Madpanda Motorsport has announced plans to contest the full Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS season in 2023 with its familiar #90 Mercedes-AMG.
Established by experienced GT driver Ezequiel Perez Companc ahead of the 2020 campaign, the team has earned a reputation as one of the series' fan-favourites. Known for its unique livery and for naming its cars, the squad's latest challenger has been dubbed Sakura, which takes over from 2022 representative Malena.
Success came quickly, with Madpanda winning the overall Silver Cup teams' and drivers' titles in 2020 and securing a masterful class triumph at the 2021 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. It scaled back to an Endurance-only programme in 2022, but returned for the Sprint finale at Valencia and secured a comeback win.
This has laid the foundations for a full-season return in 2023. Drivers are yet to be announced, though another Silver Cup programme has been confirmed. In a further development, the Barcelona-based squad has agreed a new partnership with crack German operation HWA, which will see a HWA Performance Engineer join up with the Madpanda crew at each event.
"Coming back to Sprint for 2023 is something we are really looking forward to as a team," said Perez Companc. "We have proven in the past years that our crew is one of the best at pit stops, and they are training hard to keep the fight tight with the top teams again this year.
"I am also proud to say that we have reached a deal with HWA for this year, which is a big step for the team. We have clear and ambitious goals for this season. We are looking forward to meeting again our fans on track, and having their support throughout the season!"
Sakura will be on-track for the official pre-season test days at Circuit Paul Ricard on 7-8 March. The Endurance Cup campaign launches at Monza on 21-23 April, while the Sprint season gets under way at Brands Hatch on 13-14 May. The CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa is scheduled for 29 June – 2 July, preceded by two days of official testing on 23-24 May.