Weekly Racing Roundup (9.4.23)

Porsches Prevail at Hockenheim GT4 Fixture

Porsche teams W&S Motorsport and Allied-Racing shared the overall spoils in last weekend’s GT4 European Series powered by Rafa Racing Club round at Hockenheim.

Hendrik Still and Max Kronberg won the opening 60-minute race in their W&S Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport before Alexander Hartvig and Nathan Schaap prevailed for Allied on the following day after the on-the-road winner was penalized.

The event also saw Gregory Guilvert and Christophe Hamon secure their second Pro-Am drivers’ title with the Sainteloc Racing Audi squad.

Race 1 started with pole-sitter Still getting the best launch, while Hartvig passed Elite Motorsport McLaren driver Josh Rattican after 15 minutes to make it a Porsche one-two.

Still led by three seconds when the mid-race pit window opened and Kronberg emerged with the margin doubled, followed by Schaap and Rattican’s co-driver Tom Emson.

Drama unfolded with 20 minutes to go when the fourth-placed V8 Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R of Dante Rappange was spun around by Robert Consani, triggering a Full Course Yellow and safety car period.

Pro-Am leader Kronberg controlled the ensuing restart and was in front of Silver Cup competitor Hartvig when the race was suddenly red-flagged for a multi-car accident coming out of the Mercedes Arena.

Race 2 saw Rappange receive early pressure from three Porsches including the Team Sorg Rennsport car of Nicolaj Moller Madsen, who jumped ahead on the opening lap.

However, Rappange regrouped and re-passed Moller Madsen at the hairpin after 12 minutes, while Schaap ran third behind Alban Varutti’s Am Cup-leading Porsche.

Kenny Herremans continued at the head of the field for V8 after the pit stops and crossed the line 7.3 seconds clear of Hartvig, who rose to second as Madsen’s driving partner Ivan Ekelchik slipped to fifth.

Despite that, Herremans and Rappange were denied victory by 21 seconds’ worth of penalties for track limits abuse and not respecting the minimum pit stop time.

It meant that Schaap and Hartvig inherited the win, ahead of Consani and Benjamin Lariche in the Team Speedcar Audi R8 LMS GT4 as the Chevrolet dropped to sixth.

RESULTS: Race 1 / Race 2

Other Racing Action

***Markus Pommer and Gary Hauser sealed the Prototype Cup Germany title with one round to spare after a strong weekend at Assen. The Racing Experience duo won the first of two races sharing their Duqueine D08 Nissan before finishing second to Max and Mark van der Snel in the second contest. Race 1 / Race 2

***The five-hour Super Taikyu race at Motegi was won by the APR-run DENSO Lexus RC F GT3 of Hiroaki Nagai, Kazuto Kodaka and Koki Saga. They won by just under 50 seconds from the TKRI Mercedes-AMG crew. Results

***Thomas Pintos and Gonzalo de Andres were on form at Hockenheim as they took a victory and finished second in the two McLaren Trophy Europe races held at the German circuit. Euan Hankey and Mark Hopton won Race 2 after finishing 14 seconds clear of De Andres. Results

***Sports car racing was represented in the Formula 1 paddock last weekend as Ferrari brought its 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning 499P and the Nürburgring 24-winning Frikadelli Racing Team Ferrari 296 GT3 to the Italian Grand Prix fan zone. FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar drivers Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and Antonio Fuoco were also there.

News & Notes

***Huber Racing has ended its ADAC GT Masters program amid health problems for team boss Christoph Huber and will instead focus on its Porsche single-make activities. Its drivers Jaxon Evans and Tim Zimmermann are third in the championship standings.

***Interim team manager Luca Rattenbacher said that Huber Racing hopes to return to GT Masters in the future. “We are incredibly sad about the decision we had to make, but unfortunately we had no choice but to end the ADAC GT Masters program during the difficult times,” he added. “We would like to thank Tim and Jaxon for a fantastic performance throughout the season.”

***Gulf 12 Hours organizer Driving Force Events has announced a new European endurance race at Portimao on Feb. 3. Early entrants and Gulf 12H regulars will benefit from a free entry scheme. Driving Force’s aim is to “establish a new winter GT racing headline event in Europe” with a regular date one week after the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

***GT4 Pro-Am title hopefuls Ed McDermott and Mikey Broadhurst have switched teams for the final two rounds of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship season. They started the year in a One Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 but will now drive the same type of car with Abba Racing, which now has two entries.

On this weekend: FIA World Endurance Championship (Fuji), DTM (Sachsenring), NLS (Round 6), International GT Open (Red Bull Ring), Intelligent Money British GT Championship (Brands Hatch)