Weekly Racing Roundup (6.4.18)

Di Resta, Wittmann Claim DTM Wins at Hungaroring

Paul di Resta and Marco Wittmann each scored a race win in the DTM rounds at the Hungaroring on Saturday and Sunday, with the latter leading a BMW podium sweep in Race 2.

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Remus driver di Resta started Saturday’s race from pole but lost the lead to fellow Mercedes driver Lucas Auer early on.

The Scot reclaimed the lead several laps later and held onto the position for the remainder of the race, giving him his first win of the season.

Wittmann then went on to win Race 2 with BMW M4 DTMs locking out all three podium positions. The BMW Team RMG driver finished ahead of Timo Glock and Philipp Eng.

The race was interrupted following incidents in the pit lane which saw Auer, Edoardo Mortara and Bruno Spengler slide on the slippery concrete surface.

Several people working in the pit lane suffered injuries, including a Hungarian marshal who was flown to hospital with severe leg injuries. No-one involved was in critical condition at any time.

RESULTS: Hungaroring

Ojjeh Scores First Blancpain GT Sports Club Victory

Karim Ojjeh picked up his first victory in the Blancpain GT Sports Club on Saturday after dominating the Main Race at Circuit Paul Ricard.

The Saudi Arabian driver moved into the lead at the start of the race in his Boutsen Ginion-run BMW M6 GT3 and was able to build up a significant gap over Qualifying Race winner Luigi Lucchini.

Ojjeh remained out front for the rest of the race while battles unfolded behind him, including a three-way fight for second between Lucchini, Patrick van Glabeke and Murod Sultanov.

Sultanov had started from ninth but made his way up to fourth by the end of the first lap. Lucchini eventually finished just 0.281 seconds clear of Sultanov, with van Glabeke in fourth.

Ojjeh also picked up the Titanium Cup class win while Klaus Dieter Frers moved into the Iron Cup points lead with his class win.

RESULTS: Qualifying Race; Main Race 

Bates, Gaunt Win Shortened Phillip Island 101

Tony Bates and Daniel Gaunt claimed victory in the CAMS Australian GT Championship Phillip Island 101 after more than 4.5 hours of racing.

Two red flag delays meant the race only ran for 78 of the scheduled 101 laps, with the Audi R8 LMS GT3 of winners Bates and Gaunt leading just ten laps.

Bates started the race and remained inside the top five for the opening stint before Gaunt took over on lap 51, after the first major red-flag interruption.

The endurance win has moved Bates into the overall Australian GT standings.

News & Notes

***Ecurie Ecosse/Nielsen Racing and Mectech Motorsport each won one of the LMP3 Cup Championship’s races at Spa-Francorchamps with Tony Wells and Colin Noble leading Race 1 and Bradley Smith and Duncan Williams in Race 2. The field shared the grid with GT Cup for the weekend.

***Super GT regular CarGuy Racing has confirmed entries into the Blancpain GT Series Asia rounds at Suzuka and Fuji. It currently runs a Honda NSX GT3 in the Japanese series but will enter a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 in the SRO-run series; the same car with which it won at Fuji last year.

***Marco Cioci and Matt Griffin will share a third Luzich Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 in the International GT Open rounds at Spa this weekend. The team is currently second in the teams’ standings.

***Rinaldi Racing will also enter an extra Ferrari in this weekend’s GT Open races, with Rinat Salikhov driving solo. The Russian is a regular in the Blancpain GT Series and drives a Pro-Am Ferrari for Rinaldi in the Endurance Cup.

***Matthew George will drive two different GT4 cars in Sunday’s British GT Championship three-hour enduro at Silverstone. He will race both the Generation AMR Super Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 and Invictus Games Racing Jaguar F-Type SVR GT4.

***Next Monday’s edition of the Weekly Racing Roundup will include reports from the International GT Open at Spa and British GT Championship’s Silverstone 500.