Weekly Racing Roundup (1.2.23)

***The latest confirmed entry for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour is Tigani Motorsport’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo which will compete under the Valmont Racing banner in Silver Cup. Aaron Cameron, Duvashen Padayachee, Marcel Zalloua and Sergio Pires will co-drive in the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli season-opener next month.

***Padayachee, Zalloua and Pires shared a pre-Evo specification Mercedes-AMG at Bathurst last year. “The 2022 event was pretty cool, jumping in the Mercedes and for the team to get a first experience with what the 12 Hour is really like,” said Padayachee. “This year we’re up to the same spec as the big-name outright cars, so there’s a great benchmark for us to work off.”

***Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup champion Jules Gounon has switched to an Andorran racing license after previously driving under the French flag. In a post on Instagram, the 28-year-old said: “I’m excited to race for the country I live in and love. Apart from that, I will also support the up-coming [sic] young drivers from Andorra, offering them my experience and expertise.” Gounon was disappointed not to be mentioned in the French FFSA federation’s end-of-year awards.

***British team 7TSIX will make its 24-hour race debut in the Hankook 24H Dubai this month. The Yorkshire-based squad is running an Am-class McLaren 720S GT3 for James Cottingham, Andrew Gilbert, Matus Vyboh and Fran Rueda.

“We are currently evaluating the various options and future opportunities for the team, and have seen significant interest in several events from drivers, including the 6H Abu Dhabi,” said 7TSIX team owner Joe Edge. “With the team and the car out in the Middle East for the start of the year, there is a lot of opportunity to gain experience and run in some great events at some fantastic venues.”

***Molitor Racing Systems is supporting P1 Groupe for a joint 24H Dubai entry with an OnlyFans-liveried Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. One of its drivers, Alex Vogel, will go on to contest the GT America powered by AWS season in a Porsche 911 GT3 R. At Dubai, Vogel will link up with Alex Sedgwick, Jukka Honkavuori and Leon Kohler who drove in the final two rounds of the last DTM season.

***Racing One is planning to field two different types of Ferrari GT3 car in International GT Open this year. The German squad is set to run a new Ferrari 296 GT3 alongside its older 488 model.

***MG-Sound Speed Division is set to campaign a Ginetta G61-LT-P3 in the Ultimate Cup Series. The Austrian team is linked to the MG-Sound Studios music production company, which is co-owned by Martin Boehm who will share the wheel of the Ginetta LMP3 with Andreas Fojtik.

***Inter Europol Competition has adjusted its Asian Le Mans Series LMP3 lineup after one of its drivers was injured in a karting accident. Daniel Ali, who broke his left arm in the crash while racing at Portimao, has been ruled out of February’s four-round Asian LMS campaign and will be replaced by Michelin Le Mans Cup competitor John Schauerman in the No. 63 Ligier JS P320 Nissan.

***Two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Romain Dumas is taking part in the 2023 Dakar Rally, driving a Rebellion Racing Toyota Hilux alongside Max Delfino. The pairing finished 14th in the opening 347-mile stage held on the west coast of Saudi Arabia.