30 GT3s expected for the Kyalami final

After notably hosting the World Sports Car Championship or the F1, Kyalami sees his journey through the desert come to an end on the international scene. The legendary South African track will be back in the spotlight from November 21 to 23 with the final of the 2019 Intercontinental GT Challenge.

30 GT3s are expected to take the start of the nine-hour race, which will crown the champions of this season passed by Bathurst, Laguna Seca, Spa and Suzuka. Leader of the Manufacturers' championship with 22 points ahead, Mercedes-AMG is in a favorable position to dethrone Audi Sport for the first time, undefeated since 2016.

To secure the title, the star brand will rely in particular on its flagship crew Maxi Buhk (leader of the Drivers classification) – Raffaele Marciello – Maro Engel. The three official drivers will drive the GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 and in fact only Buhk will be able to aim for the coronation.

Note the arrival of the SPS automotive-performance in the concert of theIGTC with Mercedes, and a car entrusted to the trio Maxi Götz – Luca Stolz – Yelmer Buurman.

Porsche va adopter la même stratégie que Mercedes en 2018 pour Tristan Vautier et Raffaele Marciello, à savoir séparer ses troupes pour s’offrir le plus de chances. Matt Campbell pilotera la 911 GT3 R du Dinamic Motorsport, nouvelle venue en IGTC, avec le duo Earl Bamber – Laurens Vanthoor.

Dirk Werner will be assisted by Sven Müller and Romain Dumas at Team75 Bernhard while Dennis Olsen will make common cause with Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet on the Frikadelli Racing example.

Finally, GPX Racing, winner of the 24 Hours of Spa with the trio Kévin Estre – Michael Christensen – Richard Lietz, will find this same crew.

At Audi Sport, Frédéric Vervisch and Christopher Haase, still in a position to be titled, and without the pressure of securing points for the brand with the rings, definitively left behind by Mercedes and Porsche, will be lined up at Team WRT and Team Land.

BMW (avec Walkenhorst et Team Schnitzer) espère reproduire ses bonnes prestations non-récompensées de Suzuka, quand Honda (Team Motul), Nissan (KCMG), Bentley (Team M-Sport) Or Aston Martin (R-Motorsport with two Vantage GT3s) will aim to make a splash.

Ferrari may well not be represented in the Pro category, the Prancing Horse brand having nevertheless shone in 2019 with the success of HubAuto Corsa in the United States.

Several South African drivers will obviously be there, with the van der Linde siblings (Kelvin at Audi Sport Team WRT, Sheldon at BMW Team Schnitzer), Jordan Pepper at Bentley Team M-Sport, and David Perel at Rinaldi Racing .

Team Perfect Circle (Am Cup) and Walkenhorst Motorsport (category to be defined) will also field almost 100% South African crews for this final.

Provisional entry list 9 Hours of Kyalami