Weekly Racing Roundup (1.21.19)

New Points System, Reduced Handicap Weights for ADAC GT Masters

A new points system and reduced handicap weights are among changes made for the upcoming ADAC GT Masters season.

The top 15 cars will score championship points in races beginning this season, although 25 points will still be awarded to the race winner.

The new points system of 25-20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 will be used in the drivers’ and teams’ standings as well as the Pirelli Junior category and Pirelli Trophy class.

“We expect to have a large field of entrants once again this year with more than 30 drivers contesting the ADAC GT Masters,” said ADAC Motorsport director Thomas Voss. 

“The new points-scoring system has been introduced to promote fairness. More drivers and teams will now have a chance of taking championship points and of thus being rewarded for their performance thanks to this new system.”

The maximum handicap weight has been reduced to 20 kg from 30 kg, while the amount of extra weight for pairings without any Bronze drivers has also been reduced.

Pro-Am pairings that include a Bronze driver will again run without handicap weight.

Official pre-season testing for GT Masters and ADAC GT4 Germany will take place at Oschersleben on April 8-9.

Guerra Beats Duval in Race of Champions Upset

A host of sports car drivers joined the star-studded Race of Champions field in Mexico City last weekend.

2013 FIA World Endurance champion Loic Duval reached the final of the head-to-head event, held in the Foro Sol stadium at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but ultimately lost to WRC2 rally driver Benito Guerra.

Local hero Guerra surprised Duval to dominate the best-of-three showdown that pitted the two finalists against each other in Supercar Lite rallycross cars and Mexican-built Vuhl 05s.

Indy Lights champion and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitor Patricio O’Ward was beaten by Duval in the semi-finals, while Guerra overcame ex-F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez on his path to victory.

Other sports car drivers taking part included Helio Castroneves, Andy Priaulx and Memo Rojas, however all three were knocked out in the group stages of the individual competition.

In the Nations Cup pairs event, nine-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen took the spoils alongside World Rallycross star Johan Kristoffersson for Team Nordic, beating Germany’s Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher.

Sports Car Names Attend GP Ice Race

Famous faces from sports car and endurance racing including Romain Dumas, Mark Webber and Hans-Joachim Stuck were present for the annual GP Ice Race held at Zell Am See in the Austrian Alps.

Dumas, driving a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, finished on the podium in the main Ice Race competition behind Skoda rally drivers Julian Wagner and Jan Kopecky, who came out on top.

Two-time Le Mans winner Stuck drove a 1930s Auto Union in a historic demo that also featured rallying legend Walter Rohrl in the iconic Audi Sport Quattro, while Group C champion Rohrl also sampled a Porsche Cayman GT4.

Audi factory driver Rene Rast was also present to show off the Audi RS5 DTM in a joint demo with the German manufacturer’s first-generation Formula E car, driven by Daniel Abt.

News & Notes

***Dennis Marschall has joined HCB-Rutronik Racing for the upcoming ADAC GT Masters season and will drive an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo with Carrie Schreiner. Marschall moves across from BMW Team Schnitzer while Schreiner makes the step up from Lamborghini Super Trofeo competition.

***British Touring Car Championship stars Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden will share an Audi Sport Team MPC-entered R8 LMS GT3 with Pete Storey in next month’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

***Ben Barker will join father-and-son duo Stephen and Brenton Grove in the Grove Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup at Bathurst, meanwhile. The car features a striking livery similar to the Team Australia color scheme that the Groves ran at the FIA GT Nations Cup in Bahrain.

***Antonelli Motorsport will run a pair of Mercedes-AMG GT3s in International GT Open, including one in the Pro class. The Italian team is yet to reveal details of its driver lineups. It will also enter a Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo in the new GT Cup Open.

Jake Kilshaw and Dan Lloyd contributed to this report.