New Mercedes Signings Join Marciello at AKKA-ASP

Mercedes-AMG factory signings Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella have joined AKKA-ASP for the 2021 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup.

Gounon and Juncadella will share the Pro No. 88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with Raffaele Marciello, who is poised for his fifth season representing the Auto Sport Promotion team.

AKKA-ASP ran last year’s GTWC Europe overall champion Timur Boguslavskiy, who teamed up with Marciello and Felipe Fraga in Endurance Cup and Marciello in Sprint.

Boguslavskiy will continue to drive for the French outfit this year, albeit in a Sprint-only capacity alongside Marciello in the No. 88 Mercedes-AMG.

The pairing finished fifth in the 2020 Endurance Cup standings and claimed two Sprint victories en route to Boguslavskiy landing second place in that series. Marciello missed a single Sprint round, which denied the Italian a chance to have a share in the outright title.

After running Pro and Silver Cup entries in Sprint last season, AKKA-ASP has converted its No. 89 Mercedes into a Pro runner for Gounon and Petru Razvan Umbrarescu, both of whom recently drove for the CMR Bentley team in separate championships.

AKKA-ASP’s Endurance Cup trio is formed entirely of Mercedes-AMG works drivers.

Gounon recently signed for the German marque on a two-year deal after his term with Bentley came to an end after 2020.

The Frenchman previously drove for AKKA-ASP in the 2017 GTWC Europe campaign, racing in both Endurance and Sprint.

Gounon truncated his Pro-Am Endurance Cup position that year with a drive at Audi Sport Team Sainteloc in the Total 24 Hours of Spa, which resulted in an overall win.

Juncadella also raced for AKKA-ASP in 2017, piloting a separate Pro car to Marciello, while the following year the duo shared a wheel in all but two races of the campaign.

The former Mercedes and R-Motorsport Aston Martin DTM driver, who is marking his return to AMG in a new GT3 factory role, has not raced in Endurance Cup since 2018.

AKKA-ASP, which is also joining the new amateur-focused GT Rebellion Series this year, is planning to announce further entries for the coming GTWC Europe season shortly.