Stroll to Make Surprise GT3 Debut in Paul Ricard Opener

Photo: SRO

Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll will make a surprise debut in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS season-opener at Paul Ricard after the official entry list was released showing the Canadian at the wheel of a Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

The 27-year-old did make occasional sports car outings earlier in his career, twice contesting the Rolex 24 at Daytona in both DP and LMP2 machinery.

But he will now make his GT3 bow in an additional fourth Comtoyou entry for the Endurance Cup opener in France alongside former F1 driver Roberto Merhi, who has been a SUPER GT regular in recent years, and single-seater convert Mari Boya – who is also part of the Aston Martin Academy.

Stroll’s appearance is one of the surprises upon publication of the 59-strong entry for the Paul Ricard event and he is the latest F1 driver to sample GT3 machinery after four-time champion Max Verstappen’s entry into the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie.

He has been able to make the GT3 outing because of the cancellation of F1’s planned Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races during April amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Other notable names added to the Paul Ricard list include three-time GTWC Europe champion Dries Vanthoor and four-time British Touring Car conqueror Ash Sutton at the wheel of Paradine Competition’s pair of BMW M4 GT3 EVOs.

Vanthoor will partner the already announced Darren Leung and James Kellett in the No. 991 Bronze Cup entry, while Sutton will make a rare GT3 foray – having also made one start for Paradine last year – alongside one-make Porsche racing star Robert de Haan and GT World Challenge America racer Christian Hahn in the sister BMW.

The remainder of the No. 64 Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3 Evo lineup has also been revealed with team regulars Fabio Scherer and Thomas Drouet partnering Arjun Maini.

Meanwhile, the Rutronik Racing No. 97 Porsche 911 GT3 Evo has a shuffled crew with Loek Hartog taking the place of Sven Mueller.

In addition, the remainder of the Steller Motorsport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R lineup has been revealed with Dennis Lind being joined by European Le Mans Series race winner Lorenzo Fluxa and 2022 Asian Le Mans Series LMP3 champion Antoine Doquin.

There is also a new Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II entry, which will be driven by team regulars Ezequiel Perez Companc and Ivan Klymenko, alongside a yet-to-be-revealed third racer.

In turn, two entries have been culled from the original full-season list published in February: the 75 Express Mercedes-AMG and the No. 76 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.

Other changes include former IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitor Chandler Hull taking the place of Hunter Abbott in the JMW Ferrari, Tom Wood stepping in for Lorcan Hanafin in the Blackthorn Aston and Tom Kalender replacing Will Martin in the lineup of the No. 12 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG, having driven for the team last year.

The GTWC Europe season begins with a six-hour race at Paul Ricard on April 11, but a two-day Prologue takes place before that on April 8-9.