Dinamic Confirm GT World Challenge Europe Bronze Cup Mustang Roster
Italian squad Dinamic GT has firmed up its second crew to contest this season’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS campaign in a Ford Mustang GT3.
The team previously announced a Pro car for Chris Mies, Fred Vervisch and Dennis Olsen. Now, it has settled on its full line-up by adding a Bronze Cup entry for Philipp Sager, Christopher Zöchling and Ben Barker, all of whom are familiar to the team.
Sager, who ran the full 2023 season with Dinamic, has a cv that includes both GT and single-seater competition. Zöchling has more than a decade’s worth of GT experience, including with Dinamic in last year’s Sprint Cup and at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
The trio is completed by Barker, who was recently announced as a Ford Performance factory driver. The British racer also drove for Dinamic in last season’s Endurance Cup and had previously been known as a Porsche specialist with class wins at the Bathurst 12 Hour amongst this accomplishments.
Both crews will undertake the full season.
In the Pro car, Mies and Vervisch will run the Sprint races with Olsen joining at Endurance rounds; in the sister machine, Sager and Barker will tackle the full campaign with Zöchling supporting them at long-distance events.
The 2024 Fanatec GT Europe season launches with the traditional Prologue at Circuit Paul Ricard on 5/6 March, followed by the opening Endurance Cup race at the same venue on 5–7 April and the first Sprint contest at Brands Hatch on 4–5 May.
Eastalent To Defend Teams Title In GT Open
Eastalent Racing will defend its Teams title in the 2024 International GT Open.
After a controversial finish to the season the Austrian squad, in its maiden campaign in the series, won the Teams’ Trophy, despite running a single car entry, and took runner-up honours in the Drivers’ rankings.
Simon Reicher and Christopher Haase in their Audi R8 LMS fought until the last corner for the title, which was decided only after the final decision of the FIA International Court of Appeal which found in favour of eventual Drivers Championship winners Optimum Motorsport.
The Austrians will be back with the same package this year, seeking further success, while running a parallel program of endurance races, which starts this coming weekend at the Dubai 24 Hours.
Peter Reicher: “It has been an intense season with a lot of different emotions along the way but in retrospect, we have many reasons to be satisfied. Eastalent was only in its second year of existence, and we were debuting on the European scene, so to end where we ended exceeded our expectations, and we are very proud that our Teams title was won on the track, regardless of the post-championship decisions.
“What happened is frustrating for everybody but is also part of racing. What is important is that everybody learns from these things and moves on determined to do better. It is in this spirit that we are coming back to the GT Open. We enjoyed the series, the tracks and the family spirit which presides the series, so different from other championships, and that is also a good reason to come back.”
Motorsport 98 Bring Mercedes AMG To GT2 European Series
Motorsport 98 has confirmed its first entry for the Fanatec GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli, with team owner and driver Eric De Doncker set to pilot a new Mercedes-AMG GT2.
A former GT4 European Cup and Group C Class 1 champion, De Doncker brings over 30-years of experience to the series and most recently contested the Nascar Euro Series and Le Mans Cup.
After a two-year break, De Doncker is looking forward to taking the wheel of the #98 Mercedes-AMG GT2: “The first idea was to take part in the European Le Mans Series with the Ligier we still owned, but we weren’t selected,” comments De Doncker. “And as there was no guarantee that we’d finally be able to line up this prototype at a level that interested us, I logically turned to the GT2, a concept tailor-made for gentlemen drivers! One call to Stéphane Ratel later, the decision was made, and as a Mercedes-AMG GT2 was available, we went for it!
“The cars in the GT2 category are nice, powerful, and if I drive alone, I can clearly aim for the crown in the Am category. I’ll make my decision after testing at the Circuit Paul Ricard and the Barcelona-Catalunya track. Will there be a teammate or not? We’ll see at that point, depending on how I can adapt to the Mercedes-AMG GT2, a car that develops a whopping 700 horsepower for 1400 kilos! Admittedly, there’s less downforce than on the GT3s, but it goes very fast all the same. What’s more, the 2024 line-up for the GT2 European Series is more than promising, with between 20 and 25 cars expected, and no fewer than six meetings, including Spa.”
The Belgian team will begin its Fanatec GT2 Powered by Pirelli campaign in the opening round of the series at Circuit Paul Ricard, 5-6 April. Part of the crew’s maiden season will include supporting the centennial of the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa in July, the mid-way point in the six-round Fanatec GT2 calendar which supports Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS this year.
“In the end, I’ll have raced in GT4, GT1, GT3 and GT2,” smiles De Doncker. “In addition to my GT2 European Series programme, I intend to take part in the Spa 12 Hours and the Barcelona 24 Hours, part of the 24H Series. These are prospects which have attracted my partners Mercedes Mannès and AMB Storage, the people who have supported me in the past, and of course my wife Cath.”
Mirage Racing Confirm Second Aston Martin Crew For GT4 European Series
Mirage Racing has confirmed Ruben del Sarte and Josh Miller will handle its second Aston Martin Vantage AMR in this season’s GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club, completing its two-car attack.
The French team recently unveiled Pro-Am duo Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub as the first half of its two-car entry, and now completes its plans with Silver Cup pairing del Sarte and Miller in the sister car.
Del Sarte is a familiar name to the championship, returning for his fourth GT4 European Series campaign after being a podium finisher last season. The Dutchman made his GT4 European Series debut in 2021, having gained experience in both the Intelligent Money British GT Championship and been a race winner in the UK Ginetta Junior series. He has also gained GT3 experience recently by competing with Bullitt Racing’s Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup.
British driver Miller is gearing up to make his GT4 European Series debut this year, having impressed across a two-year stint in British GT. He was team-mates with former Mirage racer Jamie Day in 2022, the pair celebrating two British GT4 wins on their way to third in the championship.
