2019 California 8 Hours

NaBUru38 · 15 Mar 2019, 13:55 (Ref:3890686)

March 28-30, Laguna Seca, California

https://www.intercontinentalgtchalle...16/laguna-seca

Race starts on Saturday at 8:30 am Pacific time.

NaBUru38 · 15 Mar 2019, 13:58 (Ref:3890687)

JAS will enter a Honda NSX GT3 Evo with drivers Bertrand Baguette, Mario Farnbacher and Renger van der Zande.

Strakka will enter two Mercedes-AMG GT3:

#42 Gary Paffett, Tristan Vautier, Lewis Williamson
#43 Christina Nielsen, Adam Christodoulou, Dominik Baumann

Bcarr6 · 15 Mar 2019, 15:27 (Ref:3890715)

Quote:

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

JAS will enter a Honda NSX GT3 Evo with drivers Bertrand Baguette, Mario Farnbacher and Renger van der Zande.

Strakka will enter two Mercedes-AMG GT3:

#42 Gary Paffett, Tristan Vautier, Lewis Williamson
#43 Christina Nielsen, Adam Christodoulou, Dominik Baumann

+ two more AMG’s supported by the factory, likely from Gruppe M

+ 2x KCMG nissans

+ 1x HubAuto Corsa Ferrari

+ 2x M-Sport Bentley

And at least 2 Audi’s and at least one Pro Porsche

Looking likely a smaller grid than last time, but Ratel seems to be have expected that with the change in date

NaBUru38 · 18 Mar 2019, 14:48 (Ref:3891598)

There will be two Porsche factory-assisted entries: Romain Dumas / Sven Mueller / Mathieu Jaminet, and Dirk Werner / Matt Campbell / Dennis Olsen.

Bcarr6 · 18 Mar 2019, 23:16 (Ref:3891713)

Quote:

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

There will be two Porsche factory-assisted entries: Romain Dumas / Sven Mueller / Mathieu Jaminet, and Dirk Werner / Matt Campbell / Dennis Olsen.

Park Place running both these cars

cbbrit · 19 Mar 2019, 05:09 (Ref:3891784)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

Park Place running both these cars

Incorrect! Wright Motorsports will be running one of them:

https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/wr...california-8h/

Bcarr6 · 19 Mar 2019, 13:22 (Ref:3891828)

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbbrit

Incorrect! Wright Motorsports will be running one of them:

https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/wr...california-8h/

Hmm, im sure theyve changed the content of the post since it was released. It said Park Place for both originally...

Anyway, cool to have Wright also!

By my count theres around 14 GT3s announced or planned so far

cbbrit · 21 Mar 2019, 15:29 (Ref:3892482)

Here's the info re-Audi's factory backed entries:

https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/au...ia-8h-entries/

cbbrit · 22 Mar 2019, 00:12 (Ref:3892612)

Bentley's drivers update:

https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/or...california-8h/

S griffin · 22 Mar 2019, 03:01 (Ref:3892629)

Wonder why Bentley went for them

crmalcolm · 22 Mar 2019, 10:38 (Ref:3892687)

Quote:

Originally Posted by S griffin

Wonder why Bentley went for them

Brian Gush: 'it is time to really step up our game, success is an expectation rather than hope, so we want to be fighting for wins at every round. I am confident that both Lucas and Markus will settle into the challenge ahead.'

Bcarr6 · 25 Mar 2019, 13:51 (Ref:3893254)

Very little info going around on this one, but it looks like theres at least 16 GT3 cars confirmed for the race, I can find little on any GT4, TCR entries, although its worth noting the SRO GT4 West series will be holding separate (I think??) races over the weekend at Laguna Seca. Which means it looks unlikely to see too many GT4 cars in the 8 Hours

This race is really struggling from the date change I believe, maybe itll rebound next year, but its not the perfect time of year for this kind of race.

Still, you really cant argue with the depth of quality in those 16 GT3's, I mean almost every car could stand a chance of winning based of driver lineups alone

GT3

Audi Sport Team Land - Audi R8 LSM GT3 Evo - Kelvin van der Linde / Christopher Mies / Markus Winklehock
Audi Sport Team WRT - Audi R8 LSM GT3 Evo - Christopher Haase / Frederic Vervisch / Dries Vanthoor
GruppeM Racing - Mercedes AMG GT3 - Raffaele Marcello / Maximilian Goetz / Maximilian Buhk
GruppeM Racing - Mercedes AMG GT3 - Yelmer Buurman / Luca Stolz / Maro Engel
HubAuto Corsa - Ferrari 488 GT3 - TBA / TBA / TBA
JAS Motorsport - Honda NSX GT3 Evo - Renger van der Zande / Betrand Baguette / Mario Farnbacher
KCMG - Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 - Oliver Jarvis / Edoardo Liberati / Alexandre Imperatori
KCMG - Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 - Tsugio Matsuda / Joshua Burdon / Katsumasa Chiyo
M Sport - Bentley Continental GT3 - Markus Palttala / Lucas Ordonez / Maxime Soulet
M Sport - Bentley Continental GT3 - Steven Kane / Jordan Pepper / Jules Gounon
Park Place Motorsports - Porsche 911 GT3 R - Matt Campbell / Dennis Olsen / Dirk Werner
Strakka Racing - Mercedes AMG GT3 - Gary Paffett / Tristan Vautier / Lewis Williamson
Strakka Racing - Mercedes AMG GT3 - Christina Nielsen / Adam Christodoulou / Dominik Baumann
Walkenhorst Motorsport - BMW M6 GT3 - Christian Krognes / Nicky Catsburg / Mikkel Jensen
Wright Motorsports - Porsche 911 GT3 R - Sven Mueller / Romain Dumas / Mathieu Jaminet
TBA - BMW M6 GT3 - Augusto Farfus / Martin Tomczyk / TBA

