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Photo: SRO/JEP Garage 59 boss Andrew Kirkaldy feared that his squad would have to hire a jet on its own to take its drivers between Barcelona and Portimao for the FIA World Endurance Championship and GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS clash as the number of racers doing both continually reduced. Despite 18 GTWC Europe regulars also competing in the WEC, only four have ended up tackling both championships this weekend and two of those are Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo racers Tom Fleming and Benji Goethe. Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 EVO driver Darren Leung and Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo pilot Mattia Drudi are the other two, with everyone making the trip backwards and forwards between the venues hiring a jet together to reduce costs. “It is helpful,” Kirkaldy told Sportscar365 of those affected combining forces. “It’s interesting because it started off there’s 18 drivers, now it’s 15, now it’s ten, now it’s six — and it was like, wait a m...

Photo: Drew Gibson There are no plans for McLaren Formula 1 champion Lando Norris to race or test the manufacturer’s Hypercar again in the immediate future, despite his successful recent outing in the MCL-HY at Portimao. Norris completed 38 laps at the wheel of the new McLaren MCL-HY at the Portuguese track last month ahead of the car’s planned debut in next season’s FIA World Endurance Championship. But, despite the 24 Hours of Le Mans not currently clashing with an F1 event in 2027, McLaren Endurance Racing team principal James Barclay said the squad has now signed its six race drivers for next year with all of them due to test together for the first time at the end of November. Speaking to reporters at the Barcelona FIA WEC round, when asked about any future plans for Norris to drive the MCL-HY by Sportscar365, Barclay replied: “For now, no. Of course we would love to have him back but he has a very busy program and a very clear priority on Formula 1. ...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: SRO/JEP Several GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS teams have confirmed changes to their lineups for this weekend’s Portimao season finale, including FIA World Endurance Championship drivers Peter Dempsey and Rui Andrade no longer contesting both categories. The initial 61-car entry list published last week had Dempsey sharing the Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo in which he won the Sprint Cup Bronze class title, but he will now prioritize the clashing Barcelona WEC contest. That list also included Rui Andrade in one of two new Motopark Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo entries but he is another to now solely focus on Barcelona. This means that now only four drivers are due to contest both events: Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo pair Tom Fleming and Benji Goethe, Comtoyou Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo racer Mattia Drudi and Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 EVO pilot Darren Leung. Dempsey’s place in the Porsche has been taken by Lucas Wolf, who last raced...

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA IMSA and SRO have canceled its planned joint Balance of Performance test for GT3 machinery at Daytona International Speedway, citing “substantial unplanned costs” after “considerable dialogue” with manufacturers. Originally scheduled for Dec. 12-13, on the back of a two-day IMSA-sanctioned test for all WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams, the BoP test was set to run to the same protocol as SRO Motorsports Group’s annual BoP test at Paul Ricard, with dedicated test drivers sampling each GT3 car. However, a number of GT3 manufacturers were understood to have been against the mandatory test for each model, as it would have added unplanned end-of-year costs to provide cars, team operations, logistics and other added resources. The joint test was announced by SRO founder and CEO Stephane Ratel during the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa in June and IMSA President John Doonan told Sportscar365 that it was set to run to IMSA GTD ...

Photo: MPS Agency Earl Bamber will make a surprise return to the FIA GT World Cup on the streets of Macau next month, joining Joel Eriksson in a two-car Audi Sport Asia assault. Cadillac FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship star Bamber last contested the Guia Circuit fixture in 2023, at the wheel of a D2 Racing Team Porsche, and finished on the podium in 2019 for the same brand. The 36-year-old New Zealander will be hunting for a first Macau win on Nov. 19-22 driving an Absolute Racing-run Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II. Alongside him in the Audi stable is Eriksson, who made only his second Macau appearance last year and was the Ingolstadt marque’s top finisher in fifth place. As per last year, Eriksson’s entry will be prepared by Phantom Global Racing. “We believe we have assembled our strongest possible line-up to compete for a fifth GT Cup crown for Audi on the legendary downtown streets of Macau,” said head of Audi Sport custom...

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/SRO SRO Motorsports Group CEO and founder Stephane Ratel admits the Balance of Performance for next year’s Suzuka 1000km round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge will be a “huge challenge” considering that both Dunlop and Pirelli tires will be used. The field for next year’s IGTC season finale, which will also serve as points race for SUPER GT’s GT300 runners, will see cars split between next year’s in-development Dunlop GT300 tires and the off-the-shelf Pirelli rubber used by the IGTC. A recent test for the 2027 Dunlops at Suzuka yielded a best lap time of 1:57.372, which was around one second up on the fastest lap set in qualifying for this year’s 1000km, a 1:58.455 recorded by Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Kaku Ohta. The SRO plans to use data from both the GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS round at Suzuka and SUPER GT’s standalone event at the figure-of-eight venue to determine the BoP, as well as...