Weekly Racing Roundup (11.27.23)

Talbot Clinches Fanatec GT Australia Title

Liam Talbot became the new Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS champion despite Yasser Shahin and Matt Campbell winning two out of three 40-minute races on the streets of Adelaide.

Talbot arrived into the final round of the season as the series leader and protected his position at the top of the leaderboard with a second place in Race 1, followed by a Race 2 victory and a third in Race 3 alongside his Audi factory co-driver Christopher Mies.

Shahin recruited Porsche factory ace Campbell in a last-ditch effort to claim a third consecutive Fanatec GT Australia title, but his championship hopes ended after Race 2.

The EMA Porsche pairing won the opening race after Shahin got the jump on Talbot at the start. Campbell then exited the pits with five seconds in hand to Mies, who closed the gap to almost a second but was unable to find a way past.

In Race 2, Campbell had a strong getaway from pole position, whereas Mies became bottled up behind Am-class driver Paul Stokell whose Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II qualified on the front row.

After taking three laps to get past, Mies found himself with a five-second deficit to Campbell, but the gap came down through a combination of the Audi driver’s pace and a three-second advantage over the EMA Porsche in compulsory pit stop time.

Having jumped Shahin in the pits, Talbot held off the reigning champion through traffic to secure the win. It also ensured that Shahin could not add a third consecutive Fanatec GT title because stood 22 points behind with 17 points available for a victory.

Talbot’s other title challenger, Geoff Emery, remained in contention for Race 3 but a podium for the points leader was enough to secure the championship.

Shahin overtook Talbot on the opening lap, with Emery in third, and handed the Porsche over to Campbell who took the win. However, Max Hofer’s final-lap pass on Mies ensured that Emery claimed second in the standings.

Other Racing Action & News

***Jean-Paul Pagny, David Hallyday and Jean-Bernard Bouvet capped a dominant season in the Ultimate Cup Series by winning last weekend’s four-hour race at Paul Ricard in their Visiom Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020. The Renault RS.01 featuring rallying legend Sebastien Loeb finished 15th overall and fifth in the UGT3A class. Results

***Elsewhere at Paul Ricard, the four-hour prototype race was won by the Team Virage Ligier JS P320 Nissan driven by Jacopo Faccioni, Axel Gnos and Jamie Falvey. Virage came away with the prototype teams’ title, while Scuderia Ravetto & Ruberti prevailed in the Sprint GT-Touring Challenge.

***SRO Motorsports Group crowned the champions of its various series during a prize-giving ceremony in London on Friday. Special presentations included the Philippe Charriol Award to two-time Bathurst 12 Hour winner Kenny Habul, the Allan Simonsen Award to British GT champion Dan Harper, and sustainability prizes for Team WRT and Barwell Motorsport.

***Car Collection Motorsport has set both of its Gulf 12 Hours driver lineups. Alex Fontana, Yannick Mettler and Hash Patel will share the No. 12 Porsche 911 GT3 R, which has backing from actor Keanu Reeves’ Arch Motorcycle Company. Car Collection’s No. 21 Porsche will race in Am with Dustin Blattner, Constantin Dressler and Joel Sturm.

***Former McLaren and Haas Formula 1 engineer Joe Holloway has formed a new racing outfit, Forsetti Motorsport, that has ordered a pair of Aston Martin Vantage GT4s. The team is based at Snetterton Circuit.

***Holloway said: “Our team incorporates some of the brightest minds in the racing industry, who bring together their experience, expertise, and unwavering dedication to propel us to the forefront of the sport.”

On this weekend: Asian Le Mans Series (Sepang)