Mercedes-AMG has reaffirmed its commitment to Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS and named a strengthened driver roster for the 2021 season.
The German marque enjoyed an excellent 2020 campaign, with Timur Boguslavskiy clinching the overall drivers' title for leading customer squad AKKA ASP and new addition Madpanda Motorsport taking the Silver Cup crown.
Its line-up for the coming year includes a number of long-term stars such as Raffaele Marciello, Maro Engel and Luca Stolz, all of whom have won GT World Challenge Europe titles in Mercedes-AMG equipment during the past three seasons. Maximilian Buhk, Maximilian Götz and Thomas Jäger also remain with the brand for 2021.
Its crew will grow even stronger with the addition of Total 24 Hours of Spa winner Jules Gounon, who joins the Mercedes-AMG ranks following three seasons as a Bentley factory driver. Gounon previously raced an AMG GT3 in 2017 as part of the AKKA ASP squad.
Dani Juncadella will also return to the Mercedes-AMG stable this year. The experienced Spanish ace last raced with the brand in 2018 before joining Aston Martin squad R-Motorsport. Like Gounon he has past ties to AKKA ASP, helping to secure the team's first overall Endurance Cup win in 2017.
“This year, we can rely on an excellent driver line-up again," said Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing. "I am convinced that, like this, we are supporting our teams in the best possible way for their worldwide racing activities and can be in a position to win at any time."
The alignment of drivers at Mercedes-AMG's costumer squads should become clear during the official test days at Circuit Paul Ricard (11/12 March). The new season will launch with an Endurance Cup race at Monza on 16-18 April, followed by the Sprint Cup opener at Brands Hatch (1-2 May).