Weekly Racing Roundup (11.8.21)

Mies, Feller Land GT Masters Championship

Christopher Mies and Ricardo Feller won the ADAC GT Masters drivers’ title with a victory and a 10th-place finish in the 2021 season’s final pair of races at the Nürburgring.

The Land-Motorsport Audi duo ended the year four points ahead of Race 2 winners Mathieu Jaminet and defending champion Michael Ammermueller of SSR Performance.

Mies and Feller gave themselves the upper hand for the last race of the campaign by winning Saturday’s 60-minute affair to build a 17-point cushion over the SSR Porsche.

Feller started from pole and extended his lead over outside title bet Luca Stolz in the Toksport WRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to just under seven seconds by the time the pit window opened.

Mies carried on where his Swiss co-driver left off, finishing 3.5 seconds ahead of Jaminet and Ammermueller who leapfrogged the Toksport Mercedes in the pits.

The deciding race saw Mies hemmed in amongst the mid-pack for the opening stint, which included an early safety car for an accident that saw Pierre Kaffer’s Audi run into the back of a Porsche. Kaffer was airlifted to hospital after reporting pain in his back.

After the restart, Engel charged to the lead before handing over to his teammate Stolz, who then needed to serve a drive-through for Engel’s part in a separate lap one collision.

That handed the lead to Jaminet who went on to take the win alongside Ammermueller, however it wasn’t enough as Mies picked up six points with 10th place to earn his first GT Masters title since 2016 and Feller’s first outright.

RESULTS: Race 1 / Race 2 / Standings

Dramatic Second Win for Aguri Honda Pair

Tomoki Nojiri and Nirei Fukuzumi claimed their second consecutive Super GT win after benefiting from the Team Impul Nissan GT-R running out of fuel on the final lap.

The victorious Team Aguri pairing moved to within five points of the championship lead after Naoki Yamamoto failed to reach the top 10 with his co-driver Tadasuke Makino.

Toyota’s Yuji Kunimoto held the early lead, while Hiramine’s driving partner Nobuharu Matsushita made a great start to jump two positions into second.

A couple of Full Course Yellow periods for GT300 car incidents occurred in the opening stanza, shortly after which Matsushita found a way past Kunimoto for first place.

Matsushita pitted almost immediately after taking the lead, while Fukuzumi also came in at the same time from third.

Their co-drivers Hiramine and Nojiri emerged from the pit cycle in first and second, with Miyata in the Toyota GR Supra started by Kunimoto running one position back.

Hiramine initially built a gap to Nojiri, but the margin gradually came down in the closing stages of the 63-lap race to the point that the Honda was right on the Nissan’s tail with a dozen laps remaining.

When Hiramine’s car sputtered out of fuel at Turn 2, Nojiri sped through to claim Team Aguri’s second straight win. Kunimoto and Miyata were second, ahead of Hiramine who nursed the Impul Nissan to the line.

RESULTS: Motegi / Standings

Other Racing Action & News

***Lv Wei became the inaugural GT Super Sprint Challenge champion by taking a brace of victories in the final round of the season at Shanghai. The Team 777 by Climax Racing driver led a Lamborghini one-two in Race 1, before winning Race 2 ahead of ‘Rio’ aboard an X Works Audi. Race 1 / Race 2

***Chein Weian sealed the China Endurance Championship title by finishing second in a wet race at Shanghai with his Audi Sport Team Asia Absolute co-driver Cheng Congfu. Alexandre Imperatori and Kang Ling won the race for Climax Racing. The three-hour contest was red-flagged in the final hour due to heavy rain. Results 

***AKKA-ASP team principal Jerome Policand will drive for his own organization at the Gulf 12 Hours, sharing a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in the Am class with Mauro and Benjamin Ricci. Triple event winner AF Corse is also confirmed to return to the race.

***Similarly, Craft-Bamboo Racing team director Darryl O’Young will tackle the Macau GT Cup in a Mercedes-AMG. O’Young won the race, which forms part of the Macau Grand Prix bill, in 2008 and took pole for last year’s edition.

On this weekend: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and supports (Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta)