Both crowns to be decided in Barcelona season finale
• Team MZR head rival LP Racing in Pro-Am title fight
• Only 19 points split top three in tight Am class contest
Two Pro-Am teams and a trio of Am crews will fight to be crowned the 2024 Fanatec GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli champions in next weekend’s season finale, at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (11-13 October).
Sixteen entries are set to contest the final encounter, as the fiercely competitive fight between four manufacturers – Audi, KTM, Maserati and Mercedes-AMG – reaches a climax. After action across France, Italy, Belgium and Germany, the Fanatec GT2 campaign concludes in Spain for the very first time this year.
Although the season is coming to a close, the series continues to attract top-flight teams and drivers. Two-time CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa winner and Mercedes-AMG ambassador Bernd Schneider is set to join the field alongside team-mate Wim de Pundert for Bosi Race Tech.
A pair of 50-minute races will decide the 2024 champions, as the series supports the final Sprint Cup event of this year’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS.
Team MZR to go head-to-head with LP Racing for Pro-Am glory
Since taking the points lead in the second event of the season at Misano in May, Reinhard Kofler and Martin Koch have been the pair to beat in Pro-Am. The #812 KTM X-BOW GT2 line-up have snared some five wins and scored a further five podiums.
That run of success has earned the Team MZR duo a healthy 43-point advantage heading to the Spanish circuit. Another podium in race one – helping to maintain their 100 per cent top three finishing record so far this year - would be enough to seal the deal.
However, with 52 points on offer at Barcelona, closest challengers Leonardo Gorini and Carlo Tamburini still have a chance of claiming the crown having chalked a fourth win of the campaign on home soil at Monza last month. A top two finish in the opening race of the weekend could keep their title hopes alive at the end of an exceptional year of competition for Maserati’s GT2 model, under the guidance of the Italian squad.
Out of title contention but still hunting a maiden win is the impressive rookie outfit Razoon - More Than Racing, its charge led by Thomas Andersen and Simon Birch. The Danish duo have racked up five podiums so far but want to sign off with a breakthrough victory in the #80 KTM. As do LP Racing’s Gianluca Giorgi and 2023 title contender Stefan Rosina, who form an unchanged driver line-up for the #88 Audi R8 LMS GT2.
Also poised to fight it out towards the front is the True Racing #17 KTM shared by Hubert Trunkenpolz and Laura Kraihamer. They seek to back up a deserved podium last month while RTR Projects bring back Circuit Paul Ricard winner Matej Homola to partner with newcomer Lennart Marioneck in the #89 X-BOW. Father and son duo Mauro and Benjamin Ricci will also aim for silverware in the #61 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG GT2 after showing promising speed all summer.
Completing the Pro-Am field, Bosi Race Tech will make its series debut with sportscar legend Schneider partnering endurance racer de Pundert in the #81 Mercedes-AMG.
Three to face off in Am title decider
After 10 races across five circuits set in four countries, remarkably just 19 points covers an ultra-competitive Am title battle that can go one of three ways.
It is the #87 Akkodis ASP entry who sit top of the table heading into the last encounter. A fourth category triumph achieved at Monza has helped Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Gilles Vannelet establish a 10-point advantage aboard their Mercedes-AMG.
But they cannot ease up for a moment, with rapid LP Racing rookie Philippe Prette hot on their heels. Driving solo aboard the #2 Maserati, the Italian will want to add to his tally of four wins to grab back the advantage when it matters most.
And just over his shoulder, at the wheel of another Maserati, is TFT Racing’s Alexandre Leroy. Boasting two wins and seven class podiums to remain firmly in the picture, the Belgian has a 19-point margin to overturn to be crowned champion.
In the battle behind the top three, Akkodis ASP can count on in-form French duo Christophe Bourret and Pascal Gibon in the #53 car while fellow Mercedes-AMG runners Stéphane Perrin and Jörg Viebahn will hunt for trophies aboard their #888 NM Racing entry.
Yet more competition comes courtesy of two KTM X-BOWs. True Racing’s #16 duo of Klaus Angerhofer and Sehdi Sarmini have hit form after a podium in Monza while Dominik Olbert will pilot the #90 Razoon - More Than Racing machine, which was a podium finisher at Misano.
Iron Cup
For driver pairings with a combined age of 100 and over, the Iron Cup will be disputed by four crews in Spain. The Akkodis ASP line-ups of Beaubelique/Vannelet and Bourret/Gibon are eligible for honours along with Angerhofer/Sarmini (#16 KTM) and Perrin/Viebahn (#888 Mercedes-AMG).
How to watch
The season finale starts on Friday 11 October with Free Practice (12:00) and Pre-Qualifying (16:40) before Qualifying commences the following morning at 10:05. The 2024 title battles will be decided over two 50-minute races. The opener takes place at 15:30 on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s showdown at 10:25. Qualifying and both races will be streamed live and free of charge on the GT World YouTube channel and on the series’ official website.
