Scuderia Praha Wins 12H Brno for Third 2019 Victory

Bohemia Racing by Scuderia Praha extended its 24H Series European Championship points lead with its third victory of the season in the Hankook 12 Hours of Brno.

The Czech squad’s No. 11 Ferrari 488 GT3 driven by Matteo Malucelli, Jiri Pisarik and Josef Kral won by almost one and a half minutes from the Am-class No. 91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R of Daniel Allemann, Ralf Bohn and Robert Renauer.

Scuderia Praha has now taken three wins on the bounce following victories in the 12-hour races at Mugello and Spa.

It also marked the team’s third straight Brno win after it took top honors in the 2015 race and the 2016 edition which ran to a 24-hour format.

Malucelli took the lead during the opening stint with a move on the No. 34 Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo, which had in turn taken the lead after the front-row starting No. 88 Car Collection and OLIMP Racing Audis clashed on the formation lap.

The Ferrari then went on to command the rest of Friday’s opening three-hour segment, ahead of the No. 88 Audi which recovered from its early contact with the OLIMP car.

However, Scuderia Praha lost the lead at the start of the nine-hour Saturday spell of racing to the No. 91 Herberth Porsche which was performing better in the early track conditions.

As the race progressed, the Ferrari closed back in and reclaimed the lead in the penultimate hour when the Herberth crew made a slow pit stop.

Malucelli brought the Ferrari to the line ahead of Renauer, while the CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 finished third in the hands of Charles Putman, Joe Foster and Charles Espenlaub.

The American-entered Mercedes took its first outright podium of the season after a steering issue hit the No. 88 Car Collection Audi of Jurgen Haering, Taki Konstantinu, Tim Mueller and Markus Winkelhock in the final 20 minutes.

OLIMP Racing’s Audi came through in fourth, ahead of the MDC Sports Mercedes and the other Herberth Porsche.

The No. 88 Car Collection Audi was classified 20 laps down in eighth position, behind its sister car.

RTR Projects won the GT4 category with its KTM X-BOW GT4 of Tomas Enge, Sergej Pavlovec, Jan Krabec and Eike Angermayr finishing 11th overall.

In the TCR ranks, Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR took its third win of the season, adding to victories in the 24 Hours of Dubai and 12H Mugello.

Antti Buri, Kari-Pekka Laaksonen and Fabian Danz finished a lap ahead of the NKPP Racing by Bas Koeten Racing Seat Cupra TCR, while the Red Camel-Jordans.nl Seat completed the podium.

RESULTS: Hankook 12H Brno