Six WEC Drivers Also on 61-Strong Portimao Entry List

Only six FIA World Endurance Championship drivers are set to tackle the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS season finale at Portimao amid its clash with the Barcelona WEC round.

Despite GTWC Europe organizer SRO Motorsports Group bringing its three-hour Endurance Cup finale forward by a day to Saturday Oct. 16 to avoid a direct clash with the WEC’s six-hour contest, the publication of the 61-car Portimao entry list has revealed that only five of the 18 WEC drivers that are GTWC Europe regulars have opted to tackle both, plus Rui Andrade has been added in an extra Motopark entry.

Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo racers Thomas Fleming and Benji Goethe remain aboard the team’s No. 58 Gold Cup entry, but Marvin Kirchhoefer’s place in the sister machine has been taken by Jack Hawksworth.

Other drivers set to race in both championships include Comtoyou Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo racer Mattia Drudi, while teammate Marco Sorensen will prioritize the WEC and his place is filled by fellow factory driver Ross Gunn.

Then rounding out the regular quintet on double duty are Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 EVO pilot Darren Leung and Ziggo Sport Tempesta Porsche racer Peter Dempsey.

There are also several extra cars among the 61-strong Portimao list, including a pair of Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos from Motopark.

Its Pro class car will be piloted by former Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin, IMSA WeaterTech SportsCar Championship ace Philip Ellis and Dominik Baumann, while its Silver Cup machine will be crewed by a busy Andrade, Christian Mansell and Aaron Walker.

None of the WEC Hypercar drivers will compete in both events, with Ferrari’s Nicklas Nielsen among the latest to be confirmed as solely concentrating on Barcelona.

His place aboard the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo will be taken by 2022 European Le Mans Series GTE champion Lorenzo Ferrari, who will be joined in that car by FIA Formula 3 race winner Nicola Lacorte as LMGT3 contender Alessio Rovera is also prioritizing Barcelona.

Another tweak to the AF Corse lineup is that the No. 50 machine will not feature Sean Gelael — who is focusing on his WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO WEC duties — and will instead be replaced by WeatherTech Championship Conquest Ferrari driver Albert Costa.

Other changes include Maxime Martin’s place in the No. 17 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG being filled by Ralf Aron, while the Rutronik Porsche that was due to feature both Riccardo Pera and Antares Au is not on the entry.

While Razoon – more than racing and Car Collection Motorsport had already revealed additional Porsche lineups for Portimao, there have been three further extra entries to bolster the grid.

Another new Porsche will be the High Class Racing machine, which has Max Moritz, Klaus Bachler, and Raphael Rennhofer listed as its drivers.

The KPX Motorsport BMW that has tackled the Sprint Cup campaign will also now enter the Endurance Cup and be driven by Jop Rappange, Yelmer Buurman and Nigel Schoonderwoerd.

Meanwhile, GetSpeed will return to fielding four Mercedes-AMGs, having not done so since the Paul Ricard season-opener, with its Desder Indianapolis 8 Hour lineup of Patrick Charlaix, Jordan Boisson, and Marvin Klein at the wheel of its No. 999 machine.