20-Car Grid Confirmed for California 8H

A total of 20 cars will take part in the California 8 Hours at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend, with SRO Motorsports Group releasing the entry list on Monday.

The number is ten down from last year’s edition, although the number of GT3 cars has remained at 16 for the second round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli.

Eight manufacturers are represented with Mercedes-AMG, Bentley, BMW, Nissan, Porsche, Ferrari, Honda and defending winner Audi all competing in the top GT3 Overall class.

They will be joined by three GT4-class entries and a single Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo entered as a GT Cup car by ARC Bratislava.

Points leaders and Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour winners Matt Campbell, Dennis Olsen and Dirk Werner are listed in a Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, while defending California 8 Hour winners Kelvin van der Linde, Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies will also be driving.

Van der Linde and Mies are in the same Land Motorsport machine, while Haase is named in the car run by WRT.

The Audi R8 LMS Evo is one of three GT3 models making their series debuts at Laguna Seca, along with the updated Honda NSX GT3 Evo and the new-for-2019 Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Porsche is represented in a two-car capacity with Wright and Park Place Motorsports, whereas the Honda is a single-car works entry for the previously-confirmed lineup of Bertrand Baguette, Mario Farnbacher and Rolex 24 at Daytona winner Renger van der Zande.

This weekend will mark Honda’s first appearance as an IGTC points-scoring manufacturer.

Total 24 Hours of Spa winner Walkenhorst Motorsport will enter a BMW M6 GT3 for the full-season lineup of Mikkel Jensen, Nicky Catsburg and Mikkel Jensen.

GruppeM Racing and HubAuto Corsa are carrying the full-season lineups for Mercedes-AMG and Ferrari, meanwhile, along with Strakka Racing which is joining the championship for the rest of the season with a pair of Mercedes entries.

Bentley completes the list with Lucas Ordonez and Markus Palttala set to make their debuts with the British marque in one of its two second-gen Continental GT3s.

Track action gets underway on Wednesday with a pair of test sessions.