The 2021 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS season stretched over 177 days from its opening session through to the final chequered flag, visiting 10 circuits in seven countries for countless kilometres of racing.
In fact, they're not countless: the total distance covered this year amounted to 7,823 kilometres, ranging from one-hour sprints to the epic TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa. Indeed, now that the engines have fallen silent there is a chance to reflect on the finer detail of the year that has just passed. These are some of the key stats to emerge from the 2021 season.
2 - Two drivers earned their second overall Endurance Cup titles this year as part of the #51 Iron Lynx Ferrari crew. Alessandro Pier Guidi is the first to earn the top-tier championship in successive years, while Côme Ledogar added to the crown he took with the Garage 59 McLaren squad in 2016.
3 - It had been six years since the same crew won three successive Sprint Cup races; this year, it happened twice! The #32 Team WRT Audi swept the weekend at Misano before taking the opening race at Brands Hatch, while the #6 Toksport WRT Mercedes-AMG secured race 2 victory at the British track and then bagged both wins at Valencia.
5 - Emil Frey Racing dominated the Silver Cup this term, taking a clean sweep of teams' and drivers' championships with its #14 Lamborghini. The Swiss squad achieved a total of five class wins, as well as an overall triumph in the Sprint Cup outing at Zandvoort.
6 – Sky Tempesta Racing ran six drivers on route to capturing this year’s Endurance Cup Pro-Am title. Chris Froggatt was ever-present in the #93 Ferrari, while Jonathan Hui contested four events and Eddie Cheever III tackled three. Rino Mastronardi was on board for two, with Stefan Görig and Matteo Cressoni each making one appearance.
7 – Back-to-back champions Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts became the most successful driver pairing in Sprint Cup history this season. The Team WRT Audi duo have secured seven wins together since first triumphing at Misano in 2019. The previous best was Laurens Vanthoor, who had taken five wins alongside both Robin Frijns and Cesar Ramos.
10 - The average starting position for this year's Endurance Cup drivers' champions was 10th. The #51 Iron Lynx Ferrari of Pier Guidi/Ledogar/Nielsen did not have stellar one-lap pace but was usually fast and always consistent during the main event.
11 - 2021 represented the 11th season of competition for the Endurance Cup. The championship has now contested a total of 55 races, adding up to 426 hours of competition.
12 - AKKA ASP, GPX Racing and Orange1 FFF Racing all secured their second overall victories in the Endurance Cup this season. This brings the number of teams that have won multiple races to 12.
14 - For the second season in succession, Garage 59 recorded the best overall finish for a Pro-Am entrant in the Endurance Cup. The #188 Aston Martin was 14th at Monza, taking class victory in the process.
15 - Though it did not clinch a title, Mercedes-AMG took more race wins than any other brand this season. Across all classes, its cars were victorious on 15 occasions, narrowly beating Lamborghini (14). Four other marques earned race wins this term: Audi (7), Ferrari (5), Porsche (3) and Aston Martin (1).
19 – The youngest line-up at this year's TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa came from Team WRT. The #30 Audi of Goethe/Pull/Colapinto had an average age of just 19, while the latter made his GT racing debut at the season's marquee event.
30 - The Sprint Cup attracted a particularly strong grid this season. It peaked at Misano with 30 cars, the biggest entry list since closing round of the 2017 campaign. In total, 32 cars participated across the season, with 24 contesting every event.
36 - With 36 drivers, Germany was the best-represented nation on the grid at this year's TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa. Italy was next with 26, while the contingents from France (22), the United Kingdom (22), Switzerland (15) and Denmark (10) were also strong. There were 11 drivers flying the flag for their nation alone, including representatives for Estonia, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe.
42.5 – Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts secured the Sprint Cup title with a round to spare thanks to an advantage of 42.5 over their nearest challengers. The final margin was considerably smaller, however, with Maro Engel and Luca Stolz sweeping the Valencia weekend and finishing just 8.5 points shy of their rivals.
44 - By the conclusion of the 2021 Sprint Cup season Audi had amassed a total of 44 overall wins in the series. This is more than the combined total of its nearest challengers, Mercedes-AMG (25) and Lamborghini (16). Team WRT has accounted for the vast majority of Audi's triumphs, winning 40 times in 100 Sprint Cup races.
45 - Louis Machiels became the most experienced driver in Endurance Cup history this season. The finale at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya represented the Belgian's 45th participation, all of which have come in Ferrari machinery. Audi Sport stalwart Christopher Haase moved to second on the list by notching up his 44th participation at the season-closing event.
47 – The average number of cars taking the start in the Endurance Cup races this season was 47, while the biggest grid (58) came at the TotalEnergies of Spa.
50 - Miguel Ramos enjoyed a superb season at the wheel of the #77 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini, clinching the Sprint Cup and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Pro-Am titles alongside Henrique Chaves. Coincidentally, the experienced Portuguese racer secured the Sprint crown at Valencia on his 50th birthday.
100 - The final outing of the 2021 season saw the Sprint Cup stage its 100th race. The first was run at Nogaro on 1 April 2013 under the FIA GT Series banner.
368 - A grand total of 368 laps were run during the Sprint Cup season. Just one car managed to complete them all: the #14 Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini, which secured the Silver Cup title and bagged an overall win at Zandvoort.
999 - The total number of laps completed across the Endurance season was 999, more than half of which came at the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa. The Belgian endurance classic ran for 556 laps this year, racking up its greatest distance since 2013.
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