This weekend (28-30 November) will see the 2024 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup conclude with a 49-car field tackling a six-hour race at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, which gets underway on Saturday evening.
PRO:
The battle for the overall Endurance Cup drivers’ title is wide open, particularly between the top three crews. Comtoyou Racing leads the way with its #007 Aston Martin line-up of Nicki Thiim, Marco Sørensen and Mattia Drudi, who will aim to add championship glory to their CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa triumph.
Alessandro Pier Guidi and Alessio Rovera, who will be joined by Davide Rigon in the #51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari, are only three points behind, as are Tresor Attempto Racing’s #99 Audi trio of Ricardo Feller, Christopher Haase and Alex Aka. Consistency has been the key for Tresor Attempto Racing in 2024, as despite never finishing on the podium, they’re the only entry to have finished in the top six on more than two occasions.
With extra points on offer for the six-hour contest, an incredible 11 entries are still title contenders. The #163 Grasser Racing Lamborghini crew of Marco Mapelli, Jordan Pepper and Franck Perera is 15 points off the lead after securing victory at the Nürburgring, with a maximum of 34 available this weekend.
There are four BMW squads in contention, led by the #998 ROWE Racing entry that won the season opener at Circuit Paul Ricard. Team WRT has two chances thanks to its #32 and #46 crews, while the sister #30 OQ by Oman Racing outfit adds a Bronze Cup line-up to the title picture following its remarkable overall triumph at Monza. The BMW contingent has been reduced for this weekend, with ROWE Racing’s #98 M4 GT3 withdrawn after the car was too severely damaged in an accident at the previous round at Monza to be rebuilt before the shipping deadline.
Mercedes-AMG has an outside shot at retaining the crown through either Boutsen VDS or GetSpeed, both of whom require the race victory and other contenders to struggle. Iron Lynx’s Andrea Caldarelli and Matteo Cairoli are also mathematical contenders in the #63 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, where they’ll be joined by Loris Spinelli instead of their regular co-driver Mirko Bortolotti.
The Endurance crown is out of reach for Sprint Cup Champions Maro Engel and Lucas Auer, but they’ll compete for the overall Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS drivers’ title aboard the #48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter entry. They currently trail Team WRT’s Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts by seven points.
Garage 59 have an additional PRO entry this weekend, keeping the class at 19 cars despite ROWE’s withdrawal, as their #188 McLaren steps up from the Bronze Cup with the line-up of Adam Smalley, Marvin Kirchhofer and Louis Prette. At Proton Competition, Ben Barker has replaced Dennis Olsen in the #64 Ford Mustang, whilst multiple drivers are making their return after missing the previous round due to a clash with the IMSA Sportscar Championship.
GOLD & SILVER: Saintéloc looking to seal Gold Cup glory, Silver Cup already settled
Saintéloc Racing will head to Jeddah with only one objective: securing the Gold Cup crown. Following wins at Circuit Paul Ricard and the Nürburgring, the #25 Audi of Gilles Magnus, Paul Evrard and Jim Pla only needs to finish sixth or better in the seven-car field to put the title beyond the reach of its rivals – Mercedes-AMG squads AlManar Racing by GetSpeed and Haupt Racing Team.
Imperiale Racing is making its Endurance Cup debut with a Lamborghini Huracan and the trio of Dennis Lind, Alberto Di Folco and Philippe Denes, whilst at CSA Racing, Simon Gachet is making his first Endurance Cup appearance for the team this season.
The Silver Cup was settled at Monza in favour of Winward Racing’s Daan Arrow, Colin Caresani and Tanart Sathienthirakul. With the championship secure, they will not compete in Jeddah. The battle for runner-up spot is led by GetSpeed’s 24 Hours of Spa winners Anthony Bartone, James Kell and Yannick Mettler, and Dinamic GT’s Jop Rappange, who are tied on 64 points.
Tresor Attempto Racing will field an additional car this weekend, giving them a presence in all four classes, with the all-Italian trio of Rocco Mazzola, Pietro Delli Guanti and Andrea Cola sharing the #33 Audi. Several crews in the eight-car class have made changes to their driver line-up since the previous round of Monza. Esteban Muth has joined Boutsen VDS in place of Roee Meyuhas, with Isaac Tutumlu Lopez making his GT World Challenge debut at GRT – Grasser Racing Team. Lucas Légeret has joined Saintéloc Racing, and Felice Jelmini is a new addition at Dinamic GT.
BRONZE:
The Bronze Cup is as wide open as the overall title battle, with over half of the 15-car field still in contention. At the top of the standings, Sky Tempesta Racing is bidding to clinch a second successive Endurance Cup crown, and could once again do so without winning a race. The trio of Chris Froggatt, Jonathan Hui and Eddie Cheever are eight points clear of fellow Ferrari squad AF Corse and the #52 296 GT3 driven by Andrea Bertolini, and father-and-son duo Louis and Jef Machiels.
Max Hofer and Andrey Mukovoz sit third and will be re-joined by Dylan Pereira in the #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi, whilst the OQ by Oman Racing crew of Ahmad Al Harthy, Sam De Haan and Jens Klingmann are fourth after victory at Monza. For De Haan, this weekend is set to be his last in professional motorsport. Also in contention are Kessel Racing’s #8 Ferrari, Comtoyou Racing’s #11 Aston Martin, Rutronik Racing’s #97 Porsche and Paradine Competition’s #991 BMW.
As in the other classes, a few teams have tweaked their driver line-up for the season finale. At Barwell Motorsport, who are still in contention for the combined Bronze Cup title, Ricky Collard has replaced an injured Antoine Doquin in the #78 Lamborghini Huracan. David Pun is making his second-ever GT World Challenge Europe start aboard Walkenhorst Motorsport’s #36 Aston Martin in place of Tim Creswick, and Loek Hartog has returned to Rutronik Racing having missed Monza.
NB The Overall and Bronze Cup classifications will remain provisional pending an appeal against Race 1 of the Sprint Cup meeting at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The final Sprint Cup classification also remains provisional.
