INDIANAPOLIS — The 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS season finale is set to go down on Saturday, Oct. 8 at Racing Capitol of the World — Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS will be a true test of skill as all 25 entrants—consisting of three drivers each—battle it out on Indy’s 14-turn, 2.44-mile Grand Prix Road Course, consisting of the track’s famous oval and extensive infield.
New for 2022, the 8-hour endurance race will start at noon, racing into the dark for the first-ever GT night race at the Brickyard that will make for great excitement and stunning visuals. The expanded grid features International and Domestic based teams with top tier drivers joining the season finale and the 3rd round of the globe-trotting Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli.
Watch the event live on SPEED SPORT 1.
After a dozen races we’ve seen how the field performs with a two-driver lineup, single pit-stop, 90-minute race duration. Now, faced with an endurance racing format, beyond just raw speed, it will be a true test of grit and determination with a third driver and multiple pit-stops to manage.
Win, lose, or draw during the season, every team wants to finish out the year with a great result. That final event happens to be the biggest SRO Motorsports America weekend of the year, so we can expect strong efforts across the paddock.
When all of the combined SRO global events are summed up, Indianapolis will be race number 45 of an amazing 49 race series, where manufacturers points are gathered across the greatest racetracks of Europe, America, Australia and Asia. In the Global Manufacturers points standings, Mercedes-AMG leads Audi, Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, McLaren, and BMW.
K-PAX Racing saw a return to the winners circle at Sebring’s high-speed circuit. Michele Beretta and Andrea Caldarelli swept the Florida weekend at the helm of the #1 Lamborghini Huracan GT3, guaranteeing both the 2022 team championship as well as the drivers championship for Caldarelli. The sister No. 3 car (Misha Goikhberg/Jordan Pepper) earned second and third place finishes, good enough for a season championship runner-up ending. Joining the K-PAX Racing team in Indy will be Lamborghini Squadra Corsa factory pilots Marco Mapelli in the #1 with Franck Perera joining the squad.
The Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 (Michael Dinan/Robby Foley) has had great results mixed with bad luck. They won at Watkins Glen and claimed runner-up finishes at both VIR and Sebring, but have been caught up in on-track incidents elsewhere. For Indy, their lineup is fortified with American BMW Motorsport racer John Edwards in the mix.
US RaceTronics’ No. 6 Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Steven Aghakhani/Loris Spinelli) started the season strong with four podium finishes in the first seven races. The team is set to return to the field after crash damage at Road America caused them to miss Sebring. Tristian Vautier is set to join the team at Indy.
Winward Racing’s No. 33 Mercedes-AMG GT of Phillip Ellis and Russell Ward should be well prepared for the fight. The team had a three race win streak that started at Watkins Glen and continued with a sweep at Road America. Jules Gounon, coming off his TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa win, joins the squad. A strong finish could leapfrog them past Turner for the final spot on the championship standings.
There will be no shortage of AMG V8 power in the Pro grid, as DXDT Racing’s No. 63 Mercedes-AMG GT3 will be shared by German Patrick Assenheimer, Bryan Sellers, and Dirk Muller. This is a change up to the regular DXDT driver pairs as the team is switching from a pair of Pro-Am entries to one car in Pro and one car in Am.
The Craft-Bamboo Racing Team is a strong contender bringing two of the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa overall winners into their No. 77 Mercedes-AMG GT3, Raffaele Marciello and Daniel Juncadella. They’ll be joined by World Challenge frontrunner Daniel Morad who makes his return to the series.
Ferrari returns with AF Corse Francorchamps, looking for redemption on its misfortunes a year ago while leading the race. A pair of Ferrari 488 GT3’s which will see the No. 51 with Pierre Ragues, Davide Rigon, and Miguel Molina behind the wheel while the No. 71 driving duties will be shared by Ulysse De Pauw, Antonio Fuoco, and Daniel Serra.
Every race at Indy should have an Andretti involved. The No. 218 Andretti Autosport x Vital Speed Ferrari 488 GT3 will be shared by Jarett Andretti, Jeff Westphal, and Ryan Briscoe.
Conquest Racing returns after a second-place finish in race two at Sebring with their No. 34 Ferrari 488 GT3. This time around, Cedric Sbirrazzuoli, Daniel Mancinelli, and Alessandro Balzan will be at the helm.
The Pro-Am field has not only been the most populous class of the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge America season, but it’s also seen the closest competition. Nowhere is that more apparent than the points chase between the top three teams in the championship so far. There are five different makes in the top five. This is a Porsche, Mercedes-AMG, Acura, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin fight.
The No. 45 Wright Motorsport Porsche of Jan Heylen and Charlie Luck has scored four wins this season and just retook the points lead at the second Sebring race. Heylen and Luck have 191 points. Joining them at Indy will be Elia Erhart, who currently competes in SRO’s Fanatec GT2 European Series.
The highest placed Mercedes-AMG is the No. 45 CrowdStrike w/ Riley Motorsports entry for George Kurtz and Colin Braun. Kurtz and Braun led the mid-season points battle having scored three wins at three different tracks before misfortune hit them at Road America. They are currently second in the drivers’ chase with 177 points. The team will be joined by Ben Keating as they seek both a championship and another Indy 8 Hour win.
The No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 of Ashton Harrison and Mario Farnbacher leads the pack with four race wins, but also encountered problems at three other races. They are just one point behind CrowdStrike at 176. They will be joined by two-time sports car champion Christina Nielsen.
The Pro-Am championship won’t be determined until the checkered flies at Indy, and whether an endurance racing war of attrition becomes a factor will be interesting to see. With double points being awarded any one of the top three could become champions.