The Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS season has officially launched following the successful completion of its 2024 Prologue at Circuit Paul Ricard.
The French venue welcomed 53 cars representing nine brands for two days of testing in perfect spring sunshine. The cool, dry conditions allowed teams to conduct significant running, with several cars managing to complete more than 1,000 kilometres.
Series newcomer 2 Seas Motorsport emerged as the quickest squad with its #60 Mercedes-AMG, which posted a 1m52.800s on Wednesday morning to edge the #998 ROWE Racing BMW by just 0.030s. The #8 Kessel Racing Ferrari was the busiest, completing an impressive total of 263 laps across the two days.
The Prologue also featured Fanatec GT Europe debuts for the new Ford Mustang GT3 and Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO, as well as familiar machinery from Audi, Lamborghini, McLaren and Porsche. Each of the nine brands that participated this week will run the full 2024 campaign in both Sprint and Endurance.
With the Prologue complete attention now turns to the season-opening race. This will bring the paddock back to Circuit Paul Ricard for a three-hour Endurance Cup contest on 5–7 April. Tickets for this and several other events – including the centenary CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa – are on sale now.