40 Cars for Valencia Sprint Cup Finale

SRO Motorsports Group has released a 40-car entry list for the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup finale in Valencia, where Team WRT will defend a 1.5-point lead over Garage 59 in the overall drivers’ standings.

The car count at Circuit Ricardo Tormo is set to be identical to the previous round at Magny-Cours, with the absence of the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3 and No. 78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 balanced out by the return of the No. 1 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 and an additional entry from Comtoyou Racing.

The returning No. 1 Lamborghini is the most notable addition to the Valencia grid, with Georgi Donchev and Christian Engelhart back in action after missing Magny-Cours in the wake of Donchev’s fiery crash in Misano.

Comtoyou’s No. 11 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, meanwhile, will be entered into the Silver Cup with Jessica Hawkins and Rodrigo Almeida as drivers.

The rest of the field features a number of driver changes across the grid.

Matisse Lismont will step into the lineup of the No. 30 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO, replacing Gustav Bergstroem after also already doing so for last month’s Endurance Cup round at the Nürburgring.

QMMF by Sainteloc Racing has completely overhauled the lineup for its Bronze Cup-entered No. 27 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II as Julian Hanses and Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi share driving duties.

They replace Ghanim Salah Al-Maadheed and Ibrahim Al-Abdulghani, who raced at the last round at Magny-Cours. All four drivers have regularly competed together, most recently sharing one car at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

Tresor Attempto Racing, meanwhile, has brought in Alexey Nesov to replace Ezequiel Perez Companc aboard its Silver Cup-entered No. 99 Audi. Nesov is a team regular, often driving alongside Andrey Mukovoz and Max Hofer in Endurance Cup rounds.

Of note, Jake Dennis will continue aboard the No. 991 Paradine Competition BMW for the Valencia finale after already contesting the previous round at Magny-Cours.

This is because Dan Harper, Darren Leung’s regular co-driver, has a clashing commitment with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at Indianapolis.

One team still has two TBAs on the entry list as of Monday, with CSA Racing yet to announce second drivers for both of its McLaren 720S GT3 Evos.

Notably, Isaac Tutumlu Lopez has been sidelined from the No. 112 car after suffering injuries in a crash at Magny-Cours.

Championship titles are yet to be decided in all four categories at Valencia, with Team WRT set to face off against Garage 59 in the battle for the overall drivers’ title.

Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde, fresh off victory in the Suzuka 1000km, lead by 72 points, holding a margin of just 1.5 points over the No. 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Benjamin Goethe and Marvin Kirchhoefer.

The No. 96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo also both remain in contention on 63.5 and 62.5 points, respectively.

Comtoyou Racing and Boutsen VDS look likely to do battle over the Silver Cup title with eight points separating them, while Gold Cup leaders Thierry Vermeulen and Chris Lulham defend a lead of 2.5 points over Sainteloc Racing pairing Gilles Magnus and Paul Evrard.

The Bronze Cup drivers’ title, meanwhile, will be decided between Kessel Racing’s Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall and the No. 89 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 of Bashar Mardini and Bastian Buus, with 6.5 points separating the two crews.