Ferrari Splits Up Points-Leading Driver Trio for Kyalami 9H Finale

Photo: SRO

Ferrari has split up its championship-leading driver trio in a late change ahead of this weekend’s Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli season-ending Joburg Kyalami 9 Hour.

Points leaders Alessandro Pier Guidi, Come Ledogar and Nicklas Nielsen will not be in the same AF Corse-entered Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 for Saturday’s race, with the Italian manufacturer opting to double its chances of the drivers’ title.

Nielsen has been moved to the team’s No. 71 entry of Alessio Rovera and Antonio Fuoco, with Miguel Molina now set to team up with Pier Guidi and Ledogar in the No. 51 car.

Total 24 Hours of Spa winners Pier Guidi, Ledogar and Nielsen hold a three-point lead in the IGTC drivers’ championship over Audi’s Patric Niederhauser, Markus Winkelhock and Christopher Haase, who have also been split up into two different Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evos, in a previously announced change.

Niederhauser will share the No. 25 Audi Sport Team Sainteloc entry with Winkelhock and Kelvin van der Linde, who have both moved from the originally announced second Audi Sport Team WRT entry that has been withdrawn from the race after the event’s postponement to February.

Haase, meanwhile, will be in the sole factory-backed WRT entry alongside Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts.

In addition to the Ferrari and Audi drivers, Mercedes-AMG’s Timur Boguslavskiy is the only other mathematical title contender, 15 points behind.

Audi remains the manufacturers’ championship favourite courtesy of its 36-point advantage over Ferrari. A maximum of 43 points remains up for grabs.

13 Cars on Finalized Entry List After No-Go for Local Lamborghini

Other late changes to the final entry list include Thierry Vermeulen, who replaces Anders Fjordbach in the WRT-run High Class Racing Audi, with Fjordbach being unable to travel due to personal reasons. 

It is one of two Pro-Am class entries alongside the No. 71 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

Vermeulen, the 2020 Benelux GT4 champion, will be making his first competitive outing in a GT3 car following a runner-up finish in the 992-Pro class in last month’s Hankook 24H Dubai.

A shipping delay at Port Elizabeth will prevent local squad Scuderia Scribante from fielding its second Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, reducing the overall field to 13 cars.

The new chassis, shipped from Squadra Corse in Italy, was due to be raced over the first hour by SA GT regular Aldo Scribante.

The final change concerns Mikaeel Pitamber, who is now slated to drive both of MJR Motorsport’s entries.

His national Audi GT3 is one of two cars completing only the first hour before the South African swaps to the team’s R8 LMS GT4, which will contest the race’s full duration.

Track action gets underway on Thursday with two paid test sessions and a 90-minute night-time Free Practice session.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John