Sainteloc Junior Team Wins 12H Mugello in Tense Final Hour

Caption: Racingpixels/Creventic

Sainteloc Junior Team took victory in the Michelin 12H Mugello after a tense final-hour battle with Herberth Motorsport.

The No. 18 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, driven by Pierre Kaffer, Michael Doppelmayr, Elia Erhart, Ernst Inderbitzin and Stephane Tribaudini, crossed the line just 5.758 seconds ahead of the No. 91 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of Herberth Motorsport.

The No. 44 ARC Bratislava Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO came home third overall and first in the GT3-Am class. The Slovakian team led the race on several occasions, but ultimately dropped to third during the final pitstops.

Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport crossed the line in fourth.

The No. 28 GetSpeed Team PCX Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo rounded out the top five. Friday’s polesitter dropped down to 14^th place at the overnight intervention, but fought back up to fifth at the flag.

Sainteloc Junior Team started the final six-and-a-half hours of the race in fifth place on Sunday morning. The French team maintained position in the top five before a strong mid-race stint from Kaffer brought it into contention for the victory.

After the final pitstops of the race, Sainteloc Junior Team held a lead of just under 40 seconds to Herberth Motorsport’s No. 91 Porsche.

Herberth’s Ralf Bohn had a slight fuel advantage compared to Sainteloc’s No. 18 Audi going into the final stint. Several fast laps by the German driver saw him reduce Kaffer’s gap to just under three seconds, but he was unable to overtake the Sainteloc Junior Team before the chequered flag.

The No. 21 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of HAAS RT led the race into the overnight intervention on Saturday. The father-and-son pairing of Peter and Nicolas Guelinckx maintained a top-four position in the opening hours of Sunday’s race, but steering damage from contact with another car saw the Belgian team lose several laps, eventually finishing in 11th position.

In the 992 class, Mühlner Motorsport took victory ahead of the No. 909 Red Camel-Jordans.nl entry. QMMF by HRT Performance took 992-Am class honors.

Vortex was victorious in the GTX class after mechanical issues for the Dinamic Motorsport Maserati MC20 GT2.

The TCE-TCX win went to asBest Racing’s Seat Leon Cup Racer.

The second round of the Michelin 24H European Series will take place at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on April 17-19.

RESULTS: Michelin 12H Mugello

Finlay Ringer

Finlay Ringer is a freelance motorsport journalist covering the 24H Series for Sportscar365. He is also a journalism student at City St George's, University of London, and has contributed to publications such as The Race and Autocar.