Weekly Racing Roundup (2.7.22)

News & Notes

***TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa class winner Madpanda Motorsport has confirmed its ADAC GT Masters debut alongside a continuation in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup. The Spanish team led by Ezequiel Companc had been evaluating GT Masters as a replacement for its Sprint Cup program for several months.

“We obviously know that the GT Masters is going to be a tough challenge, but I know we are more than ready for it,” Companc said. “The team has grown a lot over the last two years and we’ve been doing a mega job since our start. “We want to be fighting for podiums and potentially the championship as well.”

***Mercedes-AMG factory driver Jules Gounon will race in British GT this year, teaming up with last season’s runner-up Ian Loggie at RAM Racing. Loggie, who is gearing up for his sixth consecutive British GT campaign, previously sided with Yelmer Buurman.

***A new GT3 entry for the 2022 Intelligent Money British GT Championship is the McLaren 720S GT3 for the 7TSIX team founded by Joe Edge. 2020 GT4 Pro-Am champions Euan Hankey and Mia Flewitt will share the wheel.

***GT300 high-flyers Joao Paulo de Oliveira and Kiyoto Fujinami will remain at Kondo Racing for a third consecutive Super GT season together. The 2020 champions finished second in the standings last season driving Kondo’s Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3.

***Elsewhere in GT300, Kimiya Sato will drive the Max Racing Toyota GR Supra with the returning Atsushi Miyake, while reigning Japanese Formula 4 champion Seita Nonaka replaces Sato in Tsuchiya Engineering’s new Supra alongside Takamitsu Matsui.

***A new Japanese team named Grid Motorsport will enter Super Taikyu this year with a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. Founder and team principal Martin Berry, who has predominantly raced Ferrari and Audi GT3 machinery, will share driving duties with 2020 Taikyu champion Daisuke Yamawaki and former Super GT class champions Haruki Kurosawa and Shinichi Takagi.

***Other Super Taikyu ST-X class efforts announced last week included the return of Porsche Center Ozakaki with its Porsche 911 GT3 R and the commitment of Tatsuya Kataoka’s TKR squad with what Japanese publication Auto Sport Web reports as an ex-Good Smile Racing Mercedes-AMG.

***GetSpeed Performance is returning to International GT Open after one year out, with the German squad fielding a trio of Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos. Moritz Kranz and Janine Shoffner are teaming up in Pro-Am, while an Am entry is reserved for team principal Adam Osieka and Thai drift competitor Kiki Sak Nana. Steve Jans is the first confirmed driver in the other entry.

***Two-time Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai winner Axcil Jefferies will spearhead Kessel Racing’s GT Open assault with the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020. The UAE-based racer from Zimbabwe will team up with Roman Ziemian as part of a multi-car Kessel effort.

***Yann Belhomme, the former managing director of Duqueine, has joined Panis Racing ahead of the 2022 European Le Mans Series. “After two difficult years following a health problem, getting back to the circuits with Panis Racing and Tech1 Racing couldn’t make me happier,” he said. “I can’t wait to tread the endurance paddocks again and share this common passion that is motorsport.”

***Orbit Racing has purchased the Porsche 911 GT3 R that KCMG ran to third place in a dramatic Rolex 24 at Daytona GTD Pro class battle two weeks ago. Posts on social media reveal the Porsche was listed by a specialist motorsport dealer before heading to Orbit, which raced Porsches extensively in the American Le Mans Series and finished second in class at the 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans.

***Reigning FFSA French GT champion Valentin Hasse-Clot will defend his Silver Cup title with a different team after signing with Mirage Racing. The former AGS Events driver will team up with ex-FIA World Endurance Championship LMP2 competitor Romano Ricci in an Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

***Cool Racing has become the latest team with an LMP2 background to sign up for the Ligier European Series, after Eurasia Motorsport and Pegasus Racing. In its second season of Ligier competition, Cool will field a Ligier JS 2R for Cedric Oltramare.

***German organization Schnitzelalm Racing is set to take over the GT3 operations of 10Q Racing Team, which has contested the last two editions of the Nürburgring 24 with Mercedes-AMG.

***The Fanatec GT2 European Series is introducing a new GT Cup class for its second season, allowing ‘single-make’ cars such as Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeos, Ferrari Challenges and Porsche Cups to compete on the same grid as homologated GT2 machinery, including the GT2-modified Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2. The GT Cup class will crown its own champion at the end of the six-round season. 

***Capstone Motorsports has announced a Mercedes-AMG entry for Pirelli GT4 America, with last year’s Silver Cup class runner-up Cole Ciraulo joining Kris Wilson at the John Allen-owned team.

***Deborah Mayer, one of the founding figures of Iron Lynx Motorsport Lab and the Iron Dames project, has been announced as Michele Mouton’s successor as President of FIA’s Women in Motorsport Commission.

On this weekend: Asian Le Mans Series (Dubai Autodrome)