2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge

The 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge was the third season of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. The season featured four rounds, starting with the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour on 4 February and concluding with the California 8 Hours on 28 October. Markus Winkelhock was the defending Drivers' champion and Audi was the defending Manufacturers' champion.

The series reverted to rules of the inaugural season, where each manufacturer was permitted to nominate up to four cars in each event. In 2017 all cars and drivers scored points towards the championship.^[1]

At the annual press conference during the 2017 24 Hours of Spa on 28 July, the Stéphane Ratel Organisation announced the 2018 calendar. Suzuka was added to the schedule, replacing the Sepang 12 Hours, which was cancelled the season before.^[2] On 25 November 2017, it was announced the race at Laguna Seca was moved a week.^[3]

Round	Race	Circuit	Date	Report
1	Bathurst 12 Hour	Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, Australia	4 February	Report
2	24 Hours of Spa	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium	28–29 July	Report
3	Suzuka 10 Hours	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan	26 August	Report
4	California 8 Hours	WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, United States	28 October	Report

Manufacturer Team Car No. Drivers Class Rounds Audi Audi Sport Team WRT[N 1] Belgian Audi Club Team WRT[N 1] R8 LMS 1 Christopher Mies P 2 Alex Riberas Dries Vanthoor 2 Robin Frijns P 2 Nico Müller René Rast 17 Stuart Leonard P 2–4 Marcel Fässler 2 Daniel Serra Sheldon van der Linde 3–4 Jake Dennis 3 Alex Riberas 4 19 Robin Frijns P 4 Dries Vanthoor Markus Winkelhock 37 Robin Frijns P 1 Stuart Leonard Dries Vanthoor 39 Paul Dalla Lana PA 1 Will Davison Pedro Lamy Mathias Lauda 66 Christopher Mies P 3 Dries Vanthoor Frédéric Vervisch Audi Sport Team Absolute Racing 6 Christopher Haase P 3 Kelvin van der Linde Markus Winkelhock Audi Sport Team Hitotsuyama 21 Richard Lyons P 3 Alessio Picariello Ryuichiro Tomita Audi Sport Team MPC 22 Kelvin van der Linde P 1 Garth Tander Frédéric Vervisch 74 Christopher Haase P 1 Christopher Mies Markus Winkelhock Audi Sport Team Saintéloc 25 Christopher Haase P 2 Frédéric Vervisch Markus Winkelhock Audi Sport Team Land 29 Christopher Haase P 4 Kelvin van der Linde Christopher Mies Bentley Bentley Team M-Sport Continental GT3 (2018) (0)7 Jules Gounon P 2–4 Steven Kane Jordan Pepper (0)8 Vincent Abril P 2–4 Andy Soucek Maxime Soulet Continental GT3 (2016) 17 Jules Gounon P 1 Steven Kane Guy Smith 18 Vincent Abril P 1 Andy Soucek Maxime Soulet K-PAX Racing 9 Rodrigo Baptista P 4 Álvaro Parente Bryan Sellers Team Parker Racing 31 Andy Meyrick PA 2 Seb Morris Derek Pierce Rob Smith McLaren YNA Autosport 650S GT3 47 Scott McLaughlin PA 1 Fraser Ross Andrew Watson Alexander West 58 Shane van Gisbergen P 1 Côme Ledogar Craig Lowndes Garage 59 58 Ben Barnicoat P 2–3 Côme Ledogar Olivier Pla 2 Andrew Watson 3 188 Chris Goodwin Am 2 Chris Harris Andrew Watson Alexander West Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG Team Good Smile AMG GT3 00 Tatsuya Kataoka P 3 Kamui Kobayashi Nobuteru Taniguchi Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon 4 Yelmer Buurman P 2 Maro Engel Luca Stolz Scott Taylor Motorsport[N 2] Mercedes-AMG Team SunEnergy1 Racing[N 2] 8 Craig Baird PA 1 Tony D'Alberto Max Twigg 75 Kenny Habul P 1 Raffaele Marciello Tristan Vautier Jamie Whincup Strakka Racing[N 3] Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing[N 3] 42 David Fumanelli PA 2–4 Nick Leventis Chris Buncombe 2 Lewis Williamson Felipe Fraga 3–4 43 Maximilian Götz P 2–4 Álvaro Parente 2–3 Maximilian Buhk 2 Lewis Williamson 3–4 Raffaele Marciello 4 44 Adrien Tambay P 3–4 Maximilian Buhk 3 Oliver Rowland Jack Hawksworth 4 Christian Vietoris 55 David Fumanelli PA 1 Nick Leventis Cameron Waters Lewis Williamson 56 Maximilian Buhk P 1 Maximilian Götz Álvaro Parente SunEnergy1 Racing 75 Mikaël Grenier PA 3 Kenny Habul Luca Stolz Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER[N 4] SunEnergy1 Team HTP Motorsport[N 4] 84 Edoardo Mortara P 2 Gary Paffett Renger van der Zande 175 Kenny Habul PA 2 Thomas Jäger Martin Konrad Bernd Schneider SunEnergy1 Racing[N 5] Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP[N 5] Mercedes-AMG Team SunEnergy1 Racing[N 5] 75 Mikaël Grenier PA 4 Kenny Habul Luca Stolz 88 Daniel Juncadella P 2 Raffaele Marciello Tristan Vautier 175 Maximilian Buhk P 4 Maro Engel Tristan Vautier Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing 888 Maro Engel P 3 Raffaele Marciello Tristan Vautier Porsche D'station Racing 911 GT3 R 7 Earl Bamber P 3 Tomonobu Fujii Sven Müller Competition Motorsports 12 David Calvert-Jones PA 1 Matt Campbell Alex Davison Patrick Long KÜS Team75 Bernhard 117 Earl Bamber P 2 Timo Bernhard Laurens Vanthoor Black Swan Racing 54(0) Jeroen Bleekemolen PA 1–3 Tim Pappas Marc Lieb 1–2 Luca Stolz 1 Marc Miller 2–3 Jeroen Bleekemolen P 4 Patrick Long Tim Pappas Manthey Racing 911 Romain Dumas P 1–3 Frédéric Makowiecki Dirk Werner Wright Motorsports 911 Romain Dumas P 4 Frédéric Makowiecki Dirk Werner Craft-Bamboo Racing 991 Kévin Estre P 1, 3 Laurens Vanthoor Earl Bamber 1 Mathieu Jaminet 3 Herberth Motorsport 991 Edward Lewis Brauner Am 2 Jürgen Häring Alfred Renauer Wolfgang Triller Sources:[4][5][6][7]

