Colin-on-Cars - Championship on the line

Titles may well be decided at this weekend’s powerfest at the Indianapolis 8-Hour when SRO Motorsports Group’s GT3 series joins Fanatec GT World Challenge America at the Brickyard.

The US championship finale doubles as IGTC’s penultimate round following outings at the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour and TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa. The Gulf 12 Hours closes out 2022’s campaign in mid-December.

However, there’s a strong chance IGTC’s manufacturers’ title – and potentially even its drivers’ championship – will be decided at Indianapolis where a total of 25 GT3 cars are scheduled to race into the night on Saturday.

Maximum

Jules Gounon and Mercedes-AMG both have maximum points from the first two events where the latter also finished first and second.

The drop-score system employed this year sees Mercedes-AMG start in a strong position and not least when considering that its closest rival – Audi Sport – is absent from IGTC’s entry list for the first time ever this weekend.

Instead, reigning manufacturers’ champions Ferrari, as well as Lamborghini and Porsche, will all be hoping to halt Affalterbach’s seemingly unstoppable march towards a first Intercontinental manufacturers’ crown.

Eligible

Although each registered manufacturer can nominate a maximum of four entries, including three from the Pro class, only its two best placed finishers are eligible to score points. As such, a maximum of 43 points are available for finishing one-two on Saturday evening.

Also, and unlike at Spa for example, Indy’s Pro class comprises line-ups featuring a maximum of two Gold or Platinum graded drivers. Therefore, the relative strength of each crew’s third member could prove a decisive factor.

Mercedes-AMG | 3x Pro, 1x Pro-Am
Manufacturers’ Championship: 1st (86 points)

It’s been a highly impressive IGTC campaign so far for Mercedes-AMG, which locked out Bathurst’s podium and finished one-two at Spa. And it shows no sign of letting up at Indy where eight cars – half of which are Intercontinental nominees – carry the Three Pointed Star’s hopes.

But first, some maths. 

IGTC’s drop-score system means each manufacturer’s worst collective result from Bathurst, Indy and Gulf will not count towards its end-of-season total. Mercedes-AMG has accrued the maximum 86 points so far – 51 more than Audi Sport whose absence from Indy effectively ends its title chances, while Ferrari is another 10 further back.

As such, a record-equalling fourth straight IGTC victory (Akkodis ASP also won 2021’s postponed Kyalami 9 Hour in February) would hand Mercedes-AMG the title regardless of where Ferrari’s two best placed entries finished. Indeed, the Scuderia must outscore its German rival by 18 points, or 19 if it doesn’t win the race, to have any hope of retaining the manufacturers’ crown in Abu Dhabi.

Contingent

But that appears a tall order given the strength of Mercedes-AMG’s Indy contingent. 

Fanatec GT World Challenge America’s class regulations prevent newly crowned European champions Gounon, Dani Juncadella and Raffaele Marciello from reprising their Spa-winning partnership. However, that has doubled Mercedes-AMG’s chances in the drivers’ standings where Gounon – who also won at Bathurst – leads Juncadella by seven points. 

The Frenchman joins Russell Ward and Phillip Ellis in Winward Racing’s entry this weekend, while his former team-mates are part of a Craft-Bamboo squad also featuring Daniel Morad. 

The drivers’ championship also requires the lowest score outside of Spa to be dropped. Nevertheless, his third victory of the season – as well as a record extending fourth on the bounce – would see Gounon win the title regardless of where the likes of Juncadella finished.

Previous

Mercedes-AMG’s only previous overall IGTC title was won by Tristan Vautier who appears in the other nominated Pro entry, run by US RaceTronics, alongside Fanatec GT World Challenge America regulars Loris Spinelli and Steven Aghakhani.

Its final nomination is filled by Bathurst winners SunEnergy1 whose regular pairing of Kenny Habul and Martin Konrad can clinch the Pro-Am Challenge crown on Saturday. The car is overseen by crack factory squad Akkodis ASP, which arrives at Indy fresh from winning the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe title at Barcelona.

