Weekly Racing Roundup (5.14.18)

GruppeM Dominates Blancpain GT Series Asia at Buriram

GruppeM Racing won both of the Blancpain GT Series Asia races at Buriram on Saturday and Sunday, with different Mercedes-AMG GT3s winning each of the two 60-minute sprints.

Patric Niederhauser and Markus Pommer claimed victory in Saturday’s opening race after a close battle with HubAuto Corsa and FFF Racing Team by ACM.

Blocked by traffic, Pommer lost the lead in the second half of the race to Martin Kodric in the FFF Lamborghini Huracan GT3.

The Croatian driver soon lost his lead to a one-second stop-go penalty for the car being under its minimum pit stop time, allowing Pommer to take the win.

Maxi Buhk and Alexander Mattschull took the Race 2 win for GruppeM, leading the whole race from pole position.

Kodric and Dennis Lind moved into the overall championship lead with a second-place finish on Sunday.

Reinhold Renger took both GT4 race wins driving solo for GruppeM in a Mercedes-AMG GT4, meanwhile.

RESULTS: Race 1; Race 2

DKR Engineering Takes Second Consecutive Le Mans Cup Win

DKR Engineering and drivers Leonard Hoogenboom and Jens Petersen claimed their second consecutive victory in the Michelin Le Mans Cup race at Monza on Saturday.

Driving the No. 3 Norma M30 Nissan, the pair extend their championship lead after winning the opening round at Circuit Paul Ricard last month.

Petersen settled in second position for his opening stint after starting fifth, and ran behind Nicolas Schatz until the DB Autosports driver ran out of fuel during the pit stop window.

Hoogenboom assumed the lead for the remainder of the race, finishing almost 20 seconds clear of James Littlejohn in the No. 2 Ecurie Ecosse / Nielsen Racing Ligier JS P3 Nissan.

Sergio Pianezzola and Giacomo Piccini won the GT3 battle, also taking their second win of the season in the No. 8 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GT3.

The pair led almost the entire race and escaped a penalty after being reported to the steward for going off line at the start.

RESULTS: Monza

News & Notes

***Manthey Racing won the Nürburgring 24 with its No. 912 Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Frederic Makowiecki, Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet and Richard Lietz ahead of the No. 4 Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3. Click here for the full report.

***Japanese performance oil specialist Moty’s has been signed as the Official Lubricant Partner of the Blancpain GT Series Asia beginning at Buriram and effective for the remainder of the season.

***More than 70 teams have already signed up for the 2019 Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai, scheduled for the weekend of Jan. 11-13. The enduro is part of both the 24H GT Series and 24H TCE Series while the 24H Proto Series will get underway one week earlier with three separate three-hour races.

***Next Monday’s edition of the Weekly Racing Roundup will include a report of the LMP3 Cup Championship rounds at Brands Hatch.