GP Elite Porsche Victorious in Rain-Hit 12H Mugello

Team GP Elite took its first overall victory in Hankook 24H Series competition by converting an overnight lead in the Hankook 12H Mugello into victory on Sunday, even as it encountered rain in the closing hours.

The No. 32 Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven by Lucas Groeneveld, Max van Splunteren, Jesse van Kuijk and Daan van Kuijk, led a Porsche 1-2 by finishing two laps clear of the Herberth Motorsport entry of Jason Hart, Ralf Bohn and Scott Noble.

The Dutch squad had held the lead of the race after crossing the line first on Saturday ahead of the overnight intervention and maintained and extended that advantage as the remaining 5,5 hours of running were completed on Sunday.

It successfully navigated its way through rain that fell for the majority of the final two hours, which culminated in a lengthy Code 60 for a crash for E2P Racing’s Antonio Sainero.

The No. 90 Porsche hit a patch of standing water, which resulted in Sainero losing control and making heavy contact with the wall approaching Turn 1 with 32 minutes left on the clock.

That curtailed green flag running for the rest of the contest, with the race finishing under caution as GP Elite took their first overall series win.

The No. 85 CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Charles Putman, Charles Espenlaub, Shane Lewis and Joe Foster completed the overall podium, ahead of BMW squad Poulsen Racing.

The No. 8 BOEM by Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 driven by L.M.D.V., Alessandro Cutrera, Marco Talarico, Marco Frezza and David Fumanelli rounded out the overall top five.

992 class winners Red Ant Racing took sixth overall ahead of Juta Racing and Heart of Racing by SPS’ No. 27 Mercedes-AMG.

The remainder of the top ten was made up by 992 class contenders, most notably the ninth-placed No. 963 Orchid Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, which was spearheaded by Romain Dumas and nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb.

In GT4, Aliyyah Koloc, David Vrsecky and Adam Lacko bounced back from a 19-lap deficit to take class victory aboard the No. 416 Buggyra ZM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4.

The UAE-flagged squad began Sunday’s second portion of the race on the back foot after dropping back with power steering issues on Saturday, but moved up the order as class rivals suffered issues.

The No. 424 Lionspeed GP Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS of Jose Garcia, Patrick Kolb, Daniel Miller and Dennis Bohn finished second in class after both contact with the No. 58 MP Racing Mercedes-AMG and a rear left puncture for Bohn slowed their progress.

Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport, which led the class at the overnight intervention, was eliminated from contention when the No. 431 BMW M4 GT4 suffered a rear axle failure.

RESULTS: Hankook 12H Mugello