News & Notes Roundup: 12.16

Photo: Trophy Andros

***A number of sports car racing stars are taking to the ice, quite literally, this month, in the Trophee Andros French ice racing championship, which had its second round in Andorra last weekend. Franck Lagorce took the Elite Pro win and the championship lead in his Dacia Lodgy ahead of Jean-Baptiste Duborg (Renault Clio), while Matthieu Vaxiviere dominated both Electrique finals, with Nathanael Berthon taking a brace of podiums places behind him.

***Penske IndyCar driver and 2010 ALMS champion Simon Pagenaud was a guest driver in the Electrique class, while other sports car aces taking part included Olivier Panis (WRT Audi A1 Quattro), Vincent Beltoise (nephew of Jean-Pierre), Aurelien Panis (son of Olivier), and Adrien Tambay (son of Patrick).

***The Trophee Andros heads to Alpe H’Huez in the French Alps this weekend for Round 3 of 8, all of which are being shown in Europe on Motors TV. WEC commentator Mark Cole is presenting the British coverage, which you catch this Sunday at 1:45 p.m. UK time.

***More than two-dozen cars are taking part in a multi-day test in Barcelona. Included are a fleet of AF Corse Ferraris, no fewer than eight Ligier JS P3s, all fielded by an array of customer teams, as well as an ADESS 03 LMp3 car for a new team. The test wraps up later this week.

***Audi’s new R18 reportedly sustained a small fire during last week’s test at Sebring, which cost the German squad roughly a day of track time. The car was repaired and returned to the track on Thursday for the fourth and final day of testing at the airfield circuit.

***A handful of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona teams have recently taken delivery of their new cars for 2016. It includes Stevenson Motorsports (Audi R8 LMS), Paul Miller Racing (Lamborghini Huracan GT3) and Alex Job Racing (Porsche 911 GT3 R).

***GM is hosting its annual Champions Event at the Heritage Center in Detroit this afternoon, to recognize its accomplishments across all forms of motorsport. A number of sports car racing drivers, including 2015 Pirelli World Challenge champion Johnny O’Connell from Cadillac Racing, all three of Corvette Racing’s Le Mans GTE-Pro class winners, IMSA Prototype champions Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi and Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge GS champions Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis will be on hand.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John