Weekly Racing Roundup (12.21.20)

***ADAC GT Masters entrant T3 Motorsport, which fielded an Audi and a Bentley this year, has introduced a new three-car Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo entry for the 2021 season. Its first driver signings are Maximilian Paul, who previously drove the Audi, and 16-year-old Hugo Saase who represented the team in ADAC GT4 Germany. T3 has also increased its GT4 involvement, adding a second Audi R8 LMS GT4 to its program.

***GT Masters says that 33 cars have already been signed up for next year’s campaign, which is due to start at Oschersleben on May. 14-16. The grid is set to include eight GT3 manufacturers, including the returning Aston Martin and Honda.

***Additionally, 18 cars are set to tackle GT4 Germany’s third season. The spread of committed teams will be running cars from Audi, BMW, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche.

***The Audi customer team that ran last year’s GT Masters champions Kelvin van der Linde and Patric Niederhauser will run Porsche machinery in 2021. Rutronik Racing plans to field an undefined number of Porsche 911 GT3 Rs in the Nürburgring 24, as well as three of the preceding NLS events and the returning N24 qualifying race.

***The U.S-based GT Celebration Race Series has revealed its 2021 schedule. The series aimed at Bronze-rated competitors driving GT3, GT4 and TCR machinery is set to kick off at Sebring on Mar. 12-14, one weekend before the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours. That will be followed by rounds at Thunderhill (Apr. 9-11), Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (May. 6-8), Circuit of The Americas (Jul. 30-Aug. 1), Road America (Aug. 13-15), Utah Motorsports Campus (Sep. 17-19) and Sonoma (Oct. 15-17).

***Lamborghini has revealed a new open-top, road-legal track car named the SC20. Developed by the company’s Squadra Corse motorsport department, the SC20 is powered by Lamborghini’s flagship V12 engine producing around 770 horsepower.

***Newly-signed Lamborghini factory driver Sandy Mitchell will defend his Intelligent Money British GT title next year with Barwell Motorsport. Mitchell will be paired with a new co-driver in Adam Balon, while Barwell is also fielding a second Lamborghini for Leo Machitski and Dennis Lind. This year Balon teamed up with Phil Keen, who has moved to WPI Motorsport. Mitchell won his first British GT title alongside Rob Collard.

***The new BMW M2 Cup will support the next two seasons of the GT3-based DTM. The single-make series for BMW M2 CS Racing cars will appear on the bill at the Norisring, Lausitzring, Nürburgring, Red Bull Ring, Assen and Hockenheim DTM weekend. It will form a rung below the GT4-based DTM Trophy which made its debut this year.

“With the BMW M2 Cup, we want to provide an attractive, affordable platform for talented drivers, allowing them to prove their driving skills in the DTM environment and to allow them to make the step up if they are successful,” said Thomas Felbermair, Vice President Sales and Marketing BMW M GmbH.

***Team TGM’s livery for the Rolex 24 at Daytona has been unveiled during a recent test at the speedway’s infield course. TGM is running its IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers Ted Giovanis, Matt Plumb, Hugh Plumb and Owen Trinkler in the race on Jan. 30-31.

***Goodsmile Racing has confirmed an unchanged lineup for next year’s Super GT Series. The team run by 1999 Le Mans runner-up Ukyo Katayama will return with Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Kataoka behind the wheel of its Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

***Elsewhere in Super GT, Kondo Racing’s GT300 class champions Kiyoto Fujinami and Joao Paulo de Oliveira were honored during an end-of-year celebration at the Nissan Global Headquarters Gallery. The presentation included a debrief of the Nissan Mechanic Challenge, a joint venture between Nissan and Kondo Racing that involved mechanics from the Nissan Motor College and the sales company taking part in pit lane activities.

***The 2019-20 FIA World Endurance champions were honored at last Friday’s FIA Prize Giving gala. Toyota and Aston Martin were presented with the manufacturers’ world titles, while their LMP and GTE title-winning drivers were also recognized during the ceremony, which took place with virtually-held interviews from a live studio.

***Long-time sports car racing journalist Claude Foubert passed away last weekend. Foubert had been an integral member of the team at French publication Endurance-Info since the website’s launch in 2006. Sportscar365 offers its condolences to Claude’s family, friends and extended family at Endurance-Info.