Sainteloc Commits to IGTC Program Alongside GTWC Europe

Sainteloc Racing will contest its first full season of Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli with Audi, alongside an expanded double Pro entry for Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS.

The French squad has announced plans to run a pair of Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evos in the IGTC, which is due to kick-off at the Total 24 Hours of Spa in late July-early August.

Markus Winkelhock, who was a part of Sainteloc’s Spa-winning lineup in 2017, will team up with Scottish racer Finlay Hutchison in one Audi.

The rest of the team’s IGTC driver lineups will be announced at a later date.

In previous seasons, Sainteloc had only contested the Spa round of the IGTC global series. This year the championship is also due to visit Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kyalami and an unspecified venue in the Gulf region. 

Winkelhock and Hutchison also form part of Sainteloc’s GTWC Europe squad.

The pair will be joined by Frederic Vervisch, who finished second at Spa last year driving for Attempto Racing, in the No. 26 Audi for the Endurance Cup which also includes Spa.

Vervisch will contest the Sprint Cup season in the same vehicle, pairing up with former Panis Racing Lexus driver and Andros Trophy ace Aurelien Panis.

Christopher Haase will remain in the No. 25 Audi after sharing the wheel last season with Winkelhock and Dorian Boccolacci. This was Sainteloc’s only Pro effort last term.

The German Audi factory team member will contest the 2021 season with two new French co-drivers in ex-Audi DTM driver Adrien Tambay and Alexandre Cougnaud.

Tambay represented Sainteloc at GT4 last year in the French FFSA GT Championship, while Cougnaud switches to GT3 after several European Le Mans Series campaigns.

Haase and 2017 ELMS LMP2 champion Leo Roussel will share the wheel of the No. 25 Sainteloc Audi in Sprint Cup.

Roussel is set for his first season of GT racing, and his first full-length campaign since sustaining back injuries in a heavy LMP2 accident at Monza in 2019.

The GTWC Europe Endurance Cup season is due to get underway at Monza on April 18, while Sprint Cup starts three weeks later at Magny-Cours.

Sainteloc won last year’s Sprint Silver Cup class title with Simon Gachet and Steven Palette, while Haase ran in the Pro class with Arthur Rougier who has moved to Emil Frey Racing.