Weekly Racing Roundup (12.31.18)

“Overwhelming” Interest Received for GT4 South European Series

The new GT4 South European Series has already received “overwhelming” interest according to organizer Race Ready, with a number of Portuguese and Spanish teams considering entries.

Portuguese outfits Veloso Motorsport and Speedy Motorsport are both set to enter cars, with the former likely to have as many as four cars ready for the season start in April.

From Spain, leading International GT Open team Teo Martin Motorsport is evaluating entries, as are SPV Racing, NM Racing Team, Team Virage and E2P.

SPV has a pair of Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR while NM Racing Team is working to run two Ginetta G55 GT4s.

Team Virage and E2P are looking to run KTM X-Bow GT4x, while Teo Martin is set to purchase two new GT4 cars in time for the season.

Italian squad Nova Race has expressed interest in running a pair of 2018-spec Ginettas, meanwhile.

Team Rosberg Ends GT Masters Program

Team Rosberg has called time on its GT program in ADAC GT Masters, citing the growing professionalism in GT racing as the reason.

The team ran a pair of Lamborghini Huracan GT3s in the series last season, with Michele Beretta amongst its lineup.

“We would like to thank Lamborghini for the opportunities they have given us. It was an honor for us to work with them,” said team principal Arno Zensen.

“As a team we race to fight for championships and with the direction that GT racing has taken one needs a professional driver pairing and this was not achievable in this constellation.”

A statement released by the team confirmed that it will “look to remake GT racing an integral part of its future”.

Team Rosberg had previously been linked to the Lamborghini GTE program, which has since been cancelled.

Australian GT Introduces Bathurst ‘SuperSprint’ Challenge

Teams competing in the 2019 CAMS Australian GT Championship will have an opportunity to gain valuable track time at Bathurst later in the year, as part of the new Pirelli AGT SuperSprint initiative.

Four sessions will be held at Mount Panorama on Nov. 28 – Dec. 1 with teams set to battle to log the quickest lap times at the home of the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

In addition to opportunities for teams to tackle the GT3 lap record, cars will be permitted to run unrestricted in the final session with special softer compound Pirelli tires.

This will allow teams to challenge the lap record of 1:59.291, recently set by Christopher Mies.

Any team competing in Australian GT next year will be eligible to compete in the SuperSprint event.

News & Notes

***Leena Gade has taken up a position as vehicle dynamics engineer and race engineer at Multimatic. Gade has previously held roles with Bentley Motorsport and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports after leaving Audi’s LMP1 program.

***The first endurance race of the new year will be held at Zhuhai on Jan. 5-6, with the Circuit Hero 700km Endurance Race at the Chinese venue. It is open to GTs, touring cars and prototypes.