LP Racing have announced that they will field a second Maserati GT2 for their Fanatec GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli campaign in 2024 for Am driver Philippe Prette.
The Italian squad – which claimed the Pro-Am title by a single point last season – have already confirmed their return to Pro-Am for the coming term, with Leonardo Gorini and Carlo Tamburini partnering in the number #1 Maserati.
Luca Pirri’s outfit has now confirmed a second Maserati will join its books, with car #2 to be piloted by Ferrari Challenge winner Prette in the Am class. Father of Louis Prette, a Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS competitor racing with Garage 59 this year, the Italian has five titles and over 40 wins to his name in Ferrari Challenge over a period of 14 seasons.
Prette looks ahead to his Fanatec GT2 debut with optimism, saying: “I am very happy to be part of this team and a new experience with the Maserati. I tested the car and it is amazing, and I am pleased to be racing with the GT2 championship-winning team – LP Racing – in a series that is in a very good place at the moment.”
Team Principal Pirri commented: “Philippe Prette is a well-known Ferrari Challenge winner, and we believe he is now ready to compete in the fastest GT Championship for non-professional drivers. We are confident that Philippe will be a man to watch for the Am title this coming season.”
Three Mercedes AMGs For Akkodis ASP
The experienced Akkodis ASP Team has announced an expanded entry for the Fanatec GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli for 2024, bringing three Mercedes-AMG GT2 machines to attack both Pro-Am and Am class titles.
The French squad introduced the all-new Mercedes-AMG GT2 to the European series last term, taking no time to find success with victory on their debut Fanatec GT2 outing at Red Bull Ring thanks to its Pro-Am duo of Mauro Ricci and Benjamin Ricci.
Both will partner with the Akkodis ASP Team once again this term, fighting it out for Pro-Am honours in the #61 Mercedes-AMG after finishing sixth in the final 2023 standings, with three podium finishes to their name.
The second crew will also contain a previous race winner making his Fanatec GT2 return. Jean-Luc Beaubelique took two victories alongside four podium finishes last term, and will now shift his focus to fighting for the Am class crown with a new team-mate in Gilles Vannelet, both sharing the #87 Mercedes-AMG.
The team’s third machine will be for another Fanatec GT2 podium finisher, Christophe Bourret, who shares the #53 Mercedes-AMG with Pascal Gibon. Like their team-mates Beaubelique and Vannelet, both will also be fighting for additional silverware in the Iron Cup Competition – eligible for driver pairings with a combined age of over 100.
RTR Projects KTM
RTR Projects return to the Fanatec GT2 European Series for 2024, with reigning Am class champion Jan Krabec continuing in the team’s KTM X-Bow.
The team from the Czech Republic will advance to the Pro-Am class this year, after an impressive campaign last year in which they collected a pair of outright podium finishes at the Monza season opener, and celebrated title success in the Am category with Krabec.
After a strong season for the Czech driver who claimed seven Am class wins, Krabec will now be supported by team-mates this term after riding solo in 2023. First to be confirmed to share the KTM X-Bow at Paul Ricard will be experienced racer Matej Homola – a regular in Touring Car racing with two wins to his name in TCR Europe since 2019.
Tomáš Miniberger, the owner of the RTR projects team, has high hopes for his squad’s prospects, with the intention of adding drivers to its roster in the future to compete in the series.
“The Fanatec GT2 European Series is significantly improving in its quality”, he says. “It will now be part of the GT3 race weekends, and the changes in the technical regulations should significantly speed up the cars. We see the huge potential of GT2 and we want to make this level of racing at European level available to other drivers. Our goal is to add more drivers to the line-up and to put a second car in if necessary.”
Krabec has eyes on yet more glory this season, the 41-year-old saying: “We’re going into a new story and we’ll see what awaits us in it. I’m looking forward to tuning the car and working with Mat. During the last season, Chief Engineer Tomáš Fanta and I managed to keep accelerating the car. It’s playful, it turns great, I enjoy it. I’m curious to see if we’ll be able to squeeze something extra out of it.”
Impressed by his maiden tests in a Fanatec GT2 KTM, Slovak racer Homola eagerly awaits his new challenge: “In general, I like the X-Bow, it’s a car that listens, it’s fast, it’s pleasant to drive. But the most important thing will be the stopwatch and the lap time”, says the 29-year-old. “Jan is the reigning champion of the Am class. We know he’s fast and I’ll try to do my part to get the car in as much position as possible.
