Weekly Racing Roundup (11.15.21)

***The final round of the Super Taikyu season ended in victory for the PC Okazaki Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Hiroaki Nagai, Yuichi Nakayama and Yuta Kamimura. The pole-sitting car controlled the three-hour race at Okayama as it gradually pulled away from the competition in the GT3-based ST-X class. Yudai Uchida, Hideki Yamauchi and Togo Suganami clinched the ST-Z title in a Mercedes-AMG GT4, while the ST-X title had been wrapped up by D’station Racing ahead of the finale. Results

***Technical difficulties brought round three of the Le Mans Virtual Series to an early conclusion with Team Redline’s Felix Rosenqvist, Bono Huis and Collin Spork classified as the overall winners of the eight-hour race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. GTE honors went to Alex Smolyar, Timotej Andonovski and Martin Hemmingsen from the TESLA R8G Esports squad running a BMW M8 GTE.

***James Baldwin narrowly beat David Tonizza to win the inaugural GT World Challenge Europe Esports Sprint Series title in the final race at Spa. Baldwin finished sixth while Tonizza, who needed to serve a 10-second penalty for causing a collision at the start, was ninth. Results / Standings

***Toyota Gazoo Racing conducted a three-day test at Bahrain International Circuit last week to review some items on its GR010 Hybrid LMH car ahead of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship season. Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Jose Maria Lopez drove. Sebastien Ogier was not at the test.

***Barwell Motorsport will return to the Silver Cup class of Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup next year with a two-car Lamborghini entry. The British squad claimed the 2021 titles in British GT and GTWC Europe Pro-Am.

***Team Dynamics and Simpson Motorsport are teaming up to field a MARC-built Ford Mustang silhouette racer in the Kyalami 9 Hour. James Kaye, Simon Murray and Henry Neal – the son of multiple BTCC champion Matt Neal – will share driving duties. The car is slated to be eligible for GT2 homologation but no official word has been made by SRO Motorsports Group.

***Another confirmed Kyalami entry is the involvement of South African drivers Xolile Letlaka, Tschops Sipuka and Philip Kekana who will share a Lamborghini GT3 in the National class. Letlaka and Sipuka race in the South Africa Endurance Series.

***French constructor Nova Proto has launched a new sports prototype that is designed to sit between LMP3 and CN levels of performance. The Nova Proto NP02 is powered by a 5-liter Ford V8 engine and is slated to produce approximately 400 horsepower when it hits the track for preliminary testing next year.

***Konrad Motorsport made its LMP3 debut last weekend with a Ginetta in the Ultimate Cup Series final round at Estoril. The experienced sports car racing team ultimately failed to finish the three-hour Challenge Proto race with Franz Konrad and Tim Zimmermann sharing a Ginetta. Mathias Beche, Jordan Perroy and Nicolas Melin won in a Duqueine D08 Nissan. Results

***2 Seas Motorsport will defend its Gulf 12 Hours crown in January with a pair of Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos. The team ran McLaren 720S GT3s for the previous edition earlier this year. Century Motorsport has also committed to the race for the first time with a BMW M4 GT4 and an Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

***An example of the new BMW M4 GT3 was displayed in the Super Taikyu paddock last weekend, Japanese publication Auto Sport Web reported. BMW Team Studie is set to campaign the car in Super GT next year.

***Triple Eight Race Engineering has committed to fielding a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the final round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS season for Peter Hackett and Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

***Double 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Romain Dumas will tackle the Baja 1000 for the first time, driving the Glickenhaus Baja Boot. The event takes place on Nov. 15-20.

***SRO Motorsports Group will stage the second edition of its Total Look Rallye grand tour event in Italy. The three-day Dolce Vita 60 will start from Rome on May 6 next year.

On this weekend: 24H Series (Sebring International Raceway)