The grid for this weekend’s FIA GT Series round at the Slovakia Ring has been reduced to 21 cars after Phoenix Racing and Race Alliance were last-minute withdrawals on Friday.
Phoenix Racing, which runs an Audi R8 LMS ultra for Belgian drivers Anthony Kumpen and Enzo Ide, issued a statement on its website, making it perfectly clear that the team is not happy with the current Balance of Performance of the Audi.
“It was plain to see at the Spa 24-hour race just how difficult things are currently. When we compete we also want to have the opportunity to fight for victory. This is not currently possible under normal circumstances,” said Phoenix team boss Ernst Moser. “It goes without saying that the motivation also suffers, especially for our partners Enzo Ide and Anthony Kumpen. For this reason, we have decided not to race at the Slovakia Ring.”
No decision has been made on the two final rounds of the FIA GT Series in Navarra and Baku.
Race Alliance, a new team set to enter the FIA GT Series at the Slovakia Racing and not related to the team that ran in FIA GT a couple of years ago, also pulled out its entry, citing sponsorship issues as the reason for the decision. The team had announced a partnership with American actress Pamela Anderson, but for the second year in a row an attempt to race in an international series seems to have fallen through due to budget issues (Downforce1 last year). The team had entered a Ferrari 458 Italia for Vitantonio Liuzzi and Mathias Lauda.
The series will see the return of the Blancpain Racing Lamborghinis. Blancpain Racing withdrew its cars from the Blancpain Endurance Series round at Paul Ricard after a fatal accident in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo and also missed the previous round at Zandvoort a week later. Reigning FIA GT1 World Champion Marc Basseng will race with Albert von Thurn und Taxis in Slovakia.
Nissan GT Academy Team RJN will only enter one Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3. Wolfgang Reip and Alex Buncombe will race in Slovakia, as the second Nissan GT-R is undergoing repairs after its crash in the Spa 24 Hours and Lucas Ordonez is racing in Super GT in Japan this weekend.
AF Corse and Seyffarth Motorsport will both bring an extra car to Slovakia. The additional cars will race in the Gentlemen Trophy.
MtC
