Weekly Racing Roundup (9.17.18)

Photo: SRO

Dontje, Moller Madsen Crowned GT4 European Series Champions

Milan Dontje and Nicolaj Moller Madsen were crowned 2018 GT4 European Series champions at the season finale at the Nürburgring on Sunday. 

A fifth-place finish in Sunday’s Race 2 was enough for the Phoenix Racing drivers to claim the title and beat rivals MDM Motorsport and HHC Motorsport.

The MDM BMW M4 GT4 of Max Koebolt and Simon Knap and the HHC Ginetta G55 GT4 of Stuart Middleton and Will Tregurtha both retired in the final race.

All three crews finished the season level on points but the Phoenix drivers claimed the title by having more race wins.

They claimed victory at Zolder, Brands Hatch and Spa-Francorchamps with their Audi R8 LMS GT4.

A collision between an RN Vision STS BMW and the No. 35 CMR-run Alpine A110 GT4 at Turn 2 effectively decided the title battle.

Moller Madsen missed the spinning Alpine but Middleton and Koebolt both got caught up with the MDM driver hitting the Alpine and Middleton instead hit by another car trying to avoid the incident.

While MDM retired on the spit, the HHC Ginetta remained on track in a position good enough to secure the British crew the title.

However, the car caught fire in the pit stop, and although Tregurtha was sent back out, the car was soon forced into retirement with the issue worsening. 

Ricardo van der Ende and Finlay Hutichson took the race win on Sunday while Dontje finished fifth.

Beitske Visser and Nico Menzel won Saturday’s race for RN Vision STS, meanwhile.

RESULTS: Race 1; Race 2

News & Notes

***Next week’s edition of the Weekly Racing Roundup will include reports from the British GT Championship finale, as well as Blancpain GT Series Asia, Michelin Le Mans Cup, VLN, International GT Open and DTM races.

***2016 British GT champion Derek Johnston has announced his retirement from racing, with this weekend’s British GT race at Donington Park set to be his last. He won the 2016 GT3 title alongside Jonny Adam at TF Sport.

***Graham Johnson and Mike Robinson will move up to the British GT GT3 class this weekend after slipping out of GT4 title contention. The pair will drive Balfe Motorsport’s McLaren 650S GT3 as part of an evaluation for their 2019 program.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.