Record nine manufacturers to contest Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS in 2024

A record nine manufacturers will compete for global supremacy in what promises to be the biggest season yet for Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS.

The 2024 calendar comprises 52 races across 30 events – also a record – with more than 100 hours of competitive action set to take place between the opening round at Bathurst (18 February) and the finale at Jeddah (23 November).

The circuits on this season’s schedule include world-famous venues such as Suzuka, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Spa-Francorchamps. As ever the latter will host the marquee CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, which will celebrate its centenary edition on 26-30 June.

Mercedes-AMG is the brand to beat in 2024 as it goes in pursuit of a sixth successive global crown. The Affalterbach marque will once again face off against its key domestic rivals as BMW, Porsche and Audi bring their race-winning machinery to the fight. Ferrari and Lamborghini represent the Italian supercar sector, while McLaren also continues its bid for supremacy.

The British contingent doubles this year as Aston Martin joins the fray for the first time with its next-gen Vantage AMR GT3. The entry features another big-name addition as Ford becomes the first American marque to enter Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS, bringing its hotly anticipated new Mustang GT3 to the global stage.

The format remains unchanged with each brand represented by their customer teams competing in the continental Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS series in Europe, Asia, America and Australia. Points are awarded in all classes, with the allocation depending on race length and the number of competing cars.

Also unchanged is the exceptional standard of coverage on offer. Fans need not miss a moment of the action, with all 106 hours of racing – as well as a wide range of practice and qualifying sessions – streamed free of charge across the globe on the GT World YouTube channel.

The GT4 manufacturers’ ranking announced during last year’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa also continues to take shape ahead of its upcoming launch. Entrants are set to be confirmed before the season opens at the end of March, when both the FFSA French GT Championship and British GT Championship get underway at Nogaro and Oulton Park respectively.

HOW ARE GLOBAL POINTS SCORED?

SRO Motorsports Group must account for varying degrees of manufacturer participation across each continent when calculating global Fanatec GT World Challenge points.

As such, points are awarded based on the position of each manufacturer’s leading car per category (Overall, Pro-Am, Am etc) in every race.

Points for Sprint races of up to 90 minutes are based on the standard allocation (25 – 18 – 15 – 12 – 10 – 8 – 6 – 4 – 2 – 1). This allocation doubles for races lasting between three and 12 hours and is multiplied by four after the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

The points scored per brand are then multiplied by the number of cars competing in that category. Therefore, a win in a category with five cars competing is worth less than one where 20 cars are entered.

No cars are removed from the classification – if the top six cars are from a single brand, the next brand will score points for seventh. These points are added across the categories and races to give the manufacturers’ global score.