Int’l GTC: Kyalmai 9 hours entries and drivers voices

SRO

Feb 23

After a fantastic Bathurst 12 Hours which saw Manthey-Racing Porsche 911 #912 battling with Sun Energy1 Racing Mercedes AMG #75 and GruppeM Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 #999 for podium, the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli is heading to South Africa, where the Kyalami 9 Hours will serve as the second 2023 round of the global GT3 competition, which spans over five continents..

📷 © Courtesy of Mercedes AMG: Jules Gounon, Kenny Habul and Luca Stolz celebrating victory with Sun Energy1 Racing Mercedes #75.

📷 © Courtesy of Manthey-Racing: Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet and Thomas Preining in the Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R #912.

Snapshot on Motorsport.tv by Luc Warnotte

The Porsche of Manthey-Racing absent, only three brands will do battle in Kyalami: Audi, BMW and Mercedes.

Audi

After a rather disastrous first meeting at Bathurst, Audi will be represented by Tresor Attempto Racing who enters two Audi R8 LMS GT3s in PRO class for the victory at Kyalami: Mattia Drudi, Ricardo Feller and Patric Niederhauser will drive the #66; the #99 will be entrusted to Markus Winkelhock, Alex Aka and Dennis Marschall.

BMW

📷 © Courtesy of BMW M Motorsport: BMW M Team WRT, #32 Shell BMW M4 GT3, Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde, Charles Weerts; #33 BMW M4 GT3, Augusto Farfus, Maxime Martin, Philipp Eng.

Kyalami 9 hours will be the second official outing for the BMW M Team WRT, who will aim for a top result with its two BMW M4 GT3s and driver line-ups that include only one change, as Philipp Eng will make his debut with the Belgian squad.
The 32-year-old Austrian, one of the world’s top GT drivers, a two-time victor of the 24 Hours of Spa and winner of the Nürburgring 24 Hours, will be associated with Augusto Farfus and Maxime Martin in the car sporting #33, in what will be his first race with the Belgian squad.
The crew of car #32 remains unchanged, with Dries Vanthoor, Charles Weerts and Sheldon van der Linde at the wheel. For Sheldon, of course, this will be a very special event, as he will compete on home soil and very close to his family’s home indeed.
After 2019 and 2020, where they finished second, this will be the third time that Team WRT competes in the Kyalami 9 Hour, a race with a long history and now back at the forefront of the international scene thanks to the IGTC.

Team Principal Vincent Vosse: “After Bathurst, we have the chance to go to another great track such as Kyalami. We finished in the top six in Australia, but we hoped for a better result. It was clear that we lacked top speed compared with our main competitors, but the necessary adjustments have been made. We also believe that Kyalami suits the BMW M4 better, and we are determined to fight at the forefront. We welcome Philipp Eng to the team, he is a great addition for this race, which is not in the programme of Valentino Rossi.”

Mercedes-AMG

Winner in Bathurst, Mercedes will be keen to continue its momentum. Jules Gounon and Kenny Habul will still drive the Sun Energy1 Racing Mercedes #75 at Kyalami 9 hours with Yannick Mettler as third driver instead of Luca Stolz.

Ending third at Bathurst, Maro Engel, Raffaele Marciello and Mikael Grenier will have the knife between the teeth for the victory with GruppeM Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 #999.

Luca Stolz, winner in Bathurst with the #75, is changing teams for the #20 SPS automotive performance Mercedes-AMG GT3 which he will share with Reece Barr and Miguel Ramos.

Drivers comments before the Kyalami 9 Hours

📷 © Courtesy of BMW M Motorsport: BMW M Team WRT, #32 Shell BMW M4 GT3, Charles Weerts, Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor.

Sheldon van der Linde: “Kyalami for me is the most special race of the year, it’s my season highlight quite clearly. It’s very nice to be known as the ‘local hero’ as a lot of people refer to. My parents and grandparents are coming to watch trackside as well, which is super special for me, as it really only happens here. Trackwise, Kyalami should suit our car quite nicely. My teammates and I got to know each other well at Bathurst, we have a very good base where to start from. The team is very motivated to be on the podium and prove we are able to fight back strongly after an average result in Bathurst. I have won this race in the past and I’d love to repeat it!”
Dries Vanthoor: “I am happy to go back to Kyalami after some time. We had a decent round at Bathurst, we gave our absolute maximum, and took good points. We hope to do better in Kyalami and I think the BMW M4 will be a very nice car to drive there. It’s going to be home race for Sheldon, so we hope to give him a good weekend!”
Charles Weerts: “Kyalami is a track I like a lot, as I love South Africa as a country, so it’s very nice to be here. We will aim to do as best we can and to give Sheldon, our home hero, a good reason to cheer on Saturday night!”

📷 © Courtesy of BMW M Motorsport: BMW M Team WRT, #33 BMW M4 GT3, Philipp Eng, Augusto Farfus and Maxime Martin.

Philipp Eng: “I really look forward to my first race with Team WRT. It’s a team I always wished to race for, and I am very happy that it is possible now that they have joined the BMW family. I remember clearly one of the first times I was next to them in the garage, many years ago, and I could see how perfectly everything was executed. It’s an honour to finally be able to race with them. I think that for Kyalami we have a very strong line-up across both cars, and hopefully we can have a successful weekend.”
Augusto Farfus: “First of all, I am very happy to be back to South Africa, it’s a country I love and that reminds me Brazil a lot. Last time I was here, I won the race and the championship, so I have very good memories of Kyalami. It’s going to be the first time with the M4 GT3, we come from a solid race at Bathurst, and we have all the chances to do well. For sure, it is going to be a very quick, intense and hot race.”
Maxime Martin: “I race the Kyalami 9 Hour once, in 2019, and I am very happy to be back. After Bathurst, we want to make a step up and be more competitive. I think we can be very competitive and we’ll do everything to get a top result for the team.”

📷 © Courtesy of Gruppe M. Mick Grenier, Maro Engel and Raffaele Marciello.

Raffaele Marciello: To me the goal is a back-to-back win. With our lineup I see very good chances in Kyalami. Once there are not so many cars signed, the spectators can look forward to a lot of speed and few safety cars.

Maro Engel: Kyalami in South Africa has a lot of history. Former F1 track which is located quite high with over 1.500m. Weather is key in Kyalami and heavy rain wouldn´t be a surprise at all.

Mik Grenier: It will be my second time there. Our car suits well the track so I expect that we can fight for the win again and build on what we have started in Bathurst.

Other entries

6 teams complete the entry list with

Pro-Am

#4 Grove Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R (991.II) with Team manager and GTP Cadillac driver Earl Bamber as well as Brenton and Stephen Grove

#80 MJR Motorsport Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 with Marius Jackson, Mo Mia, Kwanda Mokoena

#86 Stradale Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Charl Arangies, Arnold Neveling, Clint Weston

Kyalami Super Cup (one-hour format).

#3 NGK Pablo Clark Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Mikkaeel Pitamber

#11 BigFoot Express Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Sunthrasagaran Moodley

#51 MJR Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT4 with Joseph Ellerine

Timetable

Friday 24 February 2023
10:30-12:15 Pre-qualifying
15:00-16:00 Qualifying (Drivers 1 – 2 – 3)

Saturday 25 February 2023
13:00-22:00 Race (9 hours)