Weekly Racing Roundup (1.3.22)

***Hu Bo has been awarded the Audi Sport Asia Trophy as the manufacturer’s top privateer driver in the region. The GT Super Sprint Challenge GT4 champion earned 773 points to top the leaderboard of 65 competitors, earning a €50,000 prize in the process.

***Audi Sport’s head of Asian customer racing, Alexander Blackie, commented: “Congratulations to Hu Bo, our deserved champion after a fantastic debut year with Audi Sport. His win with the Audi R8 LMS GT4 is a complement to the concept of the Audi Sport Asia Trophy, where privateers fielding any Audi race car – from the entry-level Audi RS 3 LMS to the top-line Audi R8 LMS GT3 – compete with one another across different series all over Asia.”

***United Autosports has withdrawn its GT4 entry from the Gulf 12 Hours due to “scheduling commitments”, according to the team. IndyCar stars Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist were due to share a McLaren 570S GT4 with United co-owners Zak Brown and Richard Dean. Brown and Dean tried multiple times but were ultimately unable to enter a GT4 race together last year.

***Ben Barnicoat, Sheikh Isa-Al Khalifa and Martin Kodric will pursue a defense of their 2021 Gulf 12 Hours victory with 2 Seas Motorsport, having been announced in one of the team’s driver lineups for the race on Jan. 8. The British outfit’s other Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo will be driven by Morgan Tillbrook, Ian Loggie and GT racing newcomer Casper Stevenson in the Am class.

***Gulf 12 Hours promoter Driving Force Events has yet to release a full entry list with drivers for the event, which kicks off with testing and Free Practice 1 on Thursday. The English-language broadcast team has been announced, with David Addison and Mark Werrell forming the lead commentating duo and Alan Hyde reporting from pit lane.

***Two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Romain Dumas had an eventful start to the Dakar Rally when he offered his Rebellion DXX to company CEO Alexandre Pesci, whose vehicle was destroyed in a fire during the shakedown stage. Dumas was then given the keys to a Toyota Hilux by three-time Dakar winner and Rebellion ambassador Nasser Al-Attiyah so that he could take part in the race. Stage 2 is taking place on Monday.

On this weekend: Gulf 12 Hours (Yas Marina)