IGTC Overhauls Manufacturers Points System

SRO Motorsports Group has revealed an overhaul of the Intercontinental GT Challenge’s point system for the manufacturers’ standings, with brands no longer required to nominate entries.

In previous years, each full-season IGTC manufacturer was allowed to nominate four cars entered for each specific event to score manufacturer’s points.

Three of those four entries could be drawn from the top class, while only the top two classified entries at the end of a race claimed points for their respective manufacturer.

However, in a change for the 2024 season, which kicks off this weekend with the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour, all cars from registered marques are automatically eligible to score drivers’ and manufacturers’ points.

Similarly to the previous system, manufacturer points will once again only be rewarded to the top two entries. In terms of drivers’ standings, IGTC’s first ten finishers collect points regardless of what manufacturer they drive for.

The three manufacturers registered for the full season present at Bathurst (BMW, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche) will have each of their cars fitted with white windscreen banners and IGTC logos on the bonnet and doors. Non-IGTC entries have black windscreen banners.

Mercedes-AMG, defending manufacturers’ champions, are best represented with nine cars, five of which feature in the Pro category.

Their bid is spearheaded by defending winners SunEnergy1 Racing, featuring the returning lineup of Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon and Luca Stolz, but also features series stalwarts GruppeM Racing and Craft-Bamboo Racing.

BMW is represented by Team WRT’s two-car effort that will feature the brand debut for new factory driver Raffaele Marciello, while Porsche has seen its contingent shrink from four to three following the withdrawal of HubAuto Racing.

Manthey EMA, which finished second last year, returns with Porsche Hypercar drivers Matt Campbell and Laurens Vanthoor at the helm.

The German marque’s only other Pro entry comes in the form of the single-car Phantom Global Racing operation for drivers Joel Eriksson, Jaxon Evans and Bastian Buus.

Three drivers, meanwhile, have registered for the full-season Independent Cup campaign for the best Bronze-rated driver: Adrian D’Silva, Antares Au and Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

Only the latter will compete at Bathurst, sharing a Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with Jamie Whincup and Jordan Love.