The GT3s just keep coming to Endurance Brasil

Here comes the start of another Endurance Brasil season with new machines to be added to the current crop, and in between the prototypes built in national soil, what’s attracting the attention of fans and media is the recent influx of GT3 machinery this year.

The series always counts with the Lamborghini Gallardos competing for a very long time, but now newer machinery is also being included in the grid, a thing that raises the bar in terms of competition as there will be at least four cars in the GT3 class at Curitba.

One of them already had its debut during the Endurance RS opener at Guaporé, being it the Sul Racing Ferrari 458 GT3, and the consistent run of Ricardo Mendes and Peter Ferter was enough to achieve a third place overall, and given the harsh conditions presented in that race this was quite a feat.

The 2017 champions from Stuttgart Motorsport will return with an updated Porsche 911 GT3R as the latest updates were included in the title winning car, which will feature the same lineup that won all rounds expect the ones at Tarumã, with Ricardo Maurício having the company of Marcel Visconde.

Mottin Racing is also returning with their Lamborghini Gallardo after focusing their efforts in the MCR GrandAm Lamborghini at Guaporé, returning to double duty at Curitiba. The double attack worked well for Luciano Mottin and his team as both cars are really consistent, but with new machines coming, there’s the worry with the performance of the Gallardo as the oldest GT3 car of the field, especially as there isn’t a balance of performance in Endurance Brasil.

Also, it was confirmed this week that the CRT Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 will finally make its competition debut after being shown at Tarumã last year. Arthur Caleffi and Claudio Ricci will do the driving after the participation of the Vantage was put in question due to lack of partners. Good thing is that the car wasn’t stopped until now as Caleffi was in tests earlier this year, while Ricci was part of the lineup who drove the MCR GrandAm at Guaporé.

The new GT3 cars are not only the latest models of its makers, but they are also stepping into Brazilian territory for the first time, like the Porsche was in 2017. Long time ROLEX 24 runner Via Italia Racing is stepping outside their Ferrari history to join Endurance Brasil with a Lamborghini Huracán GT3, already in tests to get the best of the machine before the start of the season.

The car is a highlight for itself with its 620 HP coming from a screaming V10 engine, but there will be a star lineup behind it, composed by Chico Longo, with participations in Endurance Brasil, GT Brasil, ROLEX 24, FIA WEC , International GT Open, only to name a few of his extensive racing resume, and Daniel Serra, top notch Stock Car Brasil driver who is the current Le Mans LMGTE-Pro winner with Aston Martin, and was already by AF Corse to join their Le Mans attack this year. Good for Serra and for Via Italia is that his Le Mans commitments will not interfere with his participation at Interlagos in late June.

The other new GT monster coming is the Mercedes AMG GT3 to be fielded by Scuderia 111, which in fact arrived in Brazil recently, so initial testing here will be a race against time, although the package is pretty reliable and the AMG GT3 is a complete car, suiting high and low speed circuits as it will be needed during the season. The lineup for this one is a family one with Xandy and Xandinho Negrão sharing driving duties, allied with their long time racing together and the knowledge they have of the AMG GT3 thanks to the races they participated in Pirelli World Challenge and FARA USA.

And to end the list we will have a home competitor in form of the Ebrahim Motors Audi R8 LMS, always being a confirmed presence at Curitiba and even at Interlagos, though they didn’t compete full time last year.

The Endurance Brasil opener at Curitiba will be on April 28^th, with free practice sessions on Friday and Saturday and qualifying and race being held on the same day after that.

PHOTOS: Minamoto Graphics archive, Lamborghini São Paulo, Exclusivos Brasil, Stuttgart Porsche, Endurance Brasil