Nürburgring Weekend Notebook

***SRO Motorsports Group has reaffirmed plans for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup finale in Saudi Arabia later this year. Teams are understood to have been told during a briefing on Saturday evening that the event at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit will go ahead as planned on Nov. 28-30, with an event timetable amongst details to be presented in due course.

***Winward Racing carried out an overnight engine change on the No. 48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, which was completed before the start of Free Practice. Sportscar365 understands that the team was ordered to change the engine by organizers after Friday’s paid test sessions. The engine in question is understood to be a so-called ‘pool engine’, supplied by the manufacturer, which had been in the car since the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. A SRO Motorsports Group spokesperson declined to comment on the change when approached by Sportscar365.

***Jules Gounon paced Friday’s testing with his best effort of 1:55.549, set at the wheel of the No. 2 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed machine during the second session. RESULTS: Test Session 1/Test Session 2

***Tobey Sowery notably set the quickest time during the one-hour Bronze test held in the evening, posting a 1:55.767 aboard the No. 991 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3. Sowery is Silver-rated, but was given permission to participate in the test as Article 30.6 of the sporting regulations states that “exceptionally, drivers categorized as Silver and who are racing in the Gold Cup, Silver Cup, Bronze Cup or the Pro-Am category, may take part in these Bronze sessions if they have never driven on the track in question, in any car whatsoever.”

***Michael Blanchemain has been added to the lineup for the No. 26 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, which has been moved from Silver to Bronze Cup as a result. The Frenchman teams up with Alban Varutti and Ugo de Wilde.

***ADAC GT Masters championship leader Tom Kalender, meanwhile, makes his series debut aboard the No. 90 Madpanda Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo alongside Ezequiel Perez Companc and Patrick Assenheimer.

***Kessel Racing has shed further light on its decision to pull both of its Ferrari 296 GT3s from this weekend’s event. The team cited personal reasons for John Hartsthorne, the Bronze-rated driver aboard the No. 74 car, while the No. 8 car is absent as the result of a rib injury for Nicolo Rosi sustained in the 24H Spa.

***Team WRT boss Vincent Vosse said a decision about the team’s potential entry in October’s Indianapolis 8 Hour powered by AWS “has to come in the next two weeks.” WRT won last year’s edition of the event with Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde and Philipp Eng, while BMW currently sits second in the Intercontinental GT Challenge manufacturers’ standings with one race remaining.

***Vosse told Sportscar365: “[It’s] under consideration. Not clear yet. I have to discuss this with BMW. They haven’t announced anything yet, so let’s see. Of course I think if BMW is second in the championship and some of the drivers [Charles Weerts] are P3, it looks logical to go there. But let’s see what they decide.”

***Should WRT defend its Indy 8 Hour crown, it will most likely do so without Valentino Rossi as the Italian downplayed the odds of him racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October. He did state that a return to the Bathurst 12 Hour is likely on the cards for next year.

***WRT announced on Wednesday that it had been awarded the FIA’s 3-Star Environmental Accreditation for environmental management and commitment to sustainability. This has been achieved through the implementation of a series of initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions, optimising resource use and improving waste management.

***Sandy Mitchell says the joint Fanatec GT Europe-British GT Championship effort brings “great experience” for Barwell Motorsport, as it allows the team to sharpen its skills on both fronts. “Both championships are SRO-run, you use the same tire and most of the regulations are very similar or the same,” Mitchell told Sportscar365. “So in the end, we can learn while we’re racing over here and take that into British GT which helps us massively and vice versa as well.”

***While International GT Open squad Eastalent Racing is making its first Fanatec GT Europe appearance, its three drivers have all competed in the Endurance Cup before. Simon Reicher drove a Silver Cup-entered Car Collection Motorsport Audi at Paul Ricard in 2021 while Karol Basz has competed with Madpanda Motorsport, JP Motorsport and Vincenzo Sospiri Racing.

***Albert Costa, meanwhile, has the most SRO experience. The Spaniard is set to drive for a fifth different brand this weekend when he steps into Eastalent’s Audi. His previous lengthy tenure with Emil Frey Racing saw him drive with Jaguar, Lexus, Lamborghini in Endurance Cup, while he added a Sprint Cup campaign in a Ferrari 296 GT3 last year.

***GRT Grasser Racing Team has a spare Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 on site in the form of the Liqui-Moly Team Engstler-entered example that took a Gold Cup victory at last weekend’s Sprint Cup round at Hockenheim.

***French squad Schumacher CLRT is facing an intensive weekend of racing, competing in three different championships in two countries. In addition to its Pro-entered Porsche 911 GT3 R in the Endurance Cup round, the team’s Nürburgring commitments also include a three-car effort in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe. Meanwhile at Spa-Francorchamps, it is active with three cars in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, where Larry ten Voorde defends his championship lead as part of the support bill for Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix.

***The team also competes in the GT4 European Series powered by Rafa Racing Club with Alpine machinery, although that series is not part of the support package at the Nürburgring. It marks the only time this season that the series is not part of an Endurance Cup weekend.

***Super Trofeo is joined on the support bill by the McLaren Trophy Europe and the FFSA F4 French Championship. Amongst the entrants for the latter series are Dylan Estre, the younger brother of FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar driver Kevin Estre, as well as Montego Maassen, the son of two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner Sascha Maassen.

***GT1 Sports Club by Curbstone is also set for a pair of on-track sessions on Sunday, featuring a fleet of Paganis including a Zonda R and three Huayra Rs as well as a McLaren Senna GTR.

***Sunday’s running for Fanatec GT Europe kicks off with qualifying starting at 8:45 a.m. CEST (2:45 a.m. EDT) before the three-hour race commences at 3 p.m. CEST. Both qualifying and the race will be streamed on the GT World YouTube channel. The commentary team consists of Bruce Jones and John Watson, with Antonia Rankin serving as pit reporter.