Five Pro Squads Headline 28-Car Gulf 12H Entry List

Twenty-eight cars from six manufacturers have been confirmed for the Gulf 12 Hours, the final round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli.

As shown by the final entry list released on Monday, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG, McLaren and Porsche are all represented for the 12-hour enduro at Yas Marina Circuit, which is headlined by a five-car Pro category.

Mercedes-AMG, represented by 2 Seas Motorsport and GruppeM Racing, is joined in the category by Indianapolis 8 Hour winners BMW and its pair of Team WRT-entered cars.

The two German marques are set to do battle over the manufacturers’ championship, with BMW holding a lead of nine points over Mercedes-AMG with one round remaining.

The drivers’ championship is also set to be decided and is currently led by Jules Gounon at 76 points.

Gounon, who will share a 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with Maximilian Goetz and Fabian Schiller, leads by eight points over Philipp Eng.

Eng and third-placed Sheldon van der Linde, who sits at 62 points, will team up with Charles Weerts at the event.

The Pro-Am class forms the largest group of cars with twelve entries, while the Am class features eleven cars. AF Corse, last year’s overall winner, enters four 296 GT3s with one car in Pro-Am and three in the Am class.

Two entries feature factory driver talent: Alessio Rovera joins Alessandro Cozzi, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Marco Pulcini in the Pro-Am entered machine, while FIA World Endurance Championship GTE-Am race winner Lilou Wadoux is set to team up with Christian Colombo, David Tjiptobiantoro and Stephane Lemeret in the Am category.

Former Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS racers Jean-Claude Saada and Conrad Grunewald share the second Am entry with Laurent de Meeus and two-time GTWC Europe Pro-Am champion Miguel Ramos, while Nicola Marinangeli is set to pilot the fourth and final car alongside Kriton Lentoudis, Christoph Ulrich and Alex Fox.

Kessel Racing, meanwhile, also brings a pair of 296 GT3s to Yas Marina, both entered in Pro-Am.

Its lineup is spearheaded by factory driver Davide Rigon alongside Michael Bronizewski and Niccolo Schiro with Anton Dias Perera, Giorgio Roda, Scott Andrews and David Fumanelli in the second car.

Former WEC GTE-Pro racer and recent Bathurst 1000 winner Richie Stanaway will join the lineup for the Grove Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R alongside Stephen and Brenton Grove, while Matteo Cairoli and Tim Heinemann join Antares Au at Herberth Motorsport.

The German squad’s second Porsche will compete in Am, piloted by Ralf Bohn, Daniel Allemann and Alfred Renauer.

McLaren is represented by four cars in the Pro-Am class, with two from Garage 59 and a car each from Sky Tempesta Racing and Optimum Motorsport.

Alongside the previously confirmed entry spearheaded by Benjamin and Oliver Goethe, McLaren factory driver Marvin Kirchhoefer joins Alexander West and Louis Prette in a second Garage 59 car.

Kevin Tse, Eddie Cheever, Jonathan Hui and Chris Froggatt are set to pilot the Sky Tempesta entry, while IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship racer Ollie Millroy teams with Rob Bell and Mark Radcliffe at Optimum.

Elsewhere in the Pro-Am class and as previously confirmed, Australian Bronze-rated driver Kenny Habul is set to return to racing for the first time since his Pre-Qualifying crash at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa aboard the SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG.

The eleven-car Am category, meanwhile, also features the field’s sole Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, entered by Hankook 24H Series regulars HAAS RT and driven by Gregory Gilbert, Xavier Knauf, Miika Panu and Gregory Servais.