RNW Staff

B-Quik Absolute Racing returns to Chang International Circuit next weekend (23-26 December) for the final round of Thailand Super Series 2021 with the fight for the Super Car GT3 Drivers’ and Teams’ titles in the balance and with all to play for.

2022’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS campaign will incorporate the Japan Cup, a new ‘championship within a championship’ for Japanese teams and drivers.

Lamborghini has ended the motorsport season with seven GT championship titles, reaching 42 since the first generation of the Huracán GT3 made its debut in 2015. In 2021, Lamborghini Squadra Corse won a historic triple (drivers’, teams’, and constructors’ titles) in the GT World Challenge America, dominated both the drivers’ and teams’ standings in the International GT Open, and won both British GT titles for the second year running. 24 victories, 60 podium finishes, 29 pole positions and 35 fastest laps thanks to the commitment of 89 drivers (8 of whom are Lamborghini Factory Drivers), who raced over 120,000 km on some of the most prestigious circuits in the world.

Another new addition to the German GT Championship: The Allied-Racing team is set to enter the ADAC GT Masters with a Porsche 911 GT3 R in 2022. Allied-Racing has primarily caught the eye in ADAC GT4 Germany to this point, with the team from Upper Bavaria winning both the Driver and Team titles in 2020. As well as the German GT Championship, Allied will also continue to run four Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 in ADAC GT4 Germany. The outfit’s continued involvement in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland sees Allied-Racing take full advantage of the diverse and attractive platform that is the ADAC GT Masters. In total, the team will run seven Porsche race cars across the three series.

Having achieved the title treble this year, the championship-winning team Montaplast by Land-Motorsport is upgrading for 2022 in the German GT Championship: This year, the team from the Westerwald region will defend its title with no fewer than three Audi R8 LMS evo II. Newcomer Tim Zimmermann (25/Lochau), the winner of the Pirelli Junior competition in 2020, has already been confirmed as the first Land-Motorsport driver for the German GT Championship. The team revealed its plans exclusively in the online show PS on Air – The Ravenol ADAC GT Masters Talk. The new season of the International German GT Championship kicks off from 22nd to 24th April 2022 at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben.

British race ace Jordan Witt will make a welcome return to the annual Hankook 24H Dubai in January after signing a deal with top team Schubert Motorsport to pilot the squad’s stunning new BMW M4 GT3 – and both driver and team have their sights set on challenging for outright victory.

With victories and titles in the most significant race series, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport has continued the success story of its customer sports programme in the year 2021. From the range of over 30 championship titles that could be won in the course of the season, still challenging because of the Covid-pandemic, the DTM drivers’ title for Maximilian Götz (GER) stands out. Moreover, Mercedes-AMG underlined its aspiration as a globally successful performance and sports car brand by winning the manufacturers’ titles in DTM and GT World Challenge. Across the globe, the Customer Racing Teams competed in 474 races and were able to celebrate 93 race wins and 229 class wins in the process. In total, 573 podium results for drivers with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the Mercedes-AMG GT4 were achieved.

GRT’s adventure in the top class of GT3 sport, the DTM, is beginning to take shape, and the Austrians will call on the services of 31-year-old Tyrolean driver, Clemens Schmid, again in 2022. After two years at Grasser Racing, he will be a member of the crew moving from the ADAC GT Masters to the legendary DTM where he will drive the #16 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO. His name is the first of four to be signed by GRT as drivers for next year.

The vehicle balancing for DTM and DTM Trophy will be coming from a single source in future. In the 2022 season, the globally operating automotive service provider AVL will determine the balance of performance (BoP) for both DTM as the top category and the junior talent pool DTM Trophy. AVL and the DTM organisation ITR have extended and expanded the successful cooperation accordingly in an exclusive partnership agreement.

United Autosports are pleased to confirm that Andres Latorre and Garnet Patterson will join their Michelin Le Mans Cup team for the 2022 season.

Nissan Motorsport International (NISMO) has been a strong presence in the Japanese grand touring car racing series, Super GT ever since it began. Known as the All Japanese Grand Touring Car Championship from 1993 to 2004, the competition has seen many manufacturers and countless legends. One thing that has remained consistent is Nissan’s dominance and superiority. Across different classes, NISMO has claimed numerous team championships and is considered a force to be reckoned with to this day. In December 2021, the Japanese manufacturer announced the arrival of the new Nissan Z, which NISMO GT500 teams will use starting from the 2022 Super GT season.

Leonardo Pulcini and Arthur Rougier have been announced as the stand-out drivers from the Young Driver Program and GT3 Junior Program 2021 and will receive official support from Lamborghini Squadra Corse next year, taking part in the International GT Open and ADAC GT Masters championships respectively.

More than a year before it will be delivered to BMW M Motorsport teams, the new BMW M4 GT4 completed its first tests last week in Almeria (ESP). Development of the car is already at an advanced stage. The goal is to continue the impressive success story of its predecessor. To enable this, the new BMW M4 GT4 will not only feature the strengths of the current car, there will be improvements in some areas. As well as performance, BMW M Motorsport engineers are also placing great importance on ease of maintenance and cost efficiency. The BMW M production model provides an outstanding basis, while the new car will also adopt certain components from its big brother, the BMW M4 GT3.

Team Parker Racing is very happy to announce that Matt Armstrong will make a return to the team in the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB for 2022, after finishing third in the championship standings this season.

Laurin Heinrich is the new Porsche Junior for the 2022 season. In a selection process in Aragon (Spain), the 20-year-old German from the Würzburg region beat eleven candidates from the worldwide Porsche Carrera Cups. The talented youngster receives a sponsorship package from Porsche Motorsport that includes 225,000 Euros towards the upcoming Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season. At the wheel of the 375 kW (510 PS) 911 GT3 Cup, Heinrich claimed the rookie classification title and also won a race in the international series last season. The passionate sim racer is a textbook example of Porsche Motorsport’s successful junior development initiative: In 2019, the young German won the Porsche Sports Cup, clinched the rookie title in the Carrera Cup Deutschland the following year and went on to contest a successful 2021 season in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.

Following a highly successful season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge, Porsche customer racing team Wright Motorsports will return to the WeatherTech GTD class in 2022, moving its IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge championship-winning driver lineup into the No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R race car. The 2021 WeatherTech Michelin Endurance Cup and Michelin Pilot Challenge team and driver champions will see the return of Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen to the team, racing the full 2022 GTD season.  The championship-winning pair will be joined by 2021 GTD class champion Zacharie Robichon for the four endurance races that comprise the Michelin Endurance Cup.

Lexus will run one full-time entry fielded by Vasser Sullivan in the new IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD PRO class with drivers Ben Barnicoat, Jack Hawksworth and Kyle Kirkwood completing the lineup in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3.

United Autosports are pleased to confirm that Daniel Schneider and Andy Meyrick will return to their Michelin Le Mans Cup team for 2022.

United Autosports are pleased to confirm that John Schauerman and Wayne Boyd will return to the team for the 2022 Michelin Le Mans Cup, in what will be their third season together in the championship.

A newcomer, with a familiar name in the background: In ZVO Racing, a new team will be making its debut in the German GT Championship and ADAC GT4 in 2022. We take a look behind the scenes at the racing team from the Rhineland-Palatinate, which will run Mercedes-AMG race cars in both series.