Abril, Lind Join Zandvoort Sprint Cup Grid in JP McLaren

JP Motorsport has added a second McLaren 720S GT3 to its involvement in this weekend’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup round at Zandvoort, featuring the Pro-class pairing of Vincent Abril and Dennis Lind.

Abril and Lind normally share a JP McLaren in the Endurance Cup series, but Zandvoort will mark their first time racing together in the Sprint format of two 60-minute races.

2015 Sprint Cup champion Abril is set for his first appearance in the series since 2019, while last year’s British GT champion Lind is making his GTWC Europe Sprint Cup debut.

The additional JP Motorsport entry alongside the Polish squad’s Pro-Am contender keeps the Sprint field at 25 cars for the third round of the season, considering JOTA has withdrawn its Pro-class McLaren for Rob Bell and Ollie Wilkinson.

JOTA was unable to contest the Magny-Cours races after an accident for Wilkinson in Pre-Qualifying, however the reason for its Zandvoort absence is currently unclear.

There has been a complete lineup change at GSM Novamarine, with Danny Kroes and Lucas Mauron set to drive the only Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo on the grid.

GSM ran Isaac Tutumlu and Gerhard Tweraser at Brands Hatch and Magny-Cours, but the former has since switched to the Endurance Cup with Leipert Motorsport.

Jules Gounon is back at the wheel of the No. 88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo after missing Magny-Cours due to a clash with the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

Gounon teams up with full-season ASP driver Jim Pla, who was joined by DTM champion Maximilian Goetz at the last Sprint Cup round.

All of the other driver lineups are unchanged for the Sprint Cup’s Netherlands visit.

Akkodis ASP drivers Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy head in as the championship leaders on 56.5 points, with the Team WRT Audi pairing of Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts sitting 11.5 points behind in second.

Emil Frey Racing swept the Zandvoort event last year with its Lamborghinis, but the Swiss team’s departure from Sprint this year opens the door for a different team to win.