Ferrari | 3x Pro, 1x Pro-Am
Manufacturers’ Championship: 3rd (25 points)

The reigning champions arrive at Indy knowing that only a strong showing, plus a helping hand from Mercedes-AMG, will see IGTC’s manufacturers’ title decided in Abu Dhabi rather than this Saturday. However, 2021’s American round does provide some cause for optimism.

True, both factory-supported AF Corse - Francorchamps entries – which return this year – failed to deliver the results their pace warranted. But pole position for Alessandro Pier Guidi and the sister car’s starring role out front suggests the 488 GT3 will be at the sharp end.

Platinum

Ferrari’s factory drivers, just like Mercedes-AMG’s, also reside in the top drawer. Platinum-graded duo Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina are joined by Pierre Ragues – someone perhaps better known for his sports-prototype exploits – while one of this year’s breakout European GT stars, Ulysse De Pauw, partners Antonio Fuoco and Daniel Serra.

American squad Conquest Racing also represents Maranello in the Pro category, while Ryan Dalziel heads up Triarsi Competizione’s Pro-Am entry.

Collectively, two of these four cars must outscore Mercedes-AMG’s nominees by 18 or 19 points if the 2022 IGTC manufacturers’ title is to remain unclaimed. Equally, Fuoco, Serra and Rigon must score 10 more points than Gounon to have any chance of winning the drivers’ crown at the Gulf 12 Hours. 

Lamborghini | 2x Pro, 1x Pro-Am, 1x Am
Manufacturers’ Championship: 4th (22 points)

Just like its main rivals, Lamborghini has loaded its IGTC bases by nominating the maximum number of cars at Indy where at least two will be fighting for overall victory.

Its formidable US squad, K-PAX Racing, finished on the podium there last season and has already retained its Fanatec GT World Challenge America teams’ and drivers’ titles with a race to spare. Now its focus switches to securing Lamborghini’s first-ever IGTC victory.

Assistance

Its regular US crew of Michele Beretta and Andrea Caldarelli receive assistance from another Squadra Corse factory ace, Marco Mapelli, while Franck Perera joins Misha Goikhberg and Jordan Pepper.

TR3’s Pro-Am entry could collect a point of two for the manufacturer whose nominees also include Zelus Motorsports’ Am car.

On paper, Lamborghini heads to Indy three points behind Ferrari. However, that total has been accrued across two events instead of one, meaning its current drop-round – which cannot be Spa – actually leaves it a further 12 points adrift. 

Huracans must therefore out-score Mercedes-AMGs by 33 points (or 34 if one of them fails to win due to the countback rules in case of a tie) in order for Lamborghini to feature amongst the title contenders in Abu Dhabi.

Porsche | 2x Pro-Am
Manufacturers’ Championship: 5th (13 points)

 A sum total of two Pro-Am cars means Porsche are unlikely to contend for victory at Indy where Wright Motorsports and GMG Racing are instead focusing on class honours.

Nevertheless, each team’s respective Pro – Jan Heylen and Klaus Bachler – undoubtedly has the individual pace to run with the overall victory contenders.

What’s more, Heylen and his co-driver Charlie Luck top Fanatec GT World Challenge America’s Pro-Am standings with just one race remaining.

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 Table Mountain a perfect backdrop for Formula E

The backdrop of Table Mountain is being viewed as a welcome addition to the Formula E world series for 2022 and it joins New York’s Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower in Paris as iconic landmarks hosting the mainly street race competition. 

In early July it was announced that Cape Town would become the first Southern African city to host the all-electric Formula E racing series, joining a host of the world’s most iconic cities to present the ABB FIA Formula World Championship. 

The announcement was made by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in Geneva following the scheduled meeting to approve the calendar and by Formula E Operations.

