SRO Reveals Season Entry Lists; Endurance Field Grows to 52 Cars

SRO Motorsports Group has revealed the full-season entry lists for the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS season with 52 cars on the Endurance Cup grid and 25 in Sprint Cup.

The Endurance Cup field, which has expanded by a dozen cars since last year, includes 15 entries in the Pro category while 11 cars are provisionally in the top class for Sprint Cup.

A total of 22 cars are registered for the full GTWC Europe, which combines points from the Endurance and Sprint championships.

Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche will be represented by customer teams GTWC Europe this year.

The Endurance Cup grid numbers have increased since 2021, in part due to several new and returning teams committing to the series including Beechdean AMR, Vincenzo Sospiri Racing, JP Motorsport, Tresor by Car Collection and Leipert Motorsport.

Notable withdrawals include Lamborghini outfit FFF Racing Team, which is taking a sabbatical from GT3 competition this year and Porsche squad GPX Racing which is focusing on the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli.

BMW team Walkenhorst Motorsport is also absent from the entry list but the German manufacturer’s new M4 GT3 product will appear on the 2022 grid courtesy of two-time TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa winner ROWE Racing.

Changes among the continuing teams that took part in the 2021 season include Garage 59’s switch from Aston Martin to McLaren machinery, Sky-Tempesta Racing moving from Ferrari to Mercedes-AMG and Boutsen Ginion transferring from BMW to Audi.

There are six confirmed entries in the new Gold Cup class, although several teams are yet to be assigned to one of the four categories in Endurance.

A large grid of 19 cars will compete in Silver Cup, while only two cars are confirmed in Pro-Am at the moment.

The Sprint Cup, which consists of five rounds with two 60-minute races each, has a slightly smaller full-season grid compared to last year when 29 entries signed up.

The 11 Pro entries are complemented by 10 cars in Silver Cup and three in Pro-Am, with the class designation of the Sky-Tempesta Mercedes-AMG currently TBA.

Of note, AKKA-ASP is set to field two Pro-class Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos in the short-format series, while reigning Sprint champion Team WRT is arriving with an increased five-car stable that will also feature in the Endurance Cup.

The opening round of the Endurance Cup season takes place at Imola on April 1-3 while the Sprint Cup season kicks off at Brands Hatch on April 30-May 1.

“I am very happy to present such competitive and diverse entry lists for the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS season,” commented SRO founder and CEO Stephane Ratel.

“We are pleased to have a solid 25 cars confirmed for the Sprint Cup, while the Endurance Cup is back to its very best with more than 50 full-season cars and many strong lineups.

“With several crews still to be confirmed we are awaiting the final numbers competing in each class, but I think we can already say that the Gold Cup has been a very successful addition in Endurance, while the Silver Cup grid has grown again.

“I am proud that this series continues to attract such strong and consistent grids, despite the challenges of the past two years.

“Now, with these exciting entry lists and the arrival of Valentino Rossi, we look forward to welcoming [the] public back to all of our events in 2022. The sight of more than 50 cars taking the start at Imola next month is something to really look forward to.”