30 GT3 Cars on Initial Kyalami 9H Entry List

Photo: SRO

Thirty cars are on the first provisional entry list for the Kyalami 9 Hours, released on Tuesday, with a field entirely made up of GT3 machinery.

The grid will include 20 cars nominated for Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli points in the series’ final race of the year.

Ten manufacturers will be represented in the revived South African enduro, including all eight IGTC entrants (Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Honda, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan and Porsche) as well as Aston Martin and Lamborghini.

Mercedes-AMG, Porsche, Audi and R-Motorsport all revealed their driver lineups in the last few days while most other teams have had their driver choices confirmed in the entry list.

Newsworthy additions include a second Walkenhorst BMW M6 GT3, an Aston Martin for Garage 59 and a pair of Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 488 GT3s.

Rinaldi will field both of Ferrari’s IGTC nominated entries with HubAuto Corsa electing not to race at Kyalami after heavy accidents in the last two rounds.

Three local South African squads have also entered: Stradale Motorsport (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo), Pablo Clark Racing (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) and Team Perfect Circle (Porsche 997 GT3 R).

Jordan Pepper and the van der Linde brothers Kelvin and Sheldon will compete in factory lineups for Bentley, Audi and BMW at their home race, while four other South African drivers will be present: David Perel, Gennaro Bonafede, Ignatius Michael Von Rooyen and Saul Hack.

Mercedes-AMG leads the manufacturers’ standings and Porsche, which is 22 points behind, is the only brand capable of mounting a challenge to the Affalterbach-based brand, with 43 points up for grabs.

Several drivers are able to claim the drivers’ title, with Maxi Buhk currently out front on 58 points. Second-placed Raffaele Marciello is out of contention by way of sharing a car with Buhk. 

Frederic Vervisch, Maxi Goetz, Dirk Werner, Dennis Olsen and Matt Campbell are amongst the drivers best-placed to challenge Buhk for the 2019 title on Nov. 23.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.