Weekly Racing Roundup (7.5.21)

PK Carsport Interrupts High Class GT2 Form

Peter Guelinckx and Bert Longin returned to the top step of the Fanatec GT2 European Series podium after the PK Carsport Audi pairing overcame High Class Racing’s Anders Fjordbach and Mark Patterson in the second of last Saturday’s two races at Misano.

A late Guelinckx overtake on Patterson’s Audi R8 LMS GT2 at the Quercia left-hander gave PK Carsport its first win since the Monza season-opener, and capped the High Class team’s run of victories at three races.

Patterson and Fjordbach prevailed in the first contest at Misano as Audis occupied all three podium places.

High Class started eighth on the grid with KTM driver Kris Rosenberger on pole, but Patterson had risen to fifth by the time a safety car period occurred after around 20 minutes, due to Einar Thorsen spinning into the gravel.

The pit window took place shortly after the green flag, with Patterson handing over to Fjordbach who posted a series of quick laps to get past the KTM X-Bow GT2s at the front.

After the pit sequence, Fjordbach was running second behind Target Racing’s Cedric Leimer, but moved into the lead when the Swiss driver’s Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo GT2 encountered a mechanical problem 13 minutes from the end.

Stephane Ratel and Luca Pirri inherited second in their Audi, ahead of Guelinckx and Longin.

Race two saw Longin lead away from Fjordbach, who applied pressure before making a pass at Quercia on 10 minutes.

Patterson took the reins of the High Class Audi with a four-second advantage over Guelinckx, but that gradually came down until the Belgian made a crucial move around the outside at Quercia with eight minutes left.

RESULTS: Race 1 / Race 2

Other Racing Action and News

***Alberto di Folco, Andrea Amici and Stuart Middleton won the second round of the Italian GT Championship Endurance series at Mugello driving an Imperiale Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo. A mid-race rain shower prompted some teams to change to wet tires, creating different strategies. Imperiale initially finished second, but was promoted to the win after Audi Sport Italia incurred a 15-second post-race time penalty for an infringement at one of its pit stops. Results

***TDS Racing’s FIA World Endurance Championship customers, Racing Team Nederland and Realteam Racing, will enter this weekend’s European Le Mans Series round at Monza. The 44-car entry list for Sunday’s race also includes the addition of an Oreca 07 Gibson from WEC entrant JOTA. The ELMS and WEC are holding rounds at Monza on consecutive weekends.

***Louis Deletraz will be in Team WRT’s LMP2 lineup for the 4 Hours of Monza after recovering from COVID-19. The Swiss driver said on Instagram that he was “100 percent ready” after completing an isolation period.

***Naoki Yokomizo will sub for Takeshi Kimura in Car Guy Racing’s GT300 lineup for the rescheduled Suzuka Super GT round, which clashes with the 24 Hours of Le Mans in August. Kimura is due to compete at Le Mans with Kessel Racing. Yokomizo, a former GT300 champion, will share the Pacific Car Guy Ferrari with ex-WEC driver Kei Cozzolino.

***Prodrive will run the 2019-20 WEC title-winning No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Factory driver Marco Sorensen, who won the world championship alongside Nicki Thiim, will drive up the famous Sussex hill climb.

***The DTM’s upcoming visit to the Lausitzring will include the use of the full six-degree banked Turn 1 rather than the first five corners of the infield section. An additional practice session will be held for drivers to get acquainted with the revised circuit layout. In addition, the Lausitzring’s grandstands will be opened to one-third of their capacity.

***DTM organizer ITR’s director of events and operations, Frederic Elsner, commented: “It will be a breathtaking, unforgettable experience when the drivers have to master this corner at high speed, pure racing action. The track layout is an undisputed highlight, a first for all the drivers and all motorsport fans, whether they are finally back close to the action in the grandstands or anywhere in the world in front of the screens.”

***Wochenspiegel Team Monschau has booked its 24H Series return at this month’s 24 Hours of Portimao, where the Phoenix-run squad is due to field a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 for Daniel Keilwitz, Leonard Weiss, Georg Weiss and Jochen Krumbach.

***24H Series organizer Creventic says that 30 entries have been registered for January’s 6 Hours of Abu Dhabi, which is again taking place one week after the Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai. The draft entry list includes 11 cars in the top GT3 category.

***Pirelli GT4 America champions Michael Dinan and Robby Foley have booked a second GT Open outing for this weekend’s round at the Hungaroring. The American pair will jump into a Kessel Racing Ferrari after piloting a TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 at Spa.

***Additionally, Olimp Racing will run a pair of Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos in Hungary. Karol Basz and Marcin Jedlinski are due to share one car, while Krystian Korzeniowski and Jedlinski’s father Stanislaw are teaming up in the other entry.

On this weekend: European Le Mans Series (Monza), ADAC GT Masters (Zandvoort), NLS (Round 5, Round 6), British GT (Donington), International GT Open (Hungaroring)