Record Nine Manufacturers for Global GT World Challenge

A record nine GT3 brands have signed up for this year’s Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS global championship, which is comprised of 52 races and 30 events across Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

Mercedes-AMG will be the brand to beat it goes in pursuit of a sixth successive Fanatec GT crown.

The German manufacturer will once again face off against its key domestic rivals BMW, Porsche and Audi, which is again entered despite the end of its factory-supported GT3 programs.

Ferrari and Lamborghini are also registered alongside McLaren, with Aston Martin joining the fray with its latest-generation Vantage GT3, while Ford becomes the first American manufacturer to enter the ranking, with its new Mustang GT3 expected to compete in Fanatec GT Europe only this year.

The format remains unchanged with each brand represented by customer teams competing in the continental Fanatec GT races. Points are awarded in all classes, with the allocation depending on race length and the number of competing cars.

Points for Sprint races of up to 90 minutes are based on the standard allocation (25 – 18 – 15 – 12 – 10 – 8 – 6 – 4 – 2 – 1). This allocation doubles for races lasting between three and 12 hours and is multiplied by four after the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

The points scored per brand are then multiplied by the number of cars competing in that category. Therefore, a win in a category with five cars competing is worth less than one where 20 cars are entered.

No cars are removed from the classification. If the top six cars are from a single brand, the next brand will score points for seventh. These points are added across the categories and races to give the manufacturers’ global score.

This year’s calendar kicks off with the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour, which doubles as the opening round of Fanatec GT Australia, and concludes with the the new 1000km race in Jeddah, for Fanatec GT Europe Endurance Cup, in late November.

The GT4 manufacturers’ series, announced during at Spa last year, meanwhile, has continued to take shape ahead of its upcoming launch.

Entrants are set to be confirmed before the season opens at the end of March, when both the FFSA French GT Championship and British GT Championship get underway at Nogaro and Oulton Park, respectively.