The initial entry list for the inaugural round of the Pirelli World Challenge SprintX series has been released, with no fewer than eight cars set to take part this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

ENTRY LIST: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

WC Vision announced last year its intentions to create the SprintX series, similar to the successful Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup format.

The SprintX field will take part in two races of 60 minutes each, on three existing PWC weekends this year.

Each team will field two drivers per car, and midway through the race, each car will have a pitstop and driver change.

There are currently five GT3 and three GT4 cars set to take part at CTMP. Additional entries are possible for this weekend, with upwards of 15 cars expected for the second round of the season at Utah Motorsports Campus in August.

While the CTMP entry is not as large as expected, the grid is a promising mixture of established PWC entrants and talented newcomers.

De La Torre Racing will enter an Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 for Jorge De La Torre and Lars Viljoen, while the Mexican driver will also compete in the GTA class in the sprint races.

Meanwhile, GMG Racing has a Porsche 911 GT3 R for Colin Braun and Brent Holden. Similarly, Holden is set to take part in GTA sprint races.

Braun, the reigning IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge champion, returns to Porsche machinery for the first time in nearly three years, after a partial season in CORE autosport’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in 2013.

M1 GT Racing is one of two teams to field a double entry. The team announced last week its lineup of David Ostella and Audi Sportscar Brand Ambassador Dion von Moltke, and they will race in an Audi R8 LMS ultra.

Walt Bowlin and Guy Cosmo will compete in the other M1 GT Audi. Bowlin has already raced with the team in GTA sprint races this year, while Guy Cosmo has acted as the team’s driver coach.

The final GT3 entry is the BMW Z4 GT3 for Mills Racing, with Michael Mills and BMW North America factory driver Kuno Wittmer at the wheel.

TRG-AMR will enter a pair of Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4s, for Max Riddle and Kris Wilson, and Derek DeBoer and with Jason Alexandridis.

Wilson raced with the team last year, while the other three drivers have all competed in one of the team’s Aston Martins in GTS races so far in 2016.

Racers Edge Motorsports completes the SprintX grid for CTMP, with a SIN R1 GT4 driven by Chris Beaufait and James Vance.

Track action starts on Thursday, while there is one SprintX race each on Saturday and Sunday.