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.
Five months after the end of the 2020 season, an amazing and highly competitive field is set to start the 14th season of the GT4 European Series in Italy. It is the fifth visit to Monza in the history of the series, the third time in April. The last time the series visited the track was in 2019.
Strong line-ups ready to fight for Silver Cup honours
French Aston Martin team AGS Events clinched the teams’ title and the Silver Cup drivers’ title in the season finale at Circuit Paul Ricard in 2020 and will challenge for another success this season. The team will rely on two new line-ups, with Konstantin Lachenauer and César Gazeau in the #27 car and Hugo Condé and Akhil Rabindra in the #45 entry. Mirage Racing will enter the third Aston Martin in the Silver Cup, with Tom Canning in the #55 alongside Ruben del Sarte.
Mercedes-AMG has most cars in the Silver Cup this weekend. Five cars from four teams will compete for the Silver Cup honours, including last year’s front-runners Lluc Ibanez and Xavier Lloveras in the #15 NM Racing Team entry. Trivellato Racing by Villorba Corsa wlll field two cars in the class, one for Italian drivers Francesco Guerra and Jody Simone Vullo and the other for Jean-Luc D’Auria and Jamie Caroline. Vastly experienced French teams CD Sport and AKKA ASP will complete the Mercedes-AMG contingent in the Silver Cup. At CD Sport Enzo Joulié and Sébastien Baud will race the #74, with Paul Evrard and Timothé Buret sharing the #88 for AKKA ASP.
United Autosports’ return to GT racing also marks the full-season return of McLaren. A two-car Silver Cup effort sees Bailey Voisin and Charlie Fagg in the #23 car and Gus Bowers and Dean Macdonald behind the wheel of the #32.
A pair of Porsches is entered by Allied-Racing and Centri Porsche Ticino. The German team has former champion Nicolaj Møller-Madsen alongside young German Joel Sturm in the #22, while the Swiss squad will enter one car in the Silver Cup for Amedeo Pampanini and Nicolas Sturzinger.
V8 Racing has an unchanged line-up for this season, with Jop Rappange and Thijmen Nabuurs aiming for top finishes again this season in the #69 Chevrolet Camaro. CMR will compete in the Silver Cup with two manufacturers. Stephane Lemeret and Antoine Potty will fight for victory in the #8 Toyota, while Loris Cabirou and Vincent Beltoise will race the team’s #30 Alpine. Completing the 17-car Silver Cup grid are the Team Speedcar Audi for Robert Consani and Benjamin Lariche and the Sainteloc Racing Audi of Clement Seyler and Roee Meyuhas.
Competitive 18-car Pro-Am grid set to contest opening round
The Pro-Am class sees 18 cars set to race in the season opener. Defending champions Allied-Racing are back with a pair of Porsches. Constantin Dressler and Dennis Fetzer are in the #20, with Alexander Hartvig and Joel Camathias teaming up in the #26. They will go up against two Centri Porsche Ticino cars, including the #718 of Ivan Jacoma and Massimiliano Busnelli.
Five Audi crews will battle for Pro-Am Cup honours at Monza. Sainteloc Racing will campaign two cars in Pro-Am this season, with fellow French teams Team Fullmotorsport and Team Speedcar also joining the GT4 European Series, with one car each. 2018 champions Hella Pagid – racing one returns to the series and has also entered one Audi in the class.
Mercedes-AMG is represented in Pro-Am by CD Sport, Selleslagh Racing Team, AKKA ASP and NM Racing Team, while Arkadia Racing will make its series debut with the agile Alpine. Despite the challenging conditions, Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport is set to return with two cars. The big change in the Turkish team’s line-up is that 2020 runners-up Cem Bolukbasi and Yagiz Gedik will compete against each other this season.
Former FIA GT runners Ebimotors are also set to compete in the season opener. Enrico Borghi’s team has opted to run two Porsches at Monza, with the #10 competing in Pro-Am. The other additional race-by-race entry joining Pro-Am at Monza is the SVC Sport Management Toyota for Piotr and Antoni Chodzen.
Champions return to Am Cup; grid size back in double-digits
With 11 cars entered for the opening round, the Am class witnessed an impressive increase in entries compared to last season. 2020 champion Nicolas Gomar returns in the #89 AGS Events Aston Martin, while 2019 champion Pascal Bachmann makes a welcome return to the series with Street Art Racing and the #7 Aston Martin. 2018 Pro-Am champion Markus Lungstrass and his Danish teammate Henrik L. Pedersen will also be on the grid in an Aston Martin, prepared by Hella Pagid – racing one.
GT4 regulars AKKA ASP and Selleslagh Racing Team will enter one Mercedes-AMG each, with W&D Racing Team returning to the series full time with its BMW M4 GT4. French team CMR is set to run a Toyota in the Am Cup.
Iskra Motorsport by Ebimotors is one of four guest entries in the Am Cup. GT4 European Series regulars Autorlando Sport will field two Porsches at the Monza circuit, while French outfit Team Fullmotorsport completes the grid with another Audi.
The category in which the fourth AGS Events Aston Martin will compete is still to be confirmed.
Monza weekend kicks off on Thursday with official test; qualifying and race streamed live
The Monza weekend gets underway on Thursday 11 April with a four-hour test session. The first official one-hour free practice session will begin on Friday morning at 11.05, followed by a second practice session at 14.20. Qualifying takes place on Saturday morning at 11.40, with the first 60-minute race getting underway at 17.25 on Saturday afternoon. The second race will begin at 13.10 on Sunday afternoon. Qualifying and races will be streamed live on the official series website, as well as the GT World YouTube channel.
The GT4 European Series are part of an action packed Monza weekend. The Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS launches its 2021 season with a three-hour Endurance Cup race on Sunday. It is the maiden event for the Fanatec GT2 European Series, while the Lamborghini Super Trofeo will also kick get its season underway at Monza. On top of that, there’s also the launch of the new Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series.
Source. SRO Motorsports Group
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