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Gulf 12H

Optimum McLaren Stripped of Victory

Optimum Motorsport stripped of Gulf 12H after post-race pitlane speeding penalty…

Photo: Optimum Motorsport

Optimum Motorsport has been stripped of its victory in the Lenovo Gulf 12 Hours after receiving a post-race penalty for two pitlane speeding infractions.

The No. 69 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Todd Coleman, Frederik Schandorff and Aