Entry list revealed for opening Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia round at Phillip Island

Phillip Island will host the opening round of the 2024 Fanatec GT World Australia powered by AWS season, with 17 cars confirmed to take the starters orders.

It marks the fourth season of the Fanatec GTs competing in Australia, and the first under the control of SRO Motorsports Australia.

The 2024 season has become one of the most anticipated on record, thanks to the arrival of of the Arise Racing GT and its pair of Ferrari 296 GT3s, led by reigning Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia series winner Liam Talbot, Supercars aces Chaz Mostert and Jaxon Evans in addition to Elliott Schutte.

Usual suspects Melbourne Performance Centre and Triple Eight Race Engineering will spearhead the title fight the likes of Tigani Motorsport, while Grove Racing embarks on a full-time campaign in a Mercedes.

The 'Am' Class will just be as closely contested as the Pro-Am category, featuring a large number of experienced competitors.

For the first time, teams will test on Thursday before the event – a fixture at each round this season. The Thursday open test session is exclusively available to GT3 and GT4 Australia Series competitors only, ensuring teams and drivers will enjoy maximum amount of track time at each event.

The Phillip Island weekend begins with opening practice at 9:45am AEST on Friday, followed by a second session at 1:30pm.

Qualifying will continue to be split in two 20-minute sections to decide both grids for each race, starting at 10:35am, with the second segment beginning at 11am.

Race 1 begins at 1:00pm on Saturday afternoon, while Sunday’s second event starts at 2:55pm, featuring a grid walk for the Shannons SpeedSeries fans.

Each qualifying and race session will be featured live on 7plus, while both races will be similcaste on 7plus and 7mate (check your local guides).

International viewers can visit the GTWorld YouTube Channel to watch live coverage.

Also, keep an eye on gt-world-challenge-australia.com for all the latest news, live timing and more. 

If attending the Shannons SpeedSeries event at Phillip Island, tickets can be purchased at motorsporttickets.com.au starting at $35 for a single day and $60 for Saturday and Sunday. Friday is free to all.

QUOTES

Ben McMellan

CEO, SRO Australia

"There's been great support from the teams and drivers for SRO Australia's first season at the helm of Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS," said McMellan.

"It's the most competitive field that we have seen, with the the most outright contenders that have entered a Fanatec GT season. It's a very exciting line-up of cars and stars.

"We have a batch of new cars that have arrived, and the Ferraris are a big addition to the field. The Ferrari brand is highly prestigious all around the world, so that makes it a real positive for our local fans.

"It's going to be very hard to pick a winner. There's several entries in both Pro-Am and Am that have the ability to win their class. It's by far the most competiitve field we've ever seen in Australia.

"The addition of the Thursday open test day for GT3 and GT4 competitors and teams has been greated as a major positive. This follows how SRO rolls out its race weekends in Europe, Asia and America. It adds value for customers while keeping the costs down, compared to doing a stand-alone private test day."

Entry list - Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS, Round 1, Phillip Island