After its extraordinary victory in the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the #51 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GT3 arrives at the 3 Hours of Nürburgring on top of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS team and driver standings. Six other Maranello cars will be competing in this weekend’s penultimate round of the Endurance Cup in the Pro, Silver and Pro-Am classes.
Pro. Alessandro Pier Guidi, Côme Ledogar, and Nicklas Nielsen – fresh from their triumphs in the LMGTE Pro and Am classes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – on 71 points in the standings, are targeting crucial points ahead of the final round in Barcelona. The Iron Lynx crew has got better and better all season and can count on the excellent form of its drivers. The team’s second car has a new line-up without Davide Rigon this time. The Italian, who is still recovering from his accident at Spa, will be replaced by Alessio Rovera, who also climbed the top step of the podium at Le Mans, despite it being his debut on the French track. The Italian will be joined by Antonio Fuoco and Callum Ilott, making for a crew with real podium ambitions.
Silver Cup. The 488 GT3 Evo 2020 of Rinaldi Racing will be the only car in Prancing Horse colours in the most crowded category. The German team will field Benjamin Hites, Patrick Kujala and David Perel as they attempt to secure their first season podium, a result that is well within its reach.
Pro-Am. In a class led by Sky Tempesta Racing’s Ferrari, Chris Froggatt will seek to increase his 14-point advantage over Garage 59’s Aston Martin, with the support of Jonathan Hui and Rino Mastronardi. Expectations are also high for AF Corse’s Andrea Bertolini and Louis Machiels. Like teammates Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin, they will go into the German race without the support of a third driver. Tim Kohmann, Francesco Zollo and Giorgio Roda will take to the track in the Kessel Racing’s 488 GT3 Evo 2020, hoping to better their eighth place at the 1000 km of Paul Ricard, the Swiss team’s best result of the season so far.
Esport. On this occasion, as in all previous Endurance Cup events, the virtual race will be staged with real drivers who compete in the SRO series. Danish driver Nicklas Nielsen will represent Iron Lynx, while the Chilean Benjamin Hites turns out for Rinaldi Racing.
Appointments. On Saturday, after the morning’s free practice, the focus will shift to the Esports GT Pro Series. After qualifying at 6:10pm local time, the 60-minute virtual race will kick off at 6:45pm. On Sunday, starting at 8:30am, the real cars will take to the track to decide the starting grid for the race that will set off at 2:45pm and run for 180 minutes.