Icon Class P Pro Cup PA Pro-Am Cup Am Am Cup

Rnd.	Circuit	Pole position	IGTC Winners	Bronze Winners	Winning Manufacturer
1	Bathurst	No. 22 Audi Sport Team MPC[N 6]	No. 37 Audi Sport Team WRT	No. 75 Mercedes-AMG Team SunEnergy1 Racing	Audi
		Kelvin van der Linde Garth Tander Frédéric Vervisch	Robin Frijns Stuart Leonard Dries Vanthoor	Kenny Habul
2	Spa-Francorchamps	No. 2 Audi Sport Team WRT[N 7]	No. 25 Audi Sport Team Saintéloc[N 8]	No. 42 Strakka Racing	Audi
		Robin Frijns Nico Müller René Rast	Christopher Haase Frédéric Vervisch Markus Winkelhock	Nick Leventis
3	Suzuka	No. 888 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing[N 9]	No. 888 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing	No. 75 SunEnergy 1 Racing	Mercedes-AMG
		Maro Engel Raffaele Marciello Tristan Vautier	Maro Engel Raffaele Marciello Tristan Vautier	Kenny Habul
4	Laguna Seca	No. 29 Audi Sport Team Land	No. 29 Audi Sport Team Land	No. 63 DXDT Racing	Audi
		Christopher Haase Kelvin van der Linde Christopher Mies	Christopher Haase Kelvin van der Linde Christopher Mies	David Askew

NOTE: California 8 Hours results announced 27 July 2019 following review when the original winner, the No. 42 Strakka Racing team, was disqualified when a driver was disqualified for doping violations.

Scoring system

Championship points were awarded for the first ten positions in each race. Entries were required to complete 75% of the winning car's race distance in order to be classified and earn points, with the exception of Bathurst where a car simply had to cross the finish line to be classified. Individual drivers were required to participate for a minimum of 25 minutes in order to earn championship points in any race. A manufacturer only received points for its two highest placed cars in each round.

