesting, especially the first sector. It’s a good, fast-pace track and hopefully it makes for some good racing like last year. It’s good we’ve had a year of competing in America with Lamborghini, the team knows the car well, and from a driving standpoint, I know it quite well. To share the car with Andrea [Caldarelli] and Mirko [Bortolotti], both who have great experience with this car, I think we’ll be strong.”
Crucial Motorsports To Debut Newly Acquired McLaren
Orland-based Crucial Motorsports will enter the 2021 SRO Indianapolis 8H with McLaren Customer Racing in an ex Compass Racing 720S GT3. Drivers for the program are slated to be Ben Barnicoat, Rob Bell, and Paul Holton.
Team co-owner and Operations Director Aaron Nash is excited for his team to take the step up to this level of sports car racing. “I’ve been ready to do this for a while now, it’s been a lot of preparation to be ready for this first event of ours, especially with it being the SRO’s big one here in the States. I’m looking forward to a fun outing with the guys and a competitive showing come Sunday.”
Paul Holton is excited to get back in the seat of the GT3 McLaren, having been out of the car since the end of the 2020 IMSA GTD season. He also is serving as Team Manager for Crucial Motorsports. “I am excited to get back behind the wheel again in the 720S GT3, and to be in such a competitive race for our first outing will be a treat.”
Am Class AF Corse Ferrari Added
Ferrari’s third nomination for IGTC points comes from the Am-class entered AF Corse 488 GT3 Evo of American trio Jean-Claude Saada, Conrad Grunewald, and Mark Kvamme.
Ferrari currently trails Audi by 15 points in the Manufacturers’ standings with two rounds remaining: Indianapolis and the Kyalami 9 Hour, which takes place on December 4-6.
Sainteloc Confirm Silver Cup Audi Squad
Aurélien Panis, Lucas Legeret and Nicolas Baert are teaming up for Sainteloc Racing in what will be Audi Sport’s fourth and final Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli nominated car at the Indianapolis 8 Hour Presented by AWS.
Audi had already confirmed that Sainteloc’s Silver class entry would be eligible to score points towards the global Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ Championships in the US, which hosts Round 2 of the globetrotting GT3 series next weekend (October 15-17).
However, Sainteloc has now revealed that its GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup regular, Panis, is once again linking up with Legeret after the Franco-Swiss duo also shared an R8 LMS GT3 at this year’s TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa, albeit without one of Audi’s IGTC nominations.
The trio is completed by Baert who races an Audi in the TCR Europe Touring Car Series. The 20-year-old Belgian finished third in the same championship last season after graduating from single-seaters. Indianapolis marks his first major GT3 outing.
Sainteloc’s Pro entry, featuring factory stars Christopher Haase, Patric Niederhauser and Markus Winkelhock, comprise another quarter of Audi’s Indianapolis IGTC nominees. The other two, both entered by Team WRT, comprise Dries Vanthoor, Charles Weerts and Christopher Mies, and Mattia Drudi, Robin Frijns and Nico Mueller.
Only each registered manufacturer’s two best placed entries can score points at Indianapolis, but that might still be enough for Audi to clinch its first IGTC title since 2018. Leaving the Brickyard with a 44-point advantage – one more than available for finishing first and second – over IGTC’s other four full-season marques would be enough for it to seal the Manufacturers’ crown before Kyalami’s season finale.
Three AMG For DXDT
The 2021 Fanatec GT World Challenge America presented by aws championship draws to a close next week at the hallowed grounds of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, ending the season with the longest race of the year, the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
Three Mercedes AMG GT3 cars will represent DXDT Racing in the season finale, expanding from their two-driver lineups to three as the teams prepare for the endurance event. Scott Smithson, Ben Keating, and Thomas Merrill will join the team, completing the lineups on the team’s trio of Mercedes AMG GT3 race cars.
Heading into the final round of the year, DXDT Racing remains in the 2021 Pro/Am driver’s championship. Since DXDT Racing is competing in the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli’s Indianapolis 8 Hour, the team’s standing at the three-hour mark will determine how many points are earned towards the final tally in GT World Challenge America. Since each GT World Challenge race weekend is normally comprised of two 90-minute races, each entry will receive double points at the three-hour mark. DXDT Racing’s points towards the team championship standings will be earned by the team’s top-placing Mercedes.
Scott Smithson will join the #63 Mercedes AMG GT3 of David Askew and Ryan Dalziel. Smithson raced with the team in 2020, earning three wins and six podiums in TC America, racing a Honda Civic Type-R. This season, Smithson has joined the Michelin Pilot Challenge’s TCR class, earning two podiums in five races. With two podiums and six top-five finishes to date this season, Askew and Dalziel will be racing hard to close out the season with a much-coveted victory.
Returning once again to race alongside George Kurtz and Colin Braun in the#04 Mercedes AMG GT3, Ben Keating will return to the team once again to defend last year’s win at the inaugural event. No stranger to endurance racing, Keating holds wins at the Twelve Hours of Sebring, Rolex 24 At Daytona, and is a three-time Michelin Endurance Cup winner. He bolsters an already strong lineup, as Kurtz and Braun hold three podiums and two wins in their five 2021 GT World Challenge America races to date.
Thomas Merrill will complete the endurance lineups for DXDT Racing, joining Erin Vogel and Michael Cooper in the #19 Mercedes AMG GT3. Currently competing in the four North American Endurance Cup races on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar calendar, Merrill has celebrated one endurance podium this year, finishing in first at the Six Hours of the Glen with co-drivers Steven Thomas and Tristian Nunez. Next weekend, he joins Vogel and Cooper, who just earned their third podium of the season at Sebring International Raceway.
Random Vandals Add Conor Daly In GT4 BMW
Random Vandals Racing have revealed Conor Daly as part of its BMW M4 line-up for next weekend’s Indianapolis 8 Hours.
The Indy native, who is no stranger to either the Road Coarse or famous oval, joins Al Carter and Paul Sparta in RVR’s Pro-Am entry.
Conor Daly: “Now that the IndyCar season is over, it will be great to get back in a sportscar in couple of weeks at the IMS road course, which I love,” he said. “The Indianapolis 8 Hour was a really great event last year, so I am happy to be back in the Random Vandals BMW for a really cool hometown event that seems to have a lot of momentum.”
Daly’s RVR team principal and co-driver Sparta added: “We are thrilled to have Conor back in the car with us. Al Carter, Conor, and I have had success in the past in club endurance races, so it’s a great combination to bring back at this level to run what is becoming a very prestigious event. Similarly, any chance you get to take a green flag at IMS is just an honour. I am thrilled for my first run here.”
