Finalized Indy 8H Entry List Released; DragonSpeed Out

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

SRO Motorsports Group has released the finalized entry list for next weekend’s Desder Indianapolis 8 Hour, which has seen DragonSpeed’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R drop out.

The Elton Julian-owned team, which originally signaled intentions of fielding its Corvette in the Pro class for factory ace Alexander Sims along with Ben Green and Casper Stevenson, has been withdrawn.

A team spokesperson told Sportscar365 that that the “conditions were not perfect” for the program to move ahead as planned, while declining any further comment.

It has resulted in a 28-car entry, which still marks a GT3 event record.

A number of high-profile drivers have been added to the the season-long GT World Challenge America powered by AWS lineups, in addition to the previously announced NTT IndyCar Series stars Alex Palou and Marcus Ericsson at Lone Star Racing and Random Vandals Racing, respectively.

Ford Racing factory ace Chris Mies will complete Dollahite Racing’s Ford Mustang GT3 EVO lineup alongside Alex Sedgwick and Scott Dollahite in Pro-Am.

Ferrari FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar racer Nicklas Nielsen, meanwhile, will be the third driver in the No. 12 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, which is contending for the GTWC America Pro class title.

Reigning DTM champion Ayhancan Guven has been drafted into the Pro-Am points-leading GMG Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo, with the Porsche factory driver being joined by Kyle Washington and Silver-rated Ricardo Pera, who replaces the European Le Mans Series-bound Tom Sargent.

Porsche-contracted driver Alessio Picariello completes McCann Racing’s Pro class lineup in its No. 8 Porsche, while Jesse Krohn, as expected will be in the No. 14 Riley Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

McLaren factory driver Thomas Fleming will be the third driver in Archangel Motorsports’ lineup with its McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, which is fresh off a breakthrough Pro-Am class win at Barber Motorsports Park.

The only to-be-confirmed driver is RS1’s third pilot alongside Jan Heylen and Danny Dyszelski.

Additional Intercontinental GT Challenge-specific lineups have also been set.

Johannes Zelger, Fabio Babini and Alex Fontana will team up in Tsunami RT’s Pro-Am Porsche, while Anders Fjordbach, Hongli Ye and already-clinched IGTC Independent Cup champion Kerong Li will be in High Class Racing’s Porsche.

Herberth Motorsport’s Porsche, meanwhile, will feature Ralf Bohn and brothers Alfred and Robert Renauer, while the GetSpeed Team PCX Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo will have Patrick Charlaix, Jordan Boisson and Marvin Klein at the wheel.

In all, 21 of the cars are in the Pro-Am class, with five Pro entries and two in Am, including the return of Scuderia Corsa’s Ferrari for Mitchell Green, Jon Morley and Jamie Morrow.

Benny Simonsen, who subbed for Ozz Negri earlier in the season, will be the third driver in the No. 163 AF Corse entry alongside Negri and Jay Schreibman.

On-track action for the combined GTWC America/IGTC grid begins on Thursday.

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