Eastalent Audi Joins 50-Car Endurance Grid at Nürburgring

Audi squad Eastalent Racing will make its Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup debut at this weekend’s three-hour race at the Nürburgring.

The Austrian team’s No. 84 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II appears on the 50-car entry list for the event issued on Monday, with Simon Reicher, Albert Costa and Karol Basz listed as drivers.

Eastalent won won the Hankook 24H Dubai in January and captured the International GT Open title last year.

As expected, the entry for the third Endurance Cup round of the season has shrunk compared to the blue riband CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, which featured 66 entries and was won by Comtoyou Racing, which heads to the Nürburgring as championship leaders.

However, the grid size has also decreased compared to the season opener at Paul Ricard, with both Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3s, the No. 27 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, No. 54 Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3 R and No. 60 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo not returning.

In the Pro class, Jordan Pepper has remained listed aboard the No. 163 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 alongside Marco Mapelli and Franck Perera. The South African replaced Christian Engelhart at Spa after the German underwent knee surgery.

The Gottfried Grasser-led stable has made one change to the lineup for its Silver Cup-entered No. 19 Lamborghini as Loris Cabirou replaces Hugo Cook.

One driver slot remains vacant in the Pro category, as Boutsen VDS has yet to confirm who will share the No. 9 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with Thomas Drouet and Maximilian Goetz.

Of note, the No. 333 Ferrari will run under the Frikadelli Racing banner in Bronze Cup, with team owner Klaus Abbelen set for driving duties alongside David Perel and 2023 Nürburgring 24 winner Felipe Fernandez Laser.

Elsewhere in the class, Chris Salkeld is set to continue as the Silver-rated driver aboard the No. 159 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, having initially replaced Lewis Proctor at Spa.

Lionspeed GP, meanwhile, returns to its full-season lineup after Spa with owner-driver Patrick Kolb and Bastian Buus joined by a new Bronze driver in Michael Verhagen.

The Dutchman has competed in Porsche single-make championships in recent years, appearing in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America round in Miami earlier this year.

Two other teams have yet to fully confirm their lineups, with vacancies remaining aboard the No. 26 Sainteloc Racing Audi and No. 90 Madpanda Motorsport Mercedes-AMG.