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Weekly Racing Roundup (8.15.22)

Recaps from 24 Hours of Zolder and China GT Championship, plus news and notes…

Photo: Audi Sport

Vanthoor Stars as Audi Wins 24H Zolder

Audi Sport factory driver Dries Vanthoor spearheaded a 24 Hours of Zolder overall win for PK Carsport with its Audi R8 LMS GT2.

Vanthoor teamed up with Bert Longin, Stienes Longin, Nicolas Saelens and Peter Guelinckx for the annual competition organized by Belgium’s national Belcar series.

The GT3 star, who also won the event in 2018, set the fastest lap of the race as he helped PK Carsport to a three-lap margin of victory over the Q1 Trackracing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup driven by Florian Latorre, Jan Lauryssen, Filip Teunkens and Tommy Rau.

Fellow Porsche Cup squad Belgium Racing completed the podium, a couple of seconds ahead of Russel Racing by NGT.

PK Carsport started from second on the grid but dropped a few positions during the opening hours, however it had returned to the sharp end by one-quarter distance to battle for the lead with the Q1 Trackracing and Red Ant Racing Porsche crews.

It remained close between PK Carsport and Q1 during the night, but the Audi took charge in the second half and broke clear by putting several laps on its competitors.

The result signified the first 24-hour race win for Audi’s GT2 racing model.

RESULTS: 24 Hours of Zolder

Photo: Absolute Racing

China GT Season Kicks Off at Ningbo

The China GT Championship launched its new season at Ningbo where driver pairings from FAW Audi Racing Team and Harmony Racing shared out the spoils.

Cheng Congfu and Chris Chia won the opener in their Absolute Racing-prepared FAW Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, beating the Harmony Ferrari duo of David Weian Chen and reigning Macau Grand Prix winner Charles Leong by 5.6 seconds.

Cheng made a confident start from pole position and established an 11-second lead that Chia inherited for the closing stint. The Audi driver remained out front despite the No. 488 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 making inroads in the latter stages.

Chen and Leong then won the second race by beating Cheng and Chia in a tight battle.

The Harmony Ferrari led throughout, but Cheng put the pressure on Leong in the final laps, leaving the FAW Audi just half a second away from a double victory weekend.

A 10-second post-race time penalty was then applied to the Audi squad due to multiple track limits breaches, however TORO Racing’s No. 7 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo was far enough behind to ensure FAW kept second place.

RESULTS: Race 1 / Race 2

Photo: Kevin Pecks/SRO

News & Notes

***Dinamic Motorsport has joined the ADAC GT Masters grid for its series debut at the Lausitzring this weekend. The Italian squad, which usually races in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, will field a single Porsche 911 GT3 R for Klaus Bachler and Adrien de Leener. Bachler and de Leener drive different Dinamic cars in GTWC Europe Sprint Cup.

****U.S-based Esses Racing has become a new sales agent for Ginetta racing machinery in North America. The outfit led by former Haas F1 team manager Dave O’Neill will provide support to customers purchasing and running cars of the G56 model type.

***Mike Rockenfeller will venture into the NASCAR Cup Series driving in two events for Chevrolet team Spire Motorsports. The 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and 2013 DTM champion will join the grid at Watkins Glen on Aug. 21 and at the Charlotte Roval course in October.

***British squad Greystone GT will make its International GT Open debut at the Red Bull Ring next month. Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda will drive the team’s McLaren 720S GT3 in the Pro-Am class. Greystone races full-time domestically in British GT and GT Cup, but has also occasionally ventured overseas, notably winning the GT4 class at the Gulf 12 Hours.

***BMW M Motorsport, in conjunction with BMW of North America, has placed the 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona-winning BMW M8 GTE for sale to a collector. The relevant car chassis No. 1809 underwent a test at Palm Beach International Raceway in February with Bill Auberlen behind the wheel. The buyer will also receive a vehicle running kit including engineering notes, and the 2020 Rolex 24 trophy.

***BMW factory driver Bruno Spengler fractured a T6 thoracic vertebra in an accident during last weekend’s FIA ETCR round at Vallelunga, where the Canadian’s Alfa Romeo Giulia ETCR hit the ground heavily after gaining air through a gravel trap. Spengler was taken to Sant’Andrea hospital for further precautionary checks and a diagnosis of his back injury.

***GMG Racing has joined the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS grid for this weekend’s fixture at Road America. Team owner James Sofronas and Kyle Washington will share a Porsche 911 GT3 R in the Am category. A total of 20 cars are on the GTWC America entry list. The Pirelli GT4 America and GT America entry lists can be found here and here.

***Audi Team Hitotsuyama has joined the GTWC Asia grid for the upcoming Sugo round with an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II in the Am class. The entry list consists of 17 cars in GT3 and four GT4 contenders.

On this weekend: Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS (Road America), Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS (Sugo), ADAC GT Masters (Lausitzring)

Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365, covering the FIA World Endurance Championship, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, among other series.

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