Winward Racing has revealed its line-up for the 2024 season, which includes a full-season Pro car driven by a trio of Mercedes-AMG factory drivers.
Competing as Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD, Maro Engel and Lucas Auer will share the #48 machine at all 10 events, with Canadian ace Daniel Morad joining them for the Endurance races. The sister #57 will contest the Endurance Cup in the Silver class with Colin Caresani, Daan Arrow and Tanart Sathienthirakul.
Engel is among the most respected drivers on the Fanatec GT Europe grid. The German has a long history with Mercedes-AMG and has earned considerable success, including the 2018 Endurance title. Notably, he will return to the Sprint field for the first time since 2021.
Auer also has a long history in Fantec GT Europe since making his debut in 2019, including a season with Winward in 2022, and has been race winner in the DTM and ADAC GT Masters. Morad recently contributed to Winward's GTD class victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona, though to date he has just one Fanatec GT Europe start to his name, driving for Al Manar Racing by HRT at the 2022 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
"Nobody in our team needs to complain about too much boredom or too little challenge this season," said team boss Christian Hohenadel, whose squad is also competing in the DTM. "The diversity in the GT World Challenge with racing cars from nine different brands is greater than ever.
"The fact that Mercedes-AMG is the defending champion and that we are fielding an absolute top pairing in Maro and Luggi (Auer) also means that we have a major goal: we want to be in contention for the championship. It's clear that everything has to go right in this top-class field. But we are happy to take on the challenge and are looking forward to it!"
In the Silver car, Dutch racers Caresani and Arrow will both make their series debuts this term. Sathienthirakul, meanwhile, will contest his second Endurance campaign having raced a Porsche for Dinamic GT last season.
"The guys are still quite unknown, but they bring a lot of talent with them. I am convinced that we can play a good role in the battle for the Silver Cup with this car," added Hohenadel.
Winward Racing is currently at Circuit Paul Ricard for the official Fanatec GT Europe Prologue, which runs on Tuesday and Wednesday (5/6 March). The 2024 Endurance Cup campaign opens with a three-hour contest at the same venue on 5–7 April.