37 Cars on Updated Monza Entry List as Kessel Ferrari Withdraws

Kessel Racing’s No. 57 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo has dropped off the updated entry list for next month’s six-hour FIA World Endurance Championship round at Monza.

The Car Guy Racing-backed entry was due to compete in GTE-Am with Mikkel Jensen, David Fumanelli and Car Guy boss Takeshi Kimura sharing the wheel, but “logistical related issues” have led to its withdrawal.

Japanese organization Car Guy Racing is also a full-time entrant in Super GT, which has a race at Motegi booked for the same July 16-18 weekend as the 6 Hours of Monza. An entry list for the Motegi round has not yet been published.

Kessel competed in the second round of the 2021 season at Portimao where Jensen, Kimura and Scott Andrews finished fifth on the Swiss outfit’s championship debut.

Its decision not to race at Monza, which marks the final WEC round before the 24 Hours of Le Mans in August, brings the entry list for the series’ Italian visit down to 37 cars.

The updated entry also includes confirmation of the driving crews for the two Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG 007 LMHs which are running in Hypercar against Toyota Gazoo Racing and Alpine Endurance Team.

Ryan Briscoe will not race for the American constructor at Monza after he joined Romain Dumas and Richard Westbrook in a one-car entry for the 8 Hours of Portimao.

Dumas and Westbrook will remain together, sharing the No. 709 Glickenhaus with Franck Mailleux who has represented the SCG squad at several Nürburgring 24 editions.

The No. 708 Glickenhaus features Pipo Derani, Olivier Pla and Gustavo Menezes, who claimed two overall victories in the 2019-20 season driving for Rebellion Racing in LMP1.

Elsewhere, double 24 Hours of Le Mans GTE-Pro class winner Toni Vilander has been added to the No. 61 AF Corse Ferrari lineup which is due to appear in GTE-Am.

Vilander, who is teaming up with Simon Mann and Christoph Ulrich in a cameo entry, last contested a WEC race outside Le Mans in 2017 when he joined the factory AF Corse GTE-Pro team for that season’s 6 Hours of the Nürburgring.

Additionally, Silver-rated driver Matej Konopka is set to make his WEC debut driving the ARC Bratislava Ligier JS P217 Gibson with his father Miro and Oliver Webb.

Konopka Jr has represented the Slovakian squad in other competitions such as Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Creventic’s 24H Series and TCR Eastern Europe.