Ahmad Al Harthy and Oman Racing made a sparkling return to action in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup at Germany’s Nurburgring on Saturday, 4th September, with the second fastest time in the Pro-Am class during pre-qualifying.

With the 2021 campaign approaching its conclusion on both sides of the Atlantic, calendars have been finalised for Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS, the GT4 European Series and the quartet of championships that run under the SRO America banner. 

Championship winning Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup racer Ahmad Al Harthy will make a welcome return to the ultra-competitive GT3 category this weekend, 4th/5th September, for the penultimate event of the season at the Nurburgring in Germany.

Team WRT has sealed a record-extending eighth Sprint Cup title, while Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts are the provisional drivers’ champions for a second year in succession following a day of action and drama at Brands Hatch. 

OIlie Wilkinson was thankfully unhurt in a major accident in which his JOTA McLaren 720S GT3 was speared out of the race lead in the closing minutes of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup outing at Brands Hatch.

AKKA ASP will start both of tomorrow’s Sprint Cup races at Brands Hatch from pole position after Timur Boguslavskiy and Raffaele Marciello topped their respective qualifying sessions at the British circuit.

A 29-car field will herald the return of Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS to Brands Hatch this weekend (28/29 August) for a pair of Sprint Cup races on the 3.9km Grand Prix circuit.

In the standout fixture of the 2021 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup last weekend (29th July 1st August), GRT Grasser Racing put in a heroic effort that sadly went unrewarded. The team gave yet another demonstration of its indomitable fighting spirit on the occasion of the legendary 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. After a crash in qualifying, the crew rebuilt the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO in record time to ensure participation in the endurance classic. Clemens Schmid, Kikko Galbiati and Alberto Di Folco pushed forward relentlessly from last place on the grid. Until they were forced to retire after 15 hours, they had made up no fewer than 28 positions.

Hong Kong race driver Jonathan Hui returned to racing action last weekend for his second race of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup season, after a confidence boosting victory at Paul Ricard last time out. Sky Tempesta Racing headed into the race weekend knowing it would be a tough battle to repeat 2020’s success with Platinum rated star-driver Giancarlo Fisichella not permitted to join the line-up. Hui joined forces with Chris Froggatt, Edward Cheever III and experienced Italian endurance racer Matteo Cressoni at the historic TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa in Belgium. 

Finlay Hutchison’s hopes of a big result in this year’s TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa were dashed less than a quarter of the way through the race late on Saturday night at the famous Belgian track, when Sainteloc Racing team-mate Jamie Green was involved in an accident which led to retirement.

The wait for the much-wanted renewed overall win by Mercedes-AMG in the 24-hour race at Spa continues.  With the third consecutive pole position, the performance and sports car brand from Affalterbach got the event underway with a good start. However, like in the two previous years, the efforts were to remain unrewarded. First of all, the pole sitters with the #88 Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP had to retire from the race with a broken shock absorber, having spent more than 13 hours in the front-running group. On Sunday morning, the race also came to an end for the #4 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT car while on course for the top ten: several minor damaged had added up and impeded the balance of the race car to such an extent that it could no longer continue the race in a competitive way. The best-placed Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the field of 58 cars was the #89 car in tenth overall. As a result, the AKKA ASP trio of Lucas Auer (AUT), Timur Boguslavskiy (RUS) and Felipe Fraga (BRA) also scored valuable points for the 2021 Intercontinental GT Challenge for which the race at Spa served as the season opener. In the Silver Cup, meanwhile, the race was successful: with the #90 Mercedes-AMG GT3 run by Madpanda Motorsport, Rik Breukers (NED), Ezequiel Perez Companc (ARG), Patrick Kujala (FIN) and Ricardo Sanchez (MEX) were leading the class for large parts of the 24-hour duration. After 551 laps, final driver Breukers brought the class victory home (P11 overall). The #7 Toksport WRT crew also managed to finish on the class podium: in the rainy and turbulent final stage, Marvin Dienst (GER), Axcil Jefferies (ZIM), Paul Petit (FRA) and Oscar Tunjo (COL) secured second place in the Silver Cup (P13 overall). This year’s 24-hour race at Spa marked the 50th anniversary of AMG’s first major motorsport success as the legendary Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG secured the class win at Spa and finished second overall.