“My ambition is to be, if not the fastest, then close to the fastest KTM on the grid.”
Razoon – More Than Racing KTMs
Razoon – More Than Racing will take on the Fanatec GT2 European Series in 2024 with a brace of KTM X-Bows for its debut campaign.
The Graz-based outfit enjoyed successful showings at the 24 Hours of Dubai, Barcelona and the Middle East most recently, and will now expand its KTM X-Bow offering to two cars entered for a maiden venture in Fanatec GT2 this term.
The first will feature an all-Danish Pro-Am pairing of Thomas Andersen and rapid teenager (ex GMB Motorsport) Simon Birch, while Team Principal Dominik Olbert will compete for Am honours in the second car, teaming up with familiar partner Denis Liebl. Together, the latter duo have already achieved podium finishes and victories at the wheel of a KTM X-Bow in recent endurance racing outings.
Looking forward to the coming season, Olbert commented: “We are competing because we want to win in the respective classes. But of course we are aware that the competition is extremely strong and that we have to constantly optimize ourselves.
“I believe that we are well positioned with our driver pairings. Our Pro-Am duo in particular has what it takes. I’m looking forward to an exciting season with a hopefully steep learning curve, and as I will also be in the car myself, I am personally looking forward to many great duels!”
Liebl backed up the words of his team-mate, adding: “I’ve been following the series since the beginning and I think it’s developing very well. The fact that we are competing at the GT World Challenge Europe meetings, on great tracks and in the strongest starting grid since the series began will be a huge challenge. But I’m in the perfect team for it and I’m already extremely excited about what we can achieve.”
Dane Andersen meanwhile stated: “After our debut season in the Le Mans Cup last year, Simon and I are looking forward to continuing our partnership in the GT2 European Series in 2024. We are up against very experienced and fast competitors, so we have to be realistic about our expectations. But we will do our best to challenge the other teams.”
MZR Confirms KTM – Plans A Second
Team MZR has confirmed the first of two planned Fanatec GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli entries for 2024, last year’s championship runner-up Reinhard Kofler joining up with Martin Koch to fight for the Pro-Am crown in a KTM X-Bow GT2.
The MZR squad signalled their intent with some impressive performances towards the end of last term, Austrian driver Reinhard joining the team alongside Koch for the final two meetings at Valencia and Paul Ricard – the pair taking a superb victory for the Austrian outfit at the season-closing race in France.
It would be the second of two outright race victories in Fanatec GT2 Europe last season for the duo who achieved a total of six podium finishes with KTM outfits MZR and True Racing, Reinhard narrowly missing out on the overall GT2 title by just one point in 2023. Hoping to go one better this season, Reinhard reunites with Swiss Am driver Koch for a full-season tilt at the Fanatec GT2 title, the latter sharing success at Dijon and Paul Ricard respectively.
It is a partnership Reinhard already relishes continuing. “To achieve a victory together with MZR, Martin and KTM is a sign of the power everybody puts into the project”, says the Austrian. “It’s very nice to work with such a group of professional and motivated people. The level of the team is very high and they are a pleasure to work with.
“The competition will be even higher [this year] and I expect a strong field of competitors. I am really looking forward to Paul Ricard and hope to start the season how we left off. The goal is to maximise every race weekend and show the potential of our package, and ultimately aim to go one step higher by winning the Fanatec GT2 title.”
Koch, who also joined MZR from the penultimate round at Valencia before adding a win and three podium finishes, shares the same goals: “This is my fifth season with MZR. I’m very proud of what it has achieved in recent years, especially when looking back from where it all started.
“Going into GT2 was another big step towards our strategy of leading MZR into European top class GT racing. In all those years we have grown together as a team, but we have been able to maintain this while keeping an enjoyable environment.
“In 2024 I do expect stronger competition,” concludes Koch. “This puts more pressure on everyone’s shoulders. However, I think we have all it takes to be successful and therefore I can’t wait to go racing and hunt our competitors down. At the end of the year, we hope to be invited to the Awards ceremony – ideally picking up the Fanatec GT2 European Series trophy!”
MZR plans to introduce a second KTM X-Bow for the season.
