GENNEP (19 February, 2021) – Interest is heating up for the first European round of this year’s 24H SERIES powered by Hankook, with close to 40 entries already registered for the Hankook 12H MUGELLO. 

The Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello has been a staple of the 24H SERIES since 2014, having opened the European leg of CREVENTIC’s premier endurance racing program five times in the last seven years. While the Tuscan circuit hosted the season finale for the first time in the event’s history in 2020, the Hankook 12H MUGELLO returns to its traditional spot on the 24H SERIES calendar on 26-27 March, with multiple series champions and former race winners already signed up for the event. 

Inaugural 24H SERIES Continents champion, and reigning GT3-PRO Teams’ champion, Herberth Motorsport is set to enter its biggest line-up yet for an official CREVENTIC event with three Porsche 991 GT3 Rs registered for the GT division’s top class, and, for the first time ever, a Porsche 911-II Cup for the ‘991’ class. Fittingly, Herberth Motorsport, which took overall victory at last year’s Hankook 12H MUGELLO, is one of only two teams in the event’s history to have scored more than one outright win. 

Series stalwarts CP Racing and Car Collection Motorsport will join Herberth Motorsport in the battle for GT3 honours. The former – the series’ resident ‘American team’ – took its third class win on the bounce last year at Mugello en-route to the GT3-AM Teams’ title. Car Collection Motorsport meanwhile, a former outright winner of the Hankook 24H DUBAI, will compete with at least one, and conditionally two, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evos in Tuscany. 

Equipe Verschuur, a two-time GT pole sitter last year at Monza and Hockenheim, is set to make its 24H SERIES return with the Renault R.S. 01 GT3 in Mugello. Though the Dutch team has yet to capitalize on those front row starts in the GT3 category, Equipe Verschuur did collect a GT4 class podium at the COPPA FLORIO 12H Sicily on a one-off collaboration with Las Moras Racing Team. Italy’s MP Racing meanwhile, which finished an impressive 4th overall on its 24H SERIES debut last year in Monza, will return to competition – again on home turf – with its Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo at Mugello. 

This year’s Hankook 12H MUGELLO will also mark the maiden 24H SERIES appearance of two GT3 contenders. Ferrari customer team Kessel Racing will once again represent the Scuderia in Northern Italy with a Ferrari 488 GT3. Germany’s Rutronik Racing meanwhile, which won the driver and team championships in ADAC GT Masters in 2019, will begin its first full campaign in the 24H SERIES with an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo. 

Another team already confirmed for the full 24H SERIES season is ST Racing. The eponymous squad of Canadian Samantha Tan will contest its first full season of European endurance racing in 2021, and is already two-for-two having taken back-to-back GT4 and TG class wins earlier this year in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The ST Racing BMW M4 will be in action in the GT4 class once again in Mugello. 

Having made multiple starts at the Hankook 24H DUBAI over the years, Bergamo-based Lotus dealer PB Racing has registered a Lotus Exige V6 Cup R for its ‘home’ event in Tuscany, and will vie for GTX honours against the two-car entry of Vortex V8. 

After a one-year absence, Hofor Racing powered by Motorsport is set to make its first 24H SERIES start in Mugello since the 2019 Hankook 24H DUBAI. The former Overall TCE Teams’ champion will contest both the GT4 and TCX classes with a BMW M4 GT4 and a BMW M2 CS Racing respectively. 

Team Avia Sorg Rennsport is on course to complete the GT4 line-up at the Hankook 12H MUGELLO. The German squad took its second win of the 2020 season last year at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, a result that secured the Overall GT Teams’ title in the 24H SERIES Continents. Alongside its planned two-car BMW M4 assault on GT4, Sorg Rennsport is also poised to make its maiden start in the 991 class with two Porsche 991-II Cups. 

In what could potentially be a hotly-contested 991 class, series stalwart Bas Koeten Racing and former CUP1 class champion DUWO Racing plan to join the event with one Porsche 991-II Cup apiece. The duo made history by finishing 1-2 overall at last year’s inaugural Hankook 16H HOCKENHEIMRING, the first Porsche Cup competitors to ever do so in the 24H SERIES. Alongside reigning category champion Speed Lover, which continues its title defence in Mugello with two Porsche 991-II Cups, San Marino-based GDL Racing is poised to make its first series start since taking class victory at the 2018 Hankook 12H IMOLA. Similarly, last year’s COPPA FLORIO 12H Sicily 991-class winner, Bolzano-based Duell Race, is poised to make its series return in Mugello. 

Porsche Carrera Cup specialist Juta Racing, founded in Lithuania in 1988, is one of two 991 contenders that will make its 24H SERIES debut in Mugello, the other being Willi Motorsport, an 18-year veteran of endurance racing in Romania.

Reigning Overall TCE Teams’ champion Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing has already confirmed two Volkswagen Golf GTIs for the Hankook 12H MUGELLO in preparation for its third full season of competition in the 24H SERIES. Interestingly, the Swiss-German collaboration successfully defended its TCE Teams’ title last year in Tuscany with its fourth win of the year. 

BBR, a former TCR class champion in the 24H SERIES under its formative MONLAU COMPETICION banner, has confirmed its entry for Mugello, as has fellow CUPRA TCR runner, Red Camel-Jordans.nl. Other notable names to have also registered an interest in the Hankook 12H MUGELLO are AC Motorsport, the former TCE winner of the Hankook 24H DUBAI, and Bonk Motorsport, both of which would compete in the TCR category with their respective Audi RS 3 LMS’.  

Registration for the Hankook 12H MUGELLO on 26-27 March is still open HERE. All teams interested in competing can contact CREVENTIC directly via [email protected] and/or +31 485 471 166.