49 Cars for Jeddah Finale

Forty-nine cars are set to do battle in this weekend’s six-hour Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup finale in Jeddah.

The grid, headlined by a 19-car Pro entry, is down two compared to the 51 cars that took the start at the penultimate round at Monza, which was won by the OQ by Oman Racing Bronze Cup entry.

The most notable absentees are the No. 98 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 as well as the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo that locked up the Silver Cup title in Monza.

The latter suffered significant damage in an opening-lap crash during the Sprint Cup finale at Barcelona last month.

Also absent are the No. 27 Optimum Motorsport McLaren and No. 74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.

Meanwhile, both Tresor Attempto Racing and Imperiale Racing will bring guest entries to the event, with the former in Silver Cup and the latter in Gold Cup.

Attempto will expand to a four-car effort with the No. 33 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II for Rocco Mazzola, Pietro Delli Guanti and Andrea Cola, while Dennis Lind, Alberto Di Folco and Philippe Denes pilot the No. 85 Imperiale Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

The 19-car Pro category features a number of notable lineup changes as Comtoyou Racing defends a seven-point lead over AF Corse heading into the finale.

At Iron Lynx, Mirko Bortolotti is set to go absent as he is replaced aboard the No. 63 Lamborghini by Loris Spinelli. Spinelli will drive alongside Andrea Caldarelli and Matteo Cairoli.

Ben Barker replaces Dennis Olsen aboard the No. 64 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3, while Ralf Aron has been added to the lineup for the No. 9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG. The latter remains listed as a TBA on the entry, but has been confirmed by the team.

Garage 59, meanwhile, will head into the finale with an expanded, two-car Pro entry as its No. 188 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo has been bumped up to the top class due to Miguel Ramos’ absence.

Ramos has been replaced by McLaren factory driver Marvin Kirchhoefer, who will team up with Adam Smalley and Louis Prette. The team’s regular Pro entry, the No. 159 car, will still be driven by Dean MacDonald, Tom Gamble and Benjamin Goethe.

Boutsen VDS, Dinamic GT and GRT Grasser Racing have all made changes to their lineups in the Silver Cup.

Former DTM racer Esteban Muth replaces Roee Meyuhas aboard the No. 10 Mercedes-AMG, while Felice Jelmini moves across from Ceccato Racing to pilot Dinamic’s No. 55 Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Mateo Llarena, meanwhile, is set once again have a pair of new teammates as Loris Cabirou and Isaac Tutumlu Lopez join him aboard the No. 19 Grasser Lamborghini.

Finally in Bronze Cup, David Pun is set for his second appearance of the season aboard the No. 36 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

The Hong Kong driver, who drove for Uno Racing Team with Landgraf in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, replaces Tim Creswick.

Notably, Sam de Haan, who was part of the Team WRT-run No. 30 BMW crew that won overall at Monza, announced on social media that the Jeddah finale is set to be his final race in GT3 competition.