JP Planning to Enter Remaining Races After Missing 24H Spa

JP Motorsport intends to enter the final two rounds of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup season despite missing the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa.

Both of the Polish-flagged team’s McLaren 720S GT3s, including its No. 111 Pro car for Vincent Abril, Dennis Lind and Christian Klien, are absent from the 65-car provisional entry list for next month’s Belgian long-distance classic.

Team owner and driver Patryk Krupinski told Sportscar365 that the decision was taken because he feels the team needs more time to gel before tackling a major 24-hour race.

But he also said that JP plans to do the three-hour Endurance Cup races at Hockenheim and Barcelona, despite its championship effort being fragmented by the Spa no-show.

In addition to its Pro machine which finished fifth at the Imola season-opener, JP Motorsport also runs its No. 112 McLaren in the Gold Cup class of Endurance.

“We will do the full season after [Spa] now: Valencia [Sprint Cup], Hockenheim and Barcelona,” Krupinski stated.

“The car is good and we have really good cooperation with McLaren, but we have a lot of new people in the team this year – engineering and mechanics – and I don’t think we’re ready.

“We have a fast car, especially at Paul Ricard. And at Zandvoort we were P2 in qualifying.

“We can put the car on the front row of the grid, but it is difficult to do it all during a 24-hour race. We have small issues that we need to fix.

“The team needs more time together, to understand everybody. It’s the reason why we don’t do the 24 Hours of Spa.

“We know we can maybe put the car in the top five and then lose time in the pit stops 24 times.

“During the 24 Hours of Spa week, everybody will be working really hard together in the workshop to fix all of these small organizational things.”

Skipping the 24 Hours of Spa also enables JP Motorsport to save money on the longest and therefore most expensive event of the GTWC Europe season.

The team has allocated part of that saving to its Sprint Cup program which has expanded to include the No. 111 McLaren driven by Abril and Lind for the final three rounds.

The Pro pairing first appeared on the Sprint grid at Zandvoort and have returned for this weekend’s fixture at Misano, which leads into the Valencia season finale.

JP Motorsport started the season with the No. 112 McLaren running solo in Pro-Am.

“You need around €340,000 [$356,500 USD] to do Spa,” said Krupinski, identifying the estimated total event cost beyond official entry fees.

“It’s expensive for one race. For Sprint, we are here only for three days, not one week.

“I think the second car [for Sprint] costs around €85,000. And then we have around €250,000 for these three races. It saves around €80-90,000. It’s still a lot.”

Krupinski added that Norbert Siedler, who is his co-driver for Misano, is set to join the No. 112 lineup for Hockenheim and Barcelona, alongside the team owner and Maciej Blazek.

Krupinski and Blazek started the campaign at Imola teaming up with Christian Brueck, which formed a Silver Cup crew.

McLaren factory driver Joe Osborne then joined for Paul Ricard, bumping the No. 112 McLaren to Gold Cup which is where it will remain for the last two races of the season.

The Pro combination of Abril, Lind and Klien, who currently sit ninth in the Endurance Cup standings, is set to remain unchanged for Hockenheim and Barcelona.

For the Sprint Cup finale at Valencia, Krupinski and Klien are expected to run in Pro-Am, with Abril and Lind continuing for their third event together bidding for overall honors.