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Inaugural California 8 Hours attracts 22-car entry

The entry for the inaugural Intercontinental GT Challenge fixture at Laguna Seca later this month has surpassed the organiser's 20-car target. 

#451 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche GT3R: Andy Wilzoch, Darren Law

#451 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche GT3R: Andy Wilzoch, Darren Law

Melissa Sinclair

A total of 22 cars are entered for the California 8 Hours on October 15, which joins the Bathurst, Spa and Sepang GT3 enduros on the IGTC schedule this year. 

Pirelli World Challenge boss Greg Gill, whose organisation is putting on the event as part of a double-header with the PWC, told Motorsport.com: "We thought 18 to 20 would be a good point to start at. 

"We're surprised and pleased at the entries we are getting, particularly the mix between North American and Europe teams."

The entry list includes a pair of Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3s run by the factory RJN Academy team, which has yet to confirm drivers for the cars. 

Nissan has joined Audi, Acura, Porsche and McLaren with works-supported teams on the entry. 

Audi will be represented by two factory-supported teams, with Nurburgring 24 Hours-winning squad Land Motorsport and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship regular Magnus Racing each fielding an R8 LMS apiece.

Both will be driven by a roster of factory drivers: Connor De Phillippi, Christopher Mies and Christopher Haase will drive the Land entry, while Markus Winkelhock, Pierre Kaffer and Kelvin van der Linde pilot the Magnus entry. 

A seventh Audi factory driver in Robin Frijns will line up in a WRT-run R8 with fellow team regulars Jake Dennis and Stuart Leonard. 

Acura is fielding a two-car team of NSX GT3s for the race with its PWC partner RealTime Racing. 

Dane Cameron, who has signed to drive Penske's new Acura DPi in next year's IMSA series, will drive one car together with Ryan Eversley and Tom Dyer.

Peter Kox and Mark Wilkins will be joined in the second car by Jules Gounon, winner of the Spa 24 Hours in July with Audi. 

The K-PAX McLaren team has confirmed a 650S GT3 for Alvaro Parente, Ben Barnicoat and Bryan Sellers. 

Porsche, which announced its commitment to the full Intercontinental GT Challenge in July, is represented by three teams in Black Swan Racing, Wright Motorsports and Calvert Dynamic/GMG.

Wright's 911 GT3-R will be driven by factory drivers Romain Dumas, Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long, while Wolf Henzler is on the roster in GMG's three-car line-up.

The entry for the California 8 Hours includes seven GT4 cars and two invitational entries. 

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