Record 41 Entries for Indianapolis 8H

A record 41-car entry is set for next weekend’s Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS, the second round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli that will double as the season finale of Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS.

Released by SRO Motorsports Group on Friday, it includes 28 GT3 cars and 13 GT4 entries for the second running of the long-distance enduro at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It is nearly double last year’s 22-car entry for the event and is the largest-ever entry for an IGTC race in North America.

Seventeen cars in this year’s field are full-season IGTC entries representing the five registered manufacturers: Audi, Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes-AMG and Lamborghini.

It includes factory-supported efforts from the likes of Team WRT, Sainteloc, AKKA-ASP, Craft-Bamboo and AF Corse along with GTWC America stalwarts K-PAX Racing, Wright Motorsports and Winward Racing.

Porsche, which currently sits third in the IGTC manufacturers’ standings, has elected not to bring any all-pro lineups and will instead rely on a Silver Cup entry fielded by GTWC America Pro-Am class champions Wright and Pro-Am entries from GMG Racing and EBM Giga Racing.

Jeff Kingsley and Nick Boulle will join Adrian D’Silva in the Will Bamber-managed EBM entry, with former IGTC champion Dennis Olsen spearheading the GMG entry with Kyle Washington and team owner James Sofronas.

Max Root will return to Wright to complete its lineup alongside newly crowned GTWC America Pro-Am champs Jan Heylen and Fred Poordad.

Fellow GTWC America competitor TR3 Racing has confirmed a Pro-Am Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo for Bill Sweedler, John Megrue and factory driver Giacomo Altoe, meanwhile.

As previously reported by Sportscar365, reigning overall winner Connor De Phillippi will join Michael Dinan and Robby Foley in Turner Motorsport’s BMW M6 GT3 entry. 

Walkenhorst Motorsport, which won last year’s race, will not be present due to its full-season Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS commitments.

Marvin Dienst has been drafted into Winward’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo alongside GTWC America and Europe full-season drivers Russell Ward and Phillip Ellis. 

As expected, Mikael Grenier will be part of SunEnergy1 Racing’s Pro-Am class effort with Martin Konrad and team boss Kenny Habul in their Mercedes.

Sainteloc’s Silver Cup Audi will be driven by Aurelien Panis, Lucas Legeret and Nicolas Baert, while the recently announced Compass Racing lineup will also race in Silver Cup following a derogation of Mario Farnbacher from Gold to Silver. 

Two GTWC America teams —  Zelus Motorsport and Rearden Racing — have entered only the first three-hour portion of the race for series’ points and will not take part in the full eight-hour race distance.

The GT4 field features entries from Pirelli GT4 America entrants TRG (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport), BimmerWorld (BMW M4 GT4), Nolasport (Porsche), Black Swan Racing (Porsche), Smooge Racing (Toyota GR Supra GT4), Random Vandals Racing (BMW) and Stephen Cameron Racing (BMW).

It includes three veterans of open-wheel racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Jack Hawksworth (Smooge), Pippa Mann (Nolasport) and Conor Daly (Random Vandals).

Track action for the joint event kicks off on Thurs. Oct. 14 with Free Practice on Friday, Pre-Qualifying, Qualifying and Pole Shootout set for Saturday ahead of the 10 a.m. start for the race on Sunday morning.

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