The endurance title for the 2024 Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS season will be decided this weekend when Sydney Motorsport Park hosts a three-hour race into the night.
A strong field will contest the first Fanatec GT Australia race to be held at night utilising Sydney Motorsport Park's impressive lighting system.
Volante Rosso Motorsport will enter a completely new driver lineup for the Sydney round as Andre Canard and Jamie Day replace Alex Gardner and Ross Poulakis in the team's Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
Both drivers bring plenty of international experience to the fold, with Day a proven class champion in British GT and Canard having competed regularly in Fanatec GT Asia.
Leading the way for the regular entries is Arise Racing GT, which comes off a dominating performance at the inaugural GT Festival in Phillip Island where it won both races.
Sydney will offer a new challenge for the team and its two Ferrari 296 GT3s as it marks the first endurance race for the combination. Chaz Mostert, Liam Talbot, Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte will all be aiming to continue the team's success before the final round at Bathurst.
Mercedes-AMG will again be represented strongly across the round courtesy of Grove Racing’s Brenton and Stephen Grove, while Jayden Ojeda has proved a hot hand in qualifying for Realta/Tigani Motorsport alongside Paul Lucchitti.
Triple Eight Race Engineering will lead the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo charge as Declan Fraser and Peter Hackett target further silverware.
Audi won at Sydney Motorsport Park last year, which bodes well for Supercars star Will Brown and Brad Schumacher. The duo endured a disappointing event at Phillip Island, but the Shaw & Partners/Kelso Electrical Team MPC Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II is sure to be a contender.
Another strong Audi combination is the New Zealand pairing of Brendon Leitch and Tim Miles. Winners already this season, the Dayle ITM Team MPC Audi is another pairing keen for victory.
Renee Gracie and Paul Stokell will be a dark horse in the OnlyFans Team MPC Audi following a strong turn of pace at the previous two rounds.
Providing further race winning form will be Alex Peroni and Mark Rosser after their Queensland Raceway success at the wheel of the Team BRM/ACM Finance Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, with the pair also enjoying a strong run at the GT Festival.
Am Class is purely a Mercedes-AMG versus Audi battle, but the favourites on home turf will be RAM Motorsport for the three-pointed star.
Garth Walden and Michael Sheargold have been the pace setters all season in 2024, but competition will come from a fellow New South Wales-based team.
Tigani Motorsport has a foot in both camps. The Koundouris brothers, Theo and James, have enjoyed a consistent season in the Supabarn Supermarkets Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo after scoring third in Silver Class at the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour.
Valmont Racing’s Marcel Zalloua and Sergio Pires have missed a round, but have consistently rivalled RAM Motorsport when they have competed throughout the season - the pair being the sole Am Class Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.
Black Wolf Motorsport has been a surprise packet in its first season at the level as Ben Schoots and Shane Woodman continue to adapt to the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
Testing begins the weekend on Thursday before two hour-long practice sessions on Friday, with a pair of 10-minute qualifying sessions following on Saturday morning before the newly-introduced Super Pole Shootout sets up the three-hour main event on Saturday night, beginning at 6:45pm AEDT.
Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS' next event at Sydney Motorsport Park on October 18-20 will form part of a stacked Shannons SpeedSeries schedule and broadcast live on 7plus.