The results indicate the classification relative to other drivers in the series, not the classification in the race.

Pos. Driver Manufacturer BAT SPA SUZ LGA Points 1 Tristan Vautier Mercedes-AMG 2 3 1 3 73 2 Christopher Haase Audi Ret 1 3 1 65 3 Raffaele Marciello Mercedes-AMG 2 3 1 7 64 4 Markus Winkelhock Audi Ret 1 3 2 58 4 Maro Engel Mercedes-AMG 2 1 3 58 5 Dries Vanthoor Audi 1 13 4 2 55 5 Robin Frijns Audi 1 4 2 55 6 Kelvin van der Linde Audi 12 3 1 40 7 Frédéric Vervisch Audi 12 1 4 37 7 Christopher Mies Audi Ret 13 4 1 37 7 Stuart Leonard Audi 1 Ret 9 5 37 8 Maximilian Götz Mercedes-AMG 13 5 2 7 34 9 Maximilian Buhk Mercedes-AMG 13 5 7 3 31 10 Lewis Williamson Mercedes-AMG 7 72 2 7 30 11 Álvaro Parente Mercedes-AMG 13 5 2 28 Bentley 113 12 Romain Dumas Frédéric Makowiecki Dirk Werner Porsche 6 11 12 4 22 13 Kenny Habul Mercedes-AMG 2 82 102 12 18 13 Luca Stolz Porsche 31 18 Mercedes-AMG 2 102 11 13 Jamie Whincup Mercedes-AMG 2 18 13 Yelmer Buurman Mercedes-AMG 2 18 14 Jeroen Bleekemolen Tim Pappas Porsche 3 14 13 8 19 15 Vincent Abril Andy Soucek Maxime Soulet Bentley Ret Ret 6 6 16 16 Marc Lieb Porsche 3 14 15 16 Daniel Juncadella Mercedes-AMG 3 15 17 Patrick Long Porsche 4 9 15 18 David Calvert-Jones Matt Campbell Alex Davison Porsche 4 12 18 Nico Müller René Rast Audi 4 12 18 Sheldon van der Linde Audi 9 5 12 19 Laurens Vanthoor Porsche 5 Ret 10 12 19 Kévin Estre Porsche 5 11 11 20 Alex Riberas Audi 13 5 10 20 Earl Bamber Porsche 5 Ret Ret 10 20 Tatsuya Kataoka Kamui Kobayashi Nobuteru Taniguchi Mercedes-AMG 5 10 20 Adrien Tambay Mercedes-AMG 7 8 12 21 Edoardo Mortara Gary Paffett Renger van der Zande Mercedes-AMG 6 8 22 Côme Ledogar McLaren Ret 9 Ret 6 22 Ben Barnicoat McLaren 9 Ret 6 22 David Fumanelli Nick Leventis Mercedes-AMG 7 72 Ret2 DSQ 6 22 Cameron Waters Mercedes-AMG 7 6 22 Olivier Pla McLaren 9 6 22 Oliver Rowland Mercedes-AMG 7 6 23 Jules Gounon Steven Kane Bentley 11 10 14 11 4 23 Jordan Pepper Bentley 10 14 11 4 23 Andrew Watson McLaren 8 15 Ret 4 23 Alexander West McLaren 8 15 4 23 Scott McLaughlin Fraser Ross McLaren 8 4 23 Richard Lyons Alessio Picariello Ryuichiro Tomita Audi 8 4 23 Jack Hawksworth Christian Vietoris Mercedes-AMG 8 6 24 Craig Baird Tony D'Alberto Max Twigg Mercedes-AMG 9 2 24 Jake Dennis Audi 9 2 25 Paul Dalla Lana Will Davison Pedro Lamy Mathias Lauda Audi 10 1 25 Edward Lewis Brauner Jürgen Häring Alfred Renauer Wolfgang Triller Porsche 12 1 25 Mathieu Jaminet Porsche 11 1 25 Rodrigo Baptista Bryan Sellers Bentley 11 1 Guy Smith Bentley 11 0 Marc Miller Porsche 14 13 0 Garth Tander Audi 12 0 Chris Goodwin Chris Harris McLaren 15 0 Shane van Gisbergen Craig Lowndes McLaren Ret Timo Bernhard Porsche Ret Andy Meyrick Seb Morris Derek Pierce Rob Smith Bentley Ret Marcel Fässler Daniel Serra Audi Ret Tomonobu Fujii Sven Müller Porsche Ret Drivers ineligible to score points Chris Buncombe Mercedes-AMG 7 Felipe Fraga Mercedes-AMG Ret 8 Thomas Jäger Martin Konrad Bernd Schneider Mercedes-AMG 8 Mikaël Grenier Mercedes-AMG 10 13 Pos. Driver Manufacturer BAT SPA SUZ LGA Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points classification Blue Non-points classification Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired, not classified (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Notes

