Weekly Racing Roundup (3.11.19)

FCP Euro Sweeps St. Pete TCR Weekend

FCP Euro claimed victories in both TC America TCR races held on the streets of St. Pete at the weekend.

Michael Hurczyn bounced back from being nudged off the road by his teammate Nate Vincent to win a dramatic race 1, while Vincent came through to win the second race in a 1-2 finish for the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR duo.

In Saturday’s opening 40-minute contest, Vincent tapped Hurczyn wide as the pair went into the Turn 14 hairpin which relegated Hurczyn to third behind the Risi Competizione Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR of James Walker Jr.

This action earned Vincent a drive-through penalty, which promoted Hurczyn into the ultiamte lead shortly after he had dived underneath Walker into Turn 10.

It marked Hurczyn’s first TCR class victory, as well as the first for FCP Euro, and put the fourth-place driver in last year’s standings on top of the championship pile.

In race 2, Vincent took the lead from pole-sitter Hurczyn at the start and went on to control the race from his teammate.

The safety car was brought out with 12 minutes to go when Walker crashed out from third after brushing the inside wall at the kink, putting Hurczyn right on Vincent’s tail for a two-lap dash to the flag.

However, Vincent held station to seal the FCP Euro team’s first 1-2 TCR result, while double TCR Cup class winner Bryan Putt came through to take his second overall podium of the event after Walker’s off.

RESULTS: Race 1
RESULTS: Race 2

Barwell Lamborghini Leads British GT Media Day Testing

Barwell Motorsport set the pace during testing at the British GT Championship Media Day at Donington Park on Tuesday.

The team’s No. 72 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, driven by Phil Keen and Adam Balon, logged a best time of 1:27.540 during the third and final session, enough to go 0.024 seconds clear of Ram Racing’s Mercedes-AMG GT3.

The lap times are largely unrepresentative, but nevertheless showed a good variety of machinery at the head of the GT3 field, with Lamborghini, Mercedes, BMW, Bentley and Aston Martin represented in the top six combined positions.

Team Parker Racing led the way in GT4 with its Mercedes-AMG GT4 shared by returnees Nick Jones and Scott Malvern.

A record 38-car full-season entry list was also revealed during Media Day, with the series kicking off at Oulton Park on April 20-22.

RESULTS: Media Day (combined on final page)

Photo: GT Open

Antonelli, HTP Mercedes Quickest in Second GT Open Test

The Mercedes-AMG GT3s of Antonelli Motorsport and HTP Motorsport set the pace during the second and final International GT Open pre-season test on Friday and Saturday.

Daniel Zampieri posted the best time of the weekend at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with a 1:43.853 on the first day in his Antonelli Mercedes.

The HTP pairing of Martin Konrad and Alex Hrachowina led the way on Saturday but were unable to match Zampieri’s pace from the previous day’s running. 

Completing the top five in the combined times were the Lamborghini Huracan GT3s of Target Racing and Vincenzo Sospiri Racing along with Miguel Ramos’ Mercedes.

Marcio Basso and Guilherme Salas led the way in the GT Cup field with their Mercedes-AMG R.

With the pre-season tests now completed, GT Open returns to action for its opening rounds at Circuit Paul Ricard on April 26-28.

RESULTS: Day 1 Combined
RESULTS: Day 2 Combined

News & Notes

***Danish TCR team Reno Racing will make the move to Blancpain GT Sports Club this season, entering a Honda NSX GT3 Evo driven by team principal Reno Moeller. 

***Leipert Motorsport has confirmed a two-car GT4 European Series entry with Mercedes-AMG GT4 machinery. Max Koebolt has joined the team from MDM Motorsport and joins Jan Kisiel, Marcus Paverud and Luci Trefz in the lineup. The team has also entered a car in ADAC GT4 Germany for Trefz and Morgan Haber.

***Villorba Corse will enter the Total 24 Hours of Spa and Paul Ricard 1000 km as part of a new joint GT3 and GT4 program with Mercedes-AMGs. While it hasn’t confirmed its driver lineup for the two Blancpain GT Series rounds, it will run Mauro Calamia and Roberto Pampanini in the Michelin Le Mans Cup.

***McLaren has become the seventh manufacturer represented in Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia, with ABSSA Motorsport confirming a 720S GT3. Keita Sawa, who also serves as team director, will lead the Pro-Am lineup and is joined by Tadao Uematsu.

***Bernd Schneider has joined HTP Motorsport as team manager for its GT Open program, running Hrachowina and Konrad, the pair that went quickest on the second day of the Barcelona test.