Defending Indy 8H Winner Audi Absent from 25-Car Entry

Audi will not defend its Indianapolis 8 Hour victory from last year, with the German marque absent from a 25-car entry list published ahead of next weekend’s Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli round.

The four-time IGTC manufacturers’ champion, which won last year’s Indy 8 Hour with Sainteloc Racing, is set to miss an IGTC round for the first time since the globe-trotting series started in 2016.

Audi currently sits second in the IGTC standings, 51 points behind Mercedes-AMG which took a dominant series lead by winning the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour and the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa.

An Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II is shown on the official event poster, however none of the manufacturer’s prominent European teams will make the transatlantic trip.

Mercedes-AMG will bid for its fourth consecutive IGTC race victory with opposition from Ferrari, Lamborghini and BMW teams in the Pro category at Indianapolis.

All entries in the top class must include at least one Silver-rated driver, to match a rule that was introduced to Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS earlier this year.

In addition to forming part of the IGTC, the Indy 8 Hour is the final round of the GTWC America season. The all-GT3 field mostly features domestic teams, along with three international entries.

Two of the overseas commitments come from Ferrari squad AF Corse, which will again tackle the event with a pair of Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020s.

Factory drivers Daniel Serra and Antonio Fuoco will share the No. 71 car with Belgian prospect Ulysse de Pauw, who won the GTWC Europe Sprint Cup Silver class title with AF Corse.

The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari will be driven by factory aces Miguel Molina and Davide Rigon, as well as experienced Frenchman Pierre Ragues.

The other international entry is Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo for Raffaele Marciello, Daniel Juncadella and Daniel Morad, which was announced earlier this week as one of four Pro efforts for the IGTC points-leading manufacturer.

Ferrari is additionally represented in Pro through single-car entries from Conquest Racing and Andretti Autosport x Vital Speed, which has a lineup featuring Ryan Briscoe.

Lamborghini’s cause will be spearheaded by K-PAX Racing, which recently secured the GTWC America Pro teams’ championship at Sebring.

The California-based team is running two Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evos.

GTWC America pairing Andrea Caldarelli and Michele Beretta will be supplemented by factory driver Marco Mapelli in the No. 1 entry, while Franck Perera joins Misha Goikhberg and Jordan Pepper in the No. 3.

Lamborghini is further represented by Pro-Am competitor TR3 Racing and Zelus Motorsports, which has a lineup involving two Bronze-rated drivers.

The only top-category BMW M4 GT3 is the Turner Motorsport example that will be driven by John Edwards, who races for the German marque’s factory IMSA GTD Pro team, as well as Robby Foley and Michael Dinan.

Bill Auberlen, who has won several races for Turner over the years, captains BimmerWorld’s Pro-Am BMW, while ST Racing is the only confirmed Silver Cup competitor in the field with its M4 GT3.

GTWC America outfits RealTime Racing and Racers Edge Motorsports will each bring an Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 to the grid in Pro-Am.

Mario Farnbacher, Christina Nielsen and Ashton Harrison team up for Racers Edge, with only Michael Cooper and Erin Vogel named in RealTime’s lineup at present.

A pair of Porshe 911 GT3 Rs will also compete in Pro-Am courtesy of GMG Racing — which has hired Austrian ace Klaus Bachler — and Wright Motorsports with its lineup led by Jan Heylen.

There are no Porsches in the top class, however, with the German manufacturer sitting at the foot of the IGTC standings after finishing seventh at Spa.

Triarsi Competizione completes the Pro-Am grid with its two Ferraris, including one featuring works driver Alessio Rovera.

The entry for the third edition of the Indy 8 Hour is smaller than last year’s 41-car count, however it is comparable with the 28 GT3 cars that signed up for the 2021 race.

GT4 machinery made up a significant portion of the grid last year, but event organizer SRO elected to remove the category in a bid to reduce the likelihood of incidents.