Weekly Racing Roundup (9.7.20)

Lamborghini ST Europe Rolls On at the ‘Ring

Dean Stoneman and Kikko Galbiati won race one as Alberto di Folco and Kevin Rossel triumphed in race two of Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe’s Nürburgring weekend.

Stoneman, who won as a solo driver last time out at Misano, and his Bonaldi Motorsport co-driver Galbiati won the opening 50-minute encounter from second on the grid.

Stoneman steered the No. 33 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo into the lead at Turn 1 with a move on pole-sitter Karol Basz in the Pro-Am class VS Racing machine.

The British driver led from Basz into the pit sequence, which took place under a safety car after Libor Dvoracek stopped on track.

Galbiati then tightened the Bonaldi Motorsport car’s grip on the race after Stoneman’s early work.

Behind the Italian, Basz’s co-driver Andrzej Lewandowski lost second place to Milos Pavlovic, who had taken over from Raul Guzman.

Galbiati crossed the line four seconds clear of Pavlovic as Lewandoswki lost a further two places to di Folco and Loris Spinelli, but Spinelli’s overzealous maneuver on di Folco for third garnered a time penalty that elevated Basz and Lewandowski to fourth.

Race two saw di Folco and his Target Racing co-driver Rossel improve on their earlier podium take victory.

Di Folco made a lightning start to vault himself into second from third on the grid, slotting in behind pole-sitter Spinelli and in front of Oregon Team’s Dorian Boccolacci.

The pit window then signaled a shake-up at the front as Rossel emerged ahead of Boccolacci’s teammate Kevin Gilardoni.

Rossel built on di Folco’s initial good work to pull away and secure the win, while behind Gilardoni kept Guzman at bay to claim his and Boccolacci’s first Super Trofeo Europe podium.

RESULTS: Race 1 / Race 2

First DTM Wins for Van der Line, Frijns

Sheldon van der Linde claimed his maiden DTM victory for BMW in a red-flagged second race at Assen.

Rain and incidents marred Race 2 of the weekend but it was South African van der Linde who came out on top at the checkered flag.

The race started under the safety car with Audi’s Loic Duval out front but a strategic masterstroke saw van der Linde lead the field back to green after a red flag for Fabio Scherer’s crash.

Robin Frijns and Nico Mueller were second and third respectively but the Audi pair engaged in a battle in the closing stages allowing the BMW of van der Linde to sprint to a two-second win.

Duval and Rene Rast completed the top five.

In Race 1 Frijns passed Duval to claim his maiden DTM win as well on home soil, in front of trackside spectators for the first time this season.

Duval had led for much of the race but began to fade late on as Frijns made a move on the back straight for the lead.

Mueller was unable to pass Duval as the latter held onto second as Mike Rockenfeller and Rast rounded out an Audi white-wash in the top five.

RESULTS: Assen

Other Racing Action

***NM Racing won the weekend’s first GT4 European Series race at Nürburgring with its Mercedes-AMG GT4 driven by Lluc Ibanez and Xavier Lloveras. The Spanish squad started third but vaulted Centri Porche Ticino and CMR’s Toyota GT Supra GT4 in the pits to secure its second win of the season. (results)

***In Race 2, the Pro-Am pairing of Jan Kasperlik and Bastian Buus took overall honors in their Allied-Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport. Buus ran second to his teammate Nicolaj Moller-Madsen in the first stint, before jumping ahead in the driver swaps, while Theo Nouet in the AGS Events Aston Martin Vantage GT4 overtook Madsen’s co-driver Joerg Viebahn who ended up fifth. CMR’s Toyota duo of Stephane Lemeret and Gael Castelli went on to claim a brace of podiums. (results)

***HIRIX Good Day Racing won the Fuji 24 Hours – and took an early lead in the Super Taikyu championship – with its Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. The car driven by Shaun Thong, Yuki Nemoto, Daisuke Yamawaki and Shinichi Takagi prevailed in a rain-affected race that was put on hold for several hours due to the unforgiving conditions. DENSO’s Lexus RC GT3 finished second, four laps down on the winner, while Daishin’s Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 was third. (results)

***Larry ten Voorde clinched the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup title with a lights-to-flag victory in the final round of the season at Monza. The Dutchman dominated to grab the upper hand over his season-long rival Dylan Pereira, who finished fourth behind Florian Latorre and Leon Koehler.

***The Ultimate Cup Series held its first round of the year at Dijon. Miguel Cristovao, Julian Wagg and Alessandro Ghiretti won the four-hour Challenge Proto/CN race in their Team Virage Ligier JS P3, while AB Sport Auto’s Renault R.S. 01 took the GT spoils. (results)

Other News

***The NLS has brought its final round forward by two weeks, creating a double-header season finale. The DMV four-hour race will take place on Saturday, Nov. 7 while the ADAC ACAS Cup will follow straight after on Nov. 8. The move comes after a successful trial of the double-header format for rounds two and three.

***Volkswagen is re-mobilizing its ID.R electric prototype for a run at the new Goodwood SpeedWeek competition next month. The time trial event is being held behind closed doors at Goodwood Motor Circuit, rather than on the Sussex estate’s hill climb where the VW special broke Nick Heidfeld’s long-standing overall record last year.

On this weekend: GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup (Magny-Cours), Super GT (Motegi), DTM (Nürburgring GP), International GT Open (Red Bull Ring)

Slade Perrins contributed to this report.