Weekly Racing Roundup (5.29.23)

Optimum Wins Spa GT Open Race in Tight Finish

Charlie Fagg and Sam De Haan became the new International GT Open points leaders after taking victory in last weekend’s standalone race at Spa-Francorchamps.

The Optimum Motorsport McLaren pairing won by a narrow 0.067-second margin after Fagg held off Audi Sport factory driver Christopher Haase at the line.

Sunday’s race was a 140-minute affair that merged GT Open’s typical two-race format into a single ‘endurance’ contest.

Haase’s Eastaelent Racing co-driver Simon Reicher led the early stages until Diego Menchaca muscled his Team Motopark Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo down the inside at La Source just before 20 minutes.

De Haan also overtook Reicher, but the Eastalent Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II remained in the hunt during a race that included several safety cars for various incidents.

Heading into the final half-hour, Richard Lietz was the leader in the Car Collection-run Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R with Fagg putting on the pressure aboard Optimum’s McLaren 720S GT3 Evo.

However, the Porsche suddenly developed a mechanical problem on the Kemmel Straight, enabling Fagg to seize control with 21 minutes to go.

Haase closed the gap to the former FIA World Endurance Championship GTE-Am driver but couldn’t find a way past despite drawing level on the run to the checkered flag.

With their victory, Fagg and De Haan sit five points ahead of Menchaca and Marcos Siebert in the standings, after the Motopark Mercedes-AMG duo finished third at Spa.

RESULTS: Spa-Francorchamps

2 Seas Lands Third Win of British GT Season

Jonny Adam and James Cottingham claimed 2 Seas Motorsport’s third win of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship season to take a 7.5-point series lead.

Cottingham, who started the No. 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, settled into third during the early stages behind Andrew Howard and Shaun Balfe.

The 2 Seas driver then moved ahead of Balfe’s Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini before the pit stops occurred, during which the order at the head of the field changed.

Howard’s leading Beechdean AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 had trouble with out-of-position GT3 and GT4 cars, costing 11 seconds and causing the lead to swing in the direction of Adam and Cottingham.

A mid-race safety car after an accident for Greystone GT driver Mike Price at McLean’s left just 24 minutes of green flag racing in the second stint.

Adam managed to keep Euan Hankey’s Racelab McLaren 720S GT3 Evo at bay to secure the win by less than a second, while Jules Gounon and Ian Loggie took third in the other 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG.

GT4 honors went to the Optimum Motorsport McLaren pairing of Jack Brown and Charles Clark, however the results remain provisional pending the outcome of an investigation into the previous race at Silverstone.

Raceway Motorsport filed an appeal against the disqualification of its No. 56 Ginetta G56 GT4, which was black-flagged at Silverstone after failing to serve a drive-through.

Because the disqualification affected the GT4 podium positions, pit stop handicaps for the top three were not active at Donington. Handicaps will be retroactively applied once the outcome of the National Court Inquiry Hearing on June 5 is made official.

RESULTS: Donington Park

ASP Takes Mercedes-AMG’s First GT2 Win

Akkodis ASP gave the new Mercedes-AMG GT2 its first overall race victory in the second round of the Fanatec GT2 European Series season at the Red Bull Ring.

Mauro and Benjamin Ricci triumphed in the opening 50-minute contest for the French squad, beating the True Racing KTM duo of Stefan Rosina and Nicolas Saelens.

Rosina and Saelens then fought back in the second race to ensure they left Austria as the Pro-Am championship leaders.

ASP ran outside the top three during the opening stint of Race 1 but took the lead during the mandatory pit stops.

With seven minutes to go, a safety car was called after contact between the Ebimotors Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport Evo and the No. 88 LP Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2, resulting in a single-lap dash to the flag.

Benjamin Ricci held off Rosina in the sprint to take Mercedes-AMG’s first GT2 European Series win, on the series debut for GT3 and GT4 stalwart Akkodis ASP.

The second race saw KTM prevail at its home circuit, where Rosina fought his way into the lead on the opening lap after a battle with Pierre Kaffer and Reinhard Kofler.

Kaffer’s co-driver Michael Doppelmayr rose to the lead during the stops, but Saelens soon returned the No. 15 KTM X-Bow GT2 to the top spot.

Peter Guelinckx and Henry Hassid also overtook Doppelmayr in the second stint to put two Audis on the podium.

RESULTS: Race 1 / Race 2

Other Racing Action & News

***Oscar Tunjo and Julien Apotheloz took a victory and a second place in the second round of the Prototype Cup Germany season at Oschersleben. Their Van Ommen by Datalab Duqueine D08 Nissan finished second to the DKR Engineering Duqueine of Robin Rogalski and Valentino Catalano in the next encounter. Race 1 / Race 2

***ADAC GT4 Germany also kicked off at Oshersleben where reigning champions Mike David Ortmann and Hugo Sasse launched their title defense by winning the second race for Aston Martin squad PROsport Racing. That came after Jan Philipp Springob and Simon Primm prevailed in Race 1 sharing a CV Performance Group Mercedes-AMG GT4.

***Rookie Racing won the Fuji 24 Hours with a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo driven by Naoya Gamou, Tatsuya Kataoka, Hibiki Taira and Ryuta Ukai. The winning car completed 685 laps and finished just under 50 seconds ahead of the Daishin MP Racing Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3. In addition to claiming overall honors, Rookie also fielded a liquid hydrogen-powered Toyota Corolla that completed 358 laps and counted Toyota president Akio Toyoda and WRC team principal Jari-Matti Latvala as part of the lineup. Results

***Fuji marked Bridgestone’s first race as the new Super Taikyu tire supplier after a production plant fire caused Hankook to step down. Bridgestone will also supply the Japanese series next year, taking over from Hankook which replaced Pirelli in 2021.

***Audis swept the top four positions in the second round of the China Endurance Championship at Ningbo. Cheng Congfu and Chris Chia won from pole for the Absolute-run FAW Audi Racing Team, finishing ahead of Absolute Racing’s Hu Bo and Sun Jingzu, with Climax Racing entries in third and fourth. Results

***The Ultimate Cup Series was also in action at Hockenheim, where Zosh Competition’s Hugo Rostai and Jean Rene de Fournoux won the four-hour prototype endurance race in a Ligier JS P320 Nissan. Results

***Reigning IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR champion Taylor Hagler will make her GT4 European Series debut with W&S Motorsport. The American driver will share a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport with Gustavo Xavier at Paul Ricard, Spa-Francorchamps and Misano.

On this weekend: 24 Hours of Le Mans test day (Circuit de la Sarthe), Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup (Paul Ricard), Super GT (Suzuka)