SPORTSCAR

Next weekend Henrique Chaves will start the GT World Challenge Europe season, in the historic Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.

Audi Sport customer racing has never been so strongly represented in the European racing series of promoter SRO (Stéphane Ratel Organization) as in the 2021 season. A total of nine of the brand’s customer teams will field three different types of race cars in three racing series at the inaugural weekend at Monza from April 16 to 18. Eight Audi R8 LMS GT4 cars will compete in the GT4 European Series, three GT2 versions in the new GT2 European Series and seven GT3 versions in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.

Jack Aitken will be embarking on a new challenge this weekend, as he makes his GT racing debut at the “Temple of Speed”: the famed Monza circuit in Italy for the opening round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS series.

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 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.