The two best-placed Porsche customer teams take up the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps tomorrow from positions nine and 20. In the Super Pole session on Friday evening, Porsche works driver Mathieu Jaminet turned the ninth fastest lap with GPX Racing’s 911 GT3 R. In the 20-minute shootout, the top 20 vehicles from Thursday’s qualifying competed against each other in individual time trials. The fastest time of two laps was counted. The 26-year-old Frenchman achieved a lap time of 2:18.729 minutes. For the race, Jaminet shares the cockpit with Earl Bamber from New Zealand and the Australian Matt Campbell.

The TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa got underway with a good first practice for Mercedes-AMG. In the 90-minute session, the teams with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 were able to run through their programme as planned in preparation for the season highlight. Four cars from Affalterbach ended up in the top ten. In the upcoming days, a total of 13 Mercedes-AMG GT3s will be competing for victory in the overall classification as well as for success in the classes. As a result, Mercedes-AMG has the largest car contingent of all the manufacturers. Next to the on-track activities, the performance and sports car brand is also attracting attention with a vehicle display at the occasion of the race: on display are the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG that won its class and finished second overall 50 years ago as well as a car representing the special edition “50 Years Legend of Spa” consisting of three GT3 cars.

With ten customer teams, twelve 911 GT3 R and a total of 40 racing drivers, seven of which are works drivers, Porsche is represented by an impressive line-up at the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race. Hardly any other manufacturer will have more racing cars on the grid of the endurance classic this coming weekend. The legendary event on the 7.004-kilometre “Ardennes rollercoaster” is considered one of the most important GT3 events in the world and counts towards two of this season’s championships: the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC). Porsche is aiming for a hat trick on the Belgian Grand Prix circuit. In 2019, works drivers Michael Christensen (Denmark), Kévin Estre (France) and Richard Lietz (Austria) claimed outright victory in the 911 GT3 R fielded by GPX Racing. Last year, another factory driver trio, Nick Tandy (Great Britain), Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium), won the highlight of the GT3 season, that time with the Rowe Racing squad.

Audi Sport customer racing will be showcasing four one-off designs at the Spa 24 Hours from July 29 to August 1. The individual designs of the Audi R8 LMS pay homage to a major anniversary on the famous Ardennes circuit whose racing history began in 1921.

For Mercedes-AMG Motorsport, the 2021 TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa 2021 (29th July – 1st August) mark an extraordinary anniversary. Exactly 50 years ago, the long-standing brand from Affalterbach achieved its first major success in the Belgian endurance racing classic. In 1971, the Mercedes 300 SEL 6.8 AMG finished in second place overall and secured victory in its class. In this year’s edition, 13 Mercedes-AMG GT3s will be on the grid for the world’s biggest race exclusively for GT3 cars, two of them with extended support from Mercedes-AMG. As an homage to the “rote Sau”, as the Mercedes 300 SEL 6.8 AMG is colloquially known as well, the Mercedes-AMG Team HubAuto car with starting number 50 will be racing in the historic livery from the year 1971.

On Saturday 31 July, the world’s most competitive GT race will begin its 73rd edition. This year’s TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa will see nine brands represented on a 58-car grid, with each entrant vying to secure their place in history. 

A field of 60 cars will aim to conquer the world’s most competitive GT race later this month when the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa stages its eagerly anticipated 73rd edition. 

Finlay Hutchison and Markus Winkelhock encountered a mixed first outing in the 2021 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli over the weekend, delivering two determined race performances despite a lack of overall pace.

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport celebrated numerous podium results in the third round of the Sprint Cup of the GT World Challenge Europe at Misano in Italy. In the first of the two races, Maro Engel (GER) and Luca Stolz (GER) drove the #6 Mercedes-AMG GT3 run by Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT to second place. In the second race, Raffaele Marciello (ITA) and Timur Boguslavskiy (RUS) did likewise with the #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 run by Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP. Good achievements in the classes rounded out the successful weekend. AKKA ASP Team drivers Jim Pla (Frankreich) and Konstantin Tereschenko (RUS) claimed Silver Cup honours on Saturday. Toksport WRT pairing Juuso Puhakka (FIN) and Oscar Tunjo (COL) finished third in this class in both races. SPS automotive performance scored a third and a second place in the Silver Cup with the #20 Mercedes-AMG GT3.