RNW Staff

Monza is always a special place to begin the season, but this weekend’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS opener will be particularly significant. 

This weekend (16-18 April) marks an exciting new chapter for GT racing as the Fanatec GT2 European Series prepares for its inaugural event at Autodromo di Nazionale Monza.

Oregon Team announces Guillem Pujeu for the 2021 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe campaign. The 20-year-old Spaniard joins Italian Massimo Ciglia to complete a Pro-Am crew. Pujeu, who was a race winner in 2018 F4 Spain – made his Super Trofeo debut last season.

The GT World Challenge having already started in America and in Australia, the lights are about to go green on the European continent, too: from 16th-18th April, Autodromo Nazionale Monza will serve as the venue for the opening round of this year’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS. Eight Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams will be participating in the renowned race series with 13 Mercedes-AMG GT3s – a good set-up, therefore, to defend the drivers’ title as well as the Silver Cup drivers’ and teams’ titles while aiming at further title wins as well. The schedule consists of five sprint and five endurance events with the Total 24 Hours of Spa (29th July-1st August) as the season highlight. The teams are not only competing for titles, victories and points in the European version of the race series. With their achievements, they are also contributing to the superordinated global manufacturers’ standings in which Mercedes-AMG came out on top in the past two years.

The GT4 European Series gets the 2021 season underway this weekend (16-18 April) at the 5.8 km Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Forty-seven GT4 cars will contest the opening round at the iconic Italian venue.

Trivellato Racing by Villorba Corse is ready to start the season taking part in the first round of 2021 GT4 European Series in Monza with two young crews on Mercedes-AMG GT4. The Italian team led by Raimondo Amadio has completed the drivers’ line up with Jamie Caroline. Born in 1999, the reigning British GT4 champion will join Swiss driver Jean Luc D’Auria, who made his debut with Trivellato Racing last January in the Gulf 12 Hours, on the #70 car. Another reigning champion, Francesco Guerra, from the Italian GT, will take part in the SRO-promoted series on the #90 car pairing Jody Vullo, driver from Milan that clinched one victory and five podium finishes for Trivellato Racing last year.

The hunting season on home turf has officially opened for Austrian outfit GRT Grasser Racing Team, who went chasing points with their Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO in the great American endurance classics over the winter months but will now go on the attack once again in Europe this weekend. The first race meeting of the season in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup at Monza is on the team’s schedule, April 16th-18th.

In a race season already full of exciting new adventures and challenges, Era Motorsport is set to begin a new quest starting this week with the 2021 European Le Mans Series championship. Partnering with IDEC SPORT, the American group will field the second car of the French operation, racing the No. 17 LMP2 Oreca in the Am category with drivers Kyle Tilley, Dwight Merriman, and Ryan Dalziel.

The “Takanoko Hotel Okayama GT 300 Km RACE,” opening round of the 2021 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, took place at the Okayama International Circuit (one lap 3,703 m x 82 laps) on April 11. Race Sunday was blessed with fine spring weather, and despite with-corona restrictions like social distancing, the fans were back to enjoy the first race here at Okayama in two years.

The champion returns: The Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil Racing team has acquired the services of former champion Jules Gounon (26/F) to spearhead its campaign in the ADAC GT Masters. In the latest edition of PS on Air – The Ravenol ADAC GT Masters Talk, the team from the Eifel region of Germany also confirmed the drivers of its second Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo for the German GT Championship: Hendrik Still (33/Kempenich) and Constantin Schöll (22/A). Zakspeed will also field two cars in ADAC GT4 Germany, each with strong duos at the wheel. Oschersleben hosts the opening round of the new season from 14th to 16th May.

Leonardo Pulcini joins Oregon Team for the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe seasonthat kicks off at Monza on 16/18 April.

The official qualifying for the opening round of the 2021 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, the “Takanoko Hotel OKAYAMA GT 300km RACE,” was held on April 10 at the Okayama International Circuit (one lap 3,703 m) in Okayama Prefecture. The SUPER GT qualifying is run in a knock-out style format, and in the GT500 class the No. 37 KeePer TOM’S GR Supra (Ryo Hirakawa/Sena Sakaguchi) was fastest in both the Q1 and Q2 sessions, and as the driver in Q2, Sakaguchi took his first GT500 pole position. In the GT300 class, the No. 11 GAINER TANAX GT-R (Katsuyuki Hiranaka/Hironobu Yasuda) won the class pole. With this result, these two cars will start from front position on their respective class starting grids in tomorrow’s final race on April 11.

Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS will launch its 2021 season next weekend (16-18 April) when a 44-car field featuring nine brands contests a three-hour Endurance Cup race at Monza. 

United Autosports’ European racing season begins next week as the team prepares for the opening rounds of the 2021 European Le Mans Series and Michelin Le Mans Cup at Barcelona, Spain as well as the opening round of the GT4 European Series in Monza, Italy. 

A strong duo for Schubert Motorsport: The team from Oschersleben will line up in the German GT Championship with BMW works drivers Nick Yelloly (30/GB) and Jesse Krohn (30/FIN). Schubert Motorsport is one of the most successful teams in the series, in which it runs a BMW M6 GT3. This season, the team will also start in ADAC GT4 Germany for the first time. Marcel Lenerz (23/Bad Hersfeld) has already been confirmed as the first driver. Oschersleben hosts the opening round of this season’s ADAC GT Masters from 14th to 16th May.

Successful British racing driver Jordan Witt will make a welcome return to action on the continent this year after today, Thursday, 8th April, confirming he will compete in the inaugural season of the brand new Fanatec GT2 European Series with Toro Verde GT.

Trivellato Racing and Villorba Corse strengthen their partnership and launch a new motorsport challenge for the 2021 season. The Italian team, known as Trivellato Racing by Villorba Corse and led by Raimondo Amadio, will line up two Mercedes-AMG GT4s in the GT4 European Series. In addition to representing the scenario of the return of the legendary Trivellato brand in international racing, the series promoted by SRO Motorsport Group will be a new test bench for the team after last year’s brilliant results in the Italian GT Sprint Championship. The names of the drivers involved will be announced soon.

Porsche Motorsport GB enters what could be its most exciting season to date with two established championships welcoming a mix of familiar names and exciting newcomers – including two new teams. Porsche Carrera Cup GB, the fastest single marque GT racing championship in the UK, enters its 19th season which also marks the final year of the 485 hp second-generation ‘Type 991’ 911 GT3 Cup. A battle royale looks set to rage for title glory between reigning champion Porsche GB 2020 / 2021 Junior Harry King and one of the championship’s most successful drivers, 2015 and 2016 champion Dan Cammish. 

Performance Tech Motorsports driver Dan Goldburg raced up the prototype ranks reaching his next benchmark during the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

 Lamborghini is celebrating the production of its 400th Huracán model from its headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese, where all Lamborghinis, both road and racing, have been produced since 1963. This milestone was recognised at a special event, which was attended by Stephan Winkelmann (President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini), Maurizio Reggiani (Chief Technical Officer), Ranieri Niccoli (Chief Manufacturing Officer) and Giorgio Sanna (Head of Motorsport). They were joined by the various technicians who build both the Huracán Super Trofeo Evo and GT3 Evo every day.