While most of the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe teams are already having their first kilometers of driving during the pre-season test days at Paul Ricard, the full season list for 2022 was revealed by the SRO Motorsport Group, showing the traditional consistency in the numbers for the series.
22 out of the 25 GT3s confirmed for the Sprint Cup will compete for overall honors, meaning that they will be also part of the 52 car grid for the Endurance Cup. If grid numbers weren’t already impressive, the number of manufacturers is also a joy to behold, with nine brands fielding at least one entry during the season.
GTWC Europe - Sprint Cup full season entry list
The first aspect that catches the attention in the Sprint Cup is the obvious dominance from the Audi fleet, with 11 entries spread into Pro Cup and Silver Cup, with WRT being responsible for five of these cars. In sheer numbers, the Belgian squad beats their opponents in both classes, as Car Collection and AKKA-ASP will field two Pro Cup cars, while Silver Cup numbers are even between Belgians and the French. Powerhouse teams like Dinamic Motorsport, Saintéloc, Attempto Racing, Garage 59 and JOTA Sport opted to field a Pro Cup car and another one in the Silver Cup or in the Pro-Am Cup.
Pretty much every team on the grid is a known name in the GTWC scene, with the only newcomer in fact being the GSM Novamarine team from Monaco, which will race a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo in the Silver Cup.
GTWC Europe - Endurance Cup full season entry list
Most of the Sprint Cup field will be here as they nominate a third driver for every car, being joined by a bunch of Endurance Cup only entries. The Endurance Cup will also present the new Gold Cup, a result of the shakeup in the driver rating criteria that was done late in 2021 by the SRO.
If you want to see the debuting BMW M4 GT3, watch this space, as ROWE Racing will be fielding their pair of machines here, and that`s it. The step up in competition in the Endurance Cup is really high, as ROWE is joined by the likes of Emil Frey Racing, GetSpeed Performance and JP Motorsport with at least one Pro Cup endurance entry, with most of these teams having a second car in any of the other classes, with a clear preference for the Silver Cup.
You can find all examples of changes compared to 2021, like Iron Lynx bringing their Iron Dames entry to the Gold Cup from the Pro-Am Cup, a move also done by Barwell Motorsport, Haupt Racing Team moving from the Pro Cup to Gold and Silver, Boutsen Ginion moving to Audi after years of BMW and Beechdean Racing moving from British GT to face international competition with a pair of Aston Martins in classes to be confirmed.
Another great thing to watch in 2022 is the CMR squad coming back with a single Bentley Continental GT3 despite the factory having ended in 2020, with paraplegic driver Nigel Bailly, with special hand controls being in place for the Belgian as he will use his Le Mans experience to share the car with Stéphane Lemeret and Matthieu de Robiano.
SRO also announced that further entries may enter the series on a race by race basis, including the 24 Hours of Spa, and the action will start at Imola on 3 April.
PHOTO: SRO/Dirk Bogaerts
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