Weekly Racing Roundup (10.30.23)

***Bruno Spengler and Jens Klingmann won the Italian GT Sprint Championship title after beating Edoardo Liberati and Mattia Michelotto on a narrow countback. The two pairings were tied on 98 points but the BMW Italia Ceccato Racing duo prevailed courtesy of a fourth-place finish earlier in the year.

***Michelotto and Liberati won the second of two races that made up the Imola season finale. It was a strong weekend for their Vincenzo Sospiri Racing team, which also took victory in the opening race with Baptiste Moulin and Mateo Llarena. Spengler and Klingmann finished 33rd in Race 1 after the former was hit by Michelotto into the Tosa gravel during the battle for third. The BMW drivers recovered from that setback to take second on Sunday and clinch the title. Race 1 / Race 2

***There was a dramatic conclusion to the four-hour Ultimate Cup Series prototype race at Magny-Cours as the first and second-placed cars collided at Nürburgring corner in the closing minutes. Manuel Espirito Santo recovered best in the Team Virage Ligier JS P320 Nissan and won the race alongside his co-drivers George King and Viacheslav Gutak. TS Corse, which was leading at the time of the incident, settled for second with its Duqueine D08 Nissan shared by Ayrton Simmons and Gianluca Giraudi. Results

***Thomas Fleming won the global Ferrari Challenge title in the headlining Trofeo Pirelli class at Mugello. The British driver started from pole and held off the Ferrari Challenge Europe champion, Eliseo Donno, to take victory, with ex-Formula 1 driver Adrian Sutil in third. The 30-minute race included an early red flag after three accidents on the opening lap.

***The Ferrari Finali Mondiali included track demonstrations of the new Ferrari 499P Modificata and 296 Challenge driven by Olivier Beretta and Andrea Bertolini respectively. A pair of Ferrari 499Ps took part in driver change and pit stop demos involving FIA World Endurance Championship drivers James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina. The 24 Hours of Le Mans trophy was on display, while Formula 1 cars and sports car machinery formed part of a parade that brought the event to a close.

***Porsche Carrera Cup France and Italy competitor Tsunami RT is preparing for its Gulf 12 Hours entry with a Porsche 911 GT3 R that is set to feature a striking livery.

***Ligier has announced a new junior driver prize for its single-make series in France with support from three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Benoit Treluyer. The winner of the junior class in next year’s JS 2 Cup will receive a funded drive in the JS P4 category of the Ligier European Series, while the following year’s recipient will get a Michelin Le Mans Cup seat in a Ligier LMP3.

On this weekend: FIA World Endurance Championship (Bahrain), Super GT (Motegi)