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13-Nation Fields for Both GT Disciplines at Marseille Games

13-car entries for both GT disciplines at second-edition FIA Motorsport Games in Marseille…

Image: Akkodis ASP

The FIA has released a pair of 13-car entry lists for the two GT racing disciplines that will form part of this weekend’s second edition of the FIA Motorsport Games in Marseille.

Two competitions — the GT Cup for two-driver lineups and GT Sprint for solo drivers — will be held at Paul Ricard as part of a multi-discipline, Olympic-style event.

A total of 17 nations will be represented across the two GT disciplines, with nine countries taking part in both.

The GT Sprint is a new addition to the Motorsport Games roster, whereas the GT Cup formed a key part of the inaugural Rome Games held at Vallelunga in 2019.

High-profile drivers in GT Sprint include factory stars Matt Campbell, Dries Vanthoor, Mirko Bortolotti, Luca Stolz and Daniel Juncadella who are representing Australia, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Spain respectively.

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar GTD Pro champion Campbell will drive a Grove Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R for Australia in the 60-minute sprint race which closes the Games.

Grasser Racing Team will run the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo for Mirko Bortolotti’s Italian entry, continuing a partnership that achieved podiums in this year’s DTM.

Vanthoor is piloting an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II entered by Belgium’s national automobile federation the RACB, while Stolz and Juncadella are both behind the wheel of Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos.

ADAC GT Masters runner-up Ayhancan Guven will carry Turkey’s hopes of repeating its gold medal in the 2018 FIA GT Nations Cup, which was the precursor to the Motorsport Games.

Guven will drive a Porsche 911 GT3 R after Turkey previously ran Mercedes-AMG and Aston Martin machinery for its national effort.

Tristan Vautier is confirmed as France’s GT Sprint driver, while Stock Car Pro Series front-runner Bruno Baptista is leading Brazil’s challenge.

Both will be competing in Mercedes-AMGs run by French squad Akkodis ASP. Baptista tested a GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG at Paul Ricard earlier this year.

Morocco will make its Motorsport Games GT debut courtesy of an Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 for Michael Benyahia, who has driven the British manufacturer’s 570S GT4 model around Europe.

Baptista and Benyahia are among six Silver-rated drivers on the GT Sprint grid.

The others are China/Hong Kong’s Marchy Lee in a KCMG-prepared Honda NSX GT3 Evo22, Chinese Taipei’s Evan Chen who is linking up with Ferrari outfit AF Corse, Swiss Mercedes-AMG driver Yannick Mettler and Lithuanian Audi racer Julius Adomavicius.

The GT Cup entry also includes 13 cars with Australia, Spain, Germany, China/Hong Kong, Brazil, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, Lithuania and France again involved.

Additional efforts come from Ukraine, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and Poland.

GT Cup pairings must be formed of a Bronze-rated driver and a Silver, meaning that the factory stars racing in GT Sprint are ineligible.

Australia’s Brenton and Steven Grove will aim to improve on their 2019 bronze medal, while Rome silver-medallist Poland is back with a new lineup involving Karol Basz and Marcin Jedlinski who are sharing an Olimp Racing Audi.

Recently-crowned British GT champion Ian Loggie will team up with Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS competitor Chris Froggatt in the British Mercedes-AMG.

Ukraine’s entry in collaboration with German team PROSport Racing signifies the only Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the field.

Puerto Rico will make its Games debut with last year’s Lamborghini Super Trofeo Am world champion Victor Gomez and Francesco Piovanetti, who are sharing a Ferrari.

Reigning gold-medallist Japan and the U.S. are notable absentees from the second edition of the FIA Motorsport Games, which was originally scheduled to take place in 2020 but experienced two postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The previous edition of the GT Cup at the Rome Games attracted a 22-nation entry.

The GT Cup will consist of qualifying races on Friday and Saturday, establishing the grid for the 60-minute medal race at 2:15 p.m. CEST (8:15 a.m. ET) on Saturday.

GT Sprint will be held entirely on Sunday, with two 40-minute practice sessions leading into qualifying and a 60-minute race that is due to start at 3:50 p.m. local.

An endurance racing discipline for LMP3 and GT3 cars was also planned for the Marseille Games, but is no longer taking place.

Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365, covering the FIA World Endurance Championship, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, among other series.

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