Porsche remains on course to secure this season’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS Manufacturer Ranking title, though it faces a final onslaught from Mercedes-AMG as the global schedule reaches its conclusion.
Indeed, both Fanatec GT Asia and Fanatec GT America have completed their 2024 campaigns, leaving just three events – one for Fanatec GT Europe and two for Fanatec GT Australia – to round out the season. The recent stretch of races began on September 7/8, when Fanatec GT America made its annual visit to Barber Motorsports Park.
Initially created as a site for George W. Barber to house and run his collection of historic motorcycles, the 3.8km venue in Birmingham, Alabama has since grown into one of America’s most revered road courses. On this occasion it proved a happy hunting ground for BMW, which emerged as the event’s top scorer thanks to podiums for Turner Motorsport, ST Racing and Random Vandals.
While this bolstered BMW’s chances of snatching third in the standings, it was status quo at the top as Mercedes-AMG and Porsche each scored 370 points. The former picked up a Pro-Am win courtesy of Regulator Racing, while the latter benefited from the consistency of Wright Motorsports.
One week later, the curtain fell on the Fanatec GT Asia season with a trip to the Shanghai International Circuit. Located in the Jiading District of China’s largest city, the 5.5km track was making its first appearance on the Asian calendar since 2019.
After a stalemate in the States, this was very much a Porsche weekend. Origine Motorsport swept to a pair of Silver-Am victories, ensuring that Leo Ye Hongli and Yuan Bo earned their class title as well as the overall crown. And Absolute Racing added another title to Porsche’s haul by taking Pro-Am after securing opening race honours. All told, the resulting swing in Porsche’s favour was more than 400 points.
Though it lost ground in the points race, this was nevertheless a successful weekend for Mercedes-AMG. Its star performer was Climax Racing, which earned a Pro-Am victory and swept the Am class. The Silver spoils were shared between Ferrari (Harmony Racing) and Audi (FAW), the latter narrowly earning its class title in the process.
The following weekend (21/22 September) saw Fanatec GT Europe in action at Monza for the fourth Endurance Cup round of the season. A pre-event rule adjustment required every car to make an extra pit stop, significantly opening up the strategic possibilities – and laying the ground for perhaps the most enthralling race the series has ever seen.
The chief beneficiary was BMW. Team WRT hatched an audacious plan and carried it out to perfection, culminating in its Bronze Cup entry leading home a remarkable one-two finish. Indeed, this was the first time in Endurance Cup history that a car from outside the Pro class had secured the outright win.
What’s more, it ensured maximum points for the Bavarian brand in both Pro and the Bronze Cup, the two biggest classes competing at Monza. It was also a solid weekend for Mercedes-AMG as it won in Gold with HRT and Silver with Winward Racing – the latter squad sewing up its class title with a round to spare – helping it to take almost 200 points from Porsche’s lead.
Monza is the oldest purpose-built motor racing circuit in mainland Europe, its history stretching back to 1922. There are just a handful of venues that have been in use for longer – and Fanatec GT America visited one of them when it concluded its season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Brickyard traces its lineage back to 1909 when a tract of Indiana farmland was transformed into a proving ground for the nascent automobile industry. Now among the world’s preeminent racing venues, it played host to the deciding rounds of Fanatec GT America and the Intercontinental GT Challenge on 4/5 October.
Once again, Porsche bagged the biggest points haul. Wright Motorsports were the Fanatec GT America Pro class winners, a result that saw Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson capture the 2024 title, while Herberth Motorsport won in Pro-Am. This helped Porsche to stretch its advantage over Mercedes-AMG by a further 300 points. BMW also maintained its strong U.S. form as Team WRT made it back-to-back Indy wins, while Turner Motorsport claimed the Pro-Am title by finishing second in class.
Most recently, on 12/13 October, Fanatec GT Europe staged its penultimate event – and the final Sprint Cup round of the season – at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. On a weekend of sharply contrasting weather conditions, the overall wins were split between the two Manufacturer Ranking contenders, with Boutsen VDS taking victory in a rain-soaked opening contest while Rutronik Racing dominated under clear blue skies in the second run.
Audi once again dominated the Gold Cup, CSA Racing and Tresor Attempto Racing sharing the spoils, while Mercedes-AMG made important gains thanks to a Silver Cup sweep from Boutsen VDS and Bronze Cup honours were shared between McLaren (Garage 59) and Porsche (Rutronik Racing). Ultimately, there was almost no movement at the top of the standings, with Mercedes-AMG edging Porsche by just seven points.
As such, the Stuttgart marque holds an advantage of 834 points with just three events left to run. Nevertheless, it is still too early to call this a foregone conclusion: Fanatec GT Australia has tended to favour Mercedes-AMG, so it would be no surprise to see the points situation change significantly over the next two events. Audi Sport currently leads a titanic scrap for third in the standings, sitting just 78 points clear of BMW and 137 ahead of Ferrari. Lamborghini, Aston Martin, McLaren and Ford complete the Manufacturer Ranking table with three rounds to go.
The final run-in kicks off this weekend (19/20 October) when Fanatec GT Australia stages a three-hour race into the night at Sydney Motorsport Park. Three weeks later, the series will conclude with a final Sprint meeting at Bathurst (9/10 November). That just leaves the grand finale: a six-hour Fanatec GT Europe contest at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, which will decide the outcome of this year’s battle for global supremacy.