The panel included South African Gary Ekerold, the Jaguar Racing Formula E Team Sporting Manager, together with Formula E Co-Founder and CEO Alberto Longo and key representatives of the e-Movement team. 

Jaguar South Africa, Founding Partner to the Formula E Cape Town E-Prix bid, supported the drive to host the first Formula E event in Cape Town. 

Gary Ekerold, Sporting Manager Jaguar Racing, says: “On behalf of Jaguar Racing and the five South Africans involved directly in our team, we’d like to say congratulations to Formula E, e-Movement and obviously Jaguar South Africa as Founding Partner to this bid. 

“Cape Town has put itself in Pole Position to have its share of global tourism, and hopefully this will have positive implications for its economy. It’s been a long time since South Africa has hosted an FIA World Championship single seater racing event [since the 1993 South African Grand Prix], so to go back there and show Cape Town all about e-mobility and electric racing is absolutely fantastic”

Alberto Longo, Formula E Co-Founder and CEO, added: “South Africa ticks the box of every single thing we need in order to host a race of Formula E. To start with I’m sure you’re aware we race in the heart of the biggest cities in the world. 

“We want to go to iconic venues that you can really identify very quickly in one shot on TV, and I think this is one of the main reasons we are in South Africa – because they really offer us one of the best, most amazing locations that we will ever do a race at. Having Table Mountain as a backdrop which is a landmark of the city, the sea, the stadium, I think we are going to be able to put a fantastic event up there. 

“And then the passion of South Africans, the heritage of motor sport there, they just love motor sports. I think it’s a place where every serious and professional motor sport series must do an event. Without saying we have amazing partners there, amazing promoters, and the city has expressed an interest in hosting an event there for a long time, so all the things that needed to happen in order for us to decide on a new venue happened in South Africa”.

Support for the event, both in South Africa and internationally, underlines the role of hosting Formula E races in driving economic development, especially in tourism where it is invigorating the events sector, and providing much-needed job opportunities. 

The event also provides an opportunity for Cape Town and the country to demonstrate its environmental, commercial, and technological credentials on a global scale. Formula E is seen as a catalyst for innovation, investment, and job creation in the much-needed e-mobility and sustainable energy space. 

Iain Banner, Co-Founder and Chairman of e-Movement, says: “South Africans can look forward to a week-long festival of events and activities celebrating sustainability. The race is what I call the celebration. But we’ve come up with what we are calling the e-Fest. And the e-Fest is a five-day program around sustainability and eMobility. So, we’ll have a two-day conference of eMobility where we’ll have all things ‘E’ from one-wheelers to bicycles, possibly even a plane and a boat to showcase to the public what ‘E’ is all about both now and going into the future. 

“We’ve also got a golf tournament which Ernie Els is hosting for us where our drivers and team principals will play with sponsors and others in the eco-system. And then very importantly we’ve got a climate change summit where we’ll be talking about all things sustainable. And a big initiative in taking this to Cape Town is not only to race, but to grow the economy and promote eBusiness as well.

Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato is just as enthusiastic.

“Cape Town is pleased to be chosen as one of the cities to participate in the Formula E tournament. The event will unlock major investment, job creation and tourism potential through identifying Cape Town as the racing destination of the African continent. We look forward to working towards this event. The City has the necessary infrastructure and skills to host an event of this size and we are confident that the event will further cement Cape Town’s global reputation as the World’s Leading Festival and Event Destination.” 

Since its inception in 2014, Formula E has attracted millions of viewers, drawn to the excitement of cars racing the downtown streets of some of the world’s most picturesque cities at speeds of up to 280 km/h. 

Local broadcasters, Supersport and SABC, have committed to promoting the event and have already started to broadcast the Season 7 races in South Africa. 

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship actively promotes electric mobility and alternative energy solutions to contribute to reducing air pollution, which the World Health Organisation estimates kills more than seven million people a year. Electric vehicles provide one of the most effective solutions to reduce carbon air pollution.