Bcarr6 · 25 Mar 2019, 13:59 (Ref:3893257)

Correction:

Alex Buncombe will replace Matsuda in that KCMG Nissan, after his debut with the team in VLN this weekend.

cbbrit · 25 Mar 2019, 14:52 (Ref:3893266)

GT4 entry list here:

https://files.world-challenge.com/ev...-EntryList.pdf

Bcarr6 · 25 Mar 2019, 15:54 (Ref:3893282)

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbbrit

GT4 entry list here:

https://files.world-challenge.com/ev...-EntryList.pdf

I was looking for the second page there....

KA · 25 Mar 2019, 17:54 (Ref:3893324)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

Very little info going around on this one, but it looks like theres at least 16 GT3 cars confirmed for the race, I can find little on any GT4, TCR entries, although its worth noting the SRO GT4 West series will be holding separate (I think??) races over the weekend at Laguna Seca. Which means it looks unlikely to see too many GT4 cars in the 8 Hours

Sportscar365 are suggesting 20 in total- 16 GT3s, so presumably those you listed, and 4, which I guess will be either GT4, TCR or a couple of each.

As you say, plenty of quality there in the GT3s, but I can't help thinking that entry is pretty thin for an 8-hour endurance race...

https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/bu...t-laguna-seca/

cbbrit · 25 Mar 2019, 19:11 (Ref:3893341)

The entry list is now out:

http://vmail.vertouk.net/userfiles/s...try%20List.pdf

Anyopenroad · 25 Mar 2019, 19:39 (Ref:3893347)

20 cars is thin but 8 manufacturers (9 is you count the Lambo Huracan Trofeo, which certainly looks like a GT3 car) is good.

Bcarr6 · 25 Mar 2019, 20:24 (Ref:3893351)

Yep so 3 GT4s and a GT Cup

Ok entry, the fight will be good in GT3 I’m sure, shame there’s not more lower class entries though

nasportscar · 25 Mar 2019, 21:04 (Ref:3893361)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

Yep so 3 GT4s and a GT Cup

Ok entry, the fight will be good in GT3 I’m sure, shame there’s not more lower class entries though

I wouldn't be opposed to making IGTC solely for GT3

rich07 · 26 Mar 2019, 06:31 (Ref:3893409)

Quote:

Originally Posted by nasportscar

I wouldn't be opposed to making IGTC solely for GT3

But as that stands that only works out numbers wise for Spa and say Suzuka. The other three races don’t have the big GT3 fields to do such a thing. Spa 24 (as part of BES) had GT4 in its early years and even now still has a couple of Cup cars. Can’t ever see B12 becoming all GT3 as the numbers just aren’t there unfortunately. Sad to see the entry for the California 8hrs dip down given the number of the GT3/4 cars sitting in the US right now.

carbsmith · 26 Mar 2019, 07:20 (Ref:3893415)

Well there's two problems. One, all the endurance racing teams are in the rival series and not the SRO series. Two, they somehow decided to have points scoring GT4 event for said SRO series on the same weekend. That the previous 8 hour was only 6 months ago doesn't help.

Bcarr6 · 26 Mar 2019, 11:35 (Ref:3893459)

All points above very valid. Agree that the 6 month difference hasnt helped, Ratel admitted that.

And being a season-not-quite-opener vs a season finisher has probably hit this race the most. The smaller GT3 guys dont want to risk their cars in an endurance before the bulk of the Sprint season.

At the end of a season its easier to justify I guess. More time to rebuild.

In terms of GT4, certainly silly to host a GT4 series race on the same weekend, but there is only 10 entries, none of which would be guaranteed if the only option was the 8 hr. Again, justifying running a car in 2x 50min races as part of a series, vs running what for GT4 is a standalone endurance race is massively different.

Im hopeful this produces another good race like the last, there was certainly some Bathurst qualities to it that could really build. This might be an event to peak in some years.

Groundwork in now, let it flourish.

We can also undoubtedly expect more full series IGTC cars next year, Mclaren, Lambo, etc all considering.

Thats potentially 4 cars in itself.

If you think about the IGTC calendar as a whole, this race fits in well, in terms of time of year. You go from Bathurst to Laguna Seca, to Spa, to Suzuka, to Kayalmi (spelling?)

Theres a nice flow in that, they just need to keep ironing it out

cbbrit · 28 Mar 2019, 02:27 (Ref:3893827)

Paid practice notes:

https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/en...-on-wednesday/

cbbrit · 28 Mar 2019, 06:06 (Ref:3893833)

Wednesday's Notebook:

https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/la...sday-notebook/

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