The full grid for this year's FIA Motorsport Games GT Cup was revealed on Wednesday, with 22 team-and-driver line-ups confirmed for the international event in Rome (1-3 November). Among them, 18 have a connection to the 2019 Blancpain GT Series.
Team Russia will field Rinat Salikhov and Denis Bulatov, who are set to campaign a Ferrari 488 GT3 run by brand loyalist Rinaldi Racing. This same crew – with the addition of South African ace David Perel – spent the 2019 season competing in the Endurance Cup, securing a podium finish at the Barcelona finale.
Team France will rely on the firmly established duo of Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Jim Pla, who will drive a Mercedes-AMG GT3 prepared by the accomplished AKKA ASP outfit. The crew competed in Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe and also tackled the Endurance Cup alongside Mauro Ricci this term.
AF Corse will be the busiest GT squad at the FIA Motorsport Games as it takes responsibility for no fewer than four Ferrari 488 GT3s. Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom will all rely on the squad, with the latter fielding Endurance Cup regular Chris Froggatt alongside 2018 British GT champion Flick Haigh. In the case of Team Belarus, AF Corse will provide technical support for AT Racing to run father-son duo Alexander Talkanitsa Sr. and Alexander Talkanitsa Jr.
Blancpain GT Series stalwart Attempto Racing will look after a brace of Audi R8 LMS entries at the FIA Motorsport Games. Team Belgium's car will feature multiple Pro-Am champion Louis Machiels, while fellow Blancpain GT Series regular Miguel Ramos will drive for Team Portugal.
Herberth Motorsport has been a frequent presence in Blancpain GT Series paddocks during recent seasons and contested this year's Total 24 Hours of Spa. A Porsche specialist, the team will field 911 GT3 R entries for Australia and Germany at the FIA Motorsport Games, with the German effort featuring Edward-Lewis Brauner and Alfred Renauer. Both drivers have made Blancpain GT Series outings in recent seasons, with Renauer driving for Herberth at Spa earlier this year.
Following a glittering 2019 season Orange1 FFF Racing will travel to the FIA Motorsport Games to field a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for Team Japan. Hiroshi Hamaguchi, who secured the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe Pro-Am title for the team, will anchor the driver line-up. British outfit TF Sport also enjoyed a successful 2019, taking Pro-Am honours at the Total 24 Hours of Spa and in the Endurance Cup. Salih Yoluç was among its drivers for this effort and will be back at the wheel of the team's Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for the FIA Motorsport Games.
Am Cup frontrunner Raton Racing will field regular driver Christoph Lenz in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3, while Lazarus Racing will operate the same machine for Team Spain. Fernando Navarrete, who drove for the Lazarus squad at this year's Total 24 Hours of Spa, will lead the Spanish line-up.
Dinamic Motorsport took overall victory in the Endurance Cup opener at Monza and will hope for more success on Italian soil when it fields Team Thailand's effort. One of the Dinamic drivers for that rain-hit triumph was Zaid Ashkanani, who will lead Kuwait's assault in a car run by British GT effort Optimum Motorsport.
There is further involvement for Team Denmark, which features recently crowned Blancpain GT Sports Club champion Jens Reno Møller alongside Christina Nielsen, who contested this year's Total 24 Hours of Spa as part of her Intercontinental GT Challenge programme. Finally, Team Poland will field Endurance Cup regular Andrzej Lewandowski in its Lamborghini Hurcan GT3.
A further four squads will be present at the FIA Motorsport Games: China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Among those, Team China will be run by Phantom Pro Racing, which has experience in Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia; Hong Kong's line-up features Paul Ip, whose KCMG outfit competed at this year's Total 24 Hours of Spa; and Malaysia's crew of Adrian Henry D'Silva and Weiron Tan have this season appeared in the Intercontinental GT Challenge and Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia respectively.
The GT Cup will be one of six disciplines featured at the FIA Motorsport Games, joining the Touring Car Cup, Formula 4 Cup, Drifting Cup, Karting Slalom Cup and Digital Cup at the 1-3 November event. Rome will act as the host city, while the nearby Vallelunga Circuit will stage on-track activities.
More information can be found on the event's official website, as well as its Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.