GT STARS AND ROSSI SET FOR BRANDS OPENER

The GT World Challenge

Europe Sprint Cup kicks off at Brands Hatch for the second time in the history of the fixture this weekend.

The entry stands at 26 cars, two down on last year, although the Pro Cup class is on a par with 2021 at 12 cars. The rest of the field is made up of eight Silver Cup entries and five in

Pro Am, with the class of one car yet to be confirmed.

Audi factory drivers Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts begin their bid for a third consecutive Sprint Cup title with the WRT Audi team. They share one of three R8 LMS

GT3 Evo IIS entered in Pro by the Belgian team. Factory drivers Frederic Vervisch and Christopher Mies respectively share with two-wheel legend Valentino Rossi and Jeanbaptiste Simmenauer.

The French Auto Sport Promotion squad, runner-up in the overall GTWCE teams’ points last year, fields two Mercedesamg GT3S. Raffaele Marciello and overall GTWCE 2020 champion Timur Boguslavskiy are paired together for a third season, while Jules Gounon has a new team-mate in Jim Pla.

The Brands fixture maintains its traditional short-and-sharp two-day format. Qualifying takes place on Saturday afternoon, with both races on Sunday.