Weekly Racing Roundup (3.12.18)

Simpson, Rofgo Claim Wins in Inaugural 12H Silverstone

Simpson Motorsport and Rofgo Racing won the Proto and GT divisions in the first edition of the Hankook 12 Hours of Silverstone on Friday and Saturday.

The race was part of both the 24H GT Series and 24H Proto Series, running alongside the touring car-only Hankook 24 Hours of Silverstone for the 24H TCE Series.

Mike Simpson, Charlie Robertson, Steve Tandy and Bob Berridge drove the No. 4 Simpson-run Ginetta G58 to the overall win in the 12-hour race which was held in two different stages.

This came after the team had a new chassis shipped in on Thursday night following damage sustained during free practice. 

The car finished 38 laps ahead of the next-placed prototype, the Krafft Racing Norma M20 FC, in the three-car 24H Proto Series field.

Rofgo’s Roald Goethe, Stuart Hall and Daniel Brown finished second overall to claim the A6-Pro and 24H GT Series victories in their Mercedes-AMG GT3, meanwhile.

The Rofgo Mercedes passed the Forch Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R for the lead with three hours to go, with the Porsche eventually finishing second ahead of Grasser Racing Team’s No. 963 Lamborghini Huracan GT3.

RESULTS: 12H Silverstone

Team Parker Racing Quickest at British GT Media Day 

Ian Loggie and Callum Macleod went fastest for Team Parker Racing as the British GT Championship season got underway with the Media Day at Donington Park on Thursday.

They topped the timesheets in the No. 7 Bentley Continental GT3 with a 1:27.314 during the third and final session, going 0.223 seconds quicker than the No. 69 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini.

Sam de Haan and Jonny Cocker drove the second fastest car while Leo Machitski and Patrick Kujala were third in the No. 2 Barwell Lamborghini.

Century Motorsport locked out the GT4 class with its pair of new BMW M4 GT4s after making the switch from Ginetta to the German manufacturer this season.

The fastest lap of the class was set by the No. 43 car, driven at the test by David Pittard and team boss Nathan Freke, neither of whom have been confirmed for the rest of the season.

The series is next in action for the opening pair of races at Oulton Park, Cheshire, on March 31 – April 2. 

RESULTS: Media Day

PROsport Porsche Sets Pace in GT4 European Series Zolder Test

PROsport Performance put its Porsche Cayman Pro4 at the top of the timesheets in the GT4 European Series pre-season test at Zolder on Thursday.

Nico Verdonck set a lap time of 1:40.559 in the Porsche to go quickest out of the 43-strong field at the Belgian circuit. 

Equipe Verschuur set the pace in the opening session with its McLaren 570S GT4 but the car was ruled out of the rest of the day after the hood came loose and damaged the windscreen. 

Verdonck was on top in both the morning and afternoon but his afternoon time was over one second slower than his previous best.

Four other cars, including two Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4s, an Allied Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR and one of 3Y Technology’s BMW M4 GT4s, managed to break into the 1:42 lap times.

The series will return to the circuit in Limburg for the opening two races of the season on April 6-8, in support of the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup.

RESULTS: Zolder Test

Several Sports Car Regulars Amongst Stock Car Brasil Guest Drivers

The Stock Car Brasil season got underway with the Corrida de Duplas at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on Saturday with a host of GT and prototype regulars amongst the field.

Each full-season driver in the premier South American touring car series was paired with a second guest driver for the 60-minute race at the former FIA World Endurance Championship venue.

Eurofarma RC’s Daniel Serra and Joao Paulo de Oliveira won the race ahead of Rubens Barrichello with Filipe Albuquerque in second and third-placed Ricardo Mauricio and his wildcard driver Felipe Nasr. 

Kelvin van der Linde and Cesar Ramos led the race for a while and finished third on track but were later penalized 20 seconds for completing the mandatory pit stop during a safety car period.

Other drivers in the field included Pipo Derani, Oliver Jarvis, Laurens Vanthoor, Augusto Farfus, Nicky Catsburg, Felipe Massa, Robin Frijns and Jeroen Bleekemolen.

RESULTS: Corrida de Duplas

News & Notes

***The entry lists for both the British GT Championship and GT4 European Series were released following each series’ tests last week. A total of 36 cars, including 13 GT3 entries, will take part in British GT while a 47-car GT4 field is set for the European series, which received more than 70 entry requests. Both championships will run with capacity grids.

***Rofgo Racing dedicated its GT win in the Hankook 12 Hours of Silverstone to Henry Hope-Frost, the British motorsport journalist and broadcaster who passed away at the age of 47 over the weekend. Hope-Frost was a regular on broadcasts at Goodwood and Autosport International.

***AutoArena Motorsport will enter a Mercedes in the ADAC GT Masters this season with support from HTP Motorsport and Patrick Assenheimer and Clemens Schmid driving. Aust Motorsport, meanwhile, has signed Remo Lips and Maximilian Hacklaender to drive its second Audi R8 LMS GT3 in the series with Frederic Vervisch and Nikolaj Rogivue previously confirmed in its other car.

***The first two GT4 entries for the CAMS Australian GT Championship have been announced with Jeremy Gray and Mark Griffith set to drive an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 and Ginetta G55 GT4, respectively. Gray will partner with Andrew Meidecke in the endurance events while Griffith’s Ginetta is currently only confirmed for the season-opener at Melbourne later this month.

***FFF Racing Team by ACM has revealed its Blancpain GT Series Asia lineups after announcing in January that it would campaign a pair of Lamborghinis in the series. Dennis Lind and Martin Kodric will share one car in the Silver Cup while Marco Mapelli and Hiroshi Hamaguchi will compete together in the Pro-Am category. Sandy Stuvik and Shae Davies will drive one of Craft-Bamboo Racing’s two Porsche GT3s in the Asian series, meanwhile.