• ¹ – Luca Stolz's result with Porsche did not count, because he scored more points with Mercedes-AMG.
• ² – Ineligible to score points.
• ³ – Álvaro Parente's result with Bentley did not count, because he scored more points with Mercedes-AMG.
• ⁴ - Results finalised on 27 July 2019 following review of California 8 Hours.

Pos. Driver Manufacturer BAT SPA SUZ LGA Points 1 Kenny Habul Mercedes-AMG 2 8 10 13 83 2 Tim Pappas Porsche 3 14 13 10 66 Pos. Driver Manufacturer BAT SPA SUZ LGA Points Manufacturers' championship Only the top two cars for a manufacturer are eligible for points. Pos. Manufacturer Car BAT SPA SUZ LGA Points 1 Audi R8 LMS 1 1 3 1 138 10 4 4 2 2 Mercedes-AMG AMG GT3 2 2 1 3 127 7 3 2 7 3 Porsche 911 GT3 R 3 11 11 4 69 4 12 12 10 4 Bentley Continental GT3 (2016) Continental GT3 (2018) 11 10 6 5 40 Ret Ret 14 11 5 McLaren 650S GT3 8 9 Ret 20 Ret 15 Pos. Manufacturer Car BAT SPA SUZ LGA Points See also Intercontinental GT Challenge Notes ^ a b Cars No. 1, 2, 19, 37, 39 and 66 entered as Audi Sport Team WRT. Car No. 17 entered as Belgian Audi Club Team WRT at Round 2 and as Audi Sport Team WRT at Rounds 3 and 4. ^ a b Car No. 8 entered as Scott Taylor Motorsport and car No. 75 entered as Mercedes-AMG Team SunEnergy1 Racing. ^ a b Car No. 42 entered as Strakka Racing and cars No. 43, 55 and 56 entered as Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing. Car No. 44 entered as Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing at Round 3 and as Strakka Racing at Round 4. ^ a b Car No. 84 entered as Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER and car No. 175 entered as SunEnergy1 Team HTP Motorsport. ^ a b c Car No. 75 entered as SunEnergy1 Racing, car No. 88 entered as Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP and car No. 175 entered as Mercedes-AMG Team SunEnergy1 Racing. ^ Chaz Mostert took Pole position in the No. 43 BMW Team Schnitzer car, but Kelvin van der Linde was the highest qualified Intercontinental GT Challenge driver. ^ Maxime Martin took Pole position in the No. 62 R-Motorsport car, but Nico Müller was the highest qualified Intercontinental GT Challenge driver. ^ Tom Blomqvist, Philipp Eng and Christian Krognes won the race in the No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport car, but Christopher Haase, Frédéric Vervisch and Markus Winkelhock were the highest classified Intercontinental GT Challenge drivers. ^ Nick Foster took Pole position in the No. 28 HubAuto Corsa car, but Raffaele Marciello was the highest qualified Intercontinental GT Challenge driver. References ^ Dagys, John (31 January 2018). "Five Manufacturers Set for IGTC Season; New Bronze Title". sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 2 February 2018. ^ Kilshaw, Jake (28 July 2017). "Suzuka 10H to Replace Sepang on IGTC Schedule". sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 2 February 2018. ^ Dagys, John (25 November 2017). "Date Change for California 8H". sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 2 February 2018. ^ "2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge - Provisional Entry List - Round 1 - Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour" (PDF). SRO Motorsports Group. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018. ^ "2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge - Round 2 - Total 24 Hours of Spa" (PDF). SRO Motorsports Group. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018. ^ "2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge - Round 3 - Suzuka 10 Hours" (PDF). SRO Motorsports Group. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018. ^ "33-car strong entry list for second edition of Laguna Seca Raceway California 8 Hours". SRO Motorsports Group. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2018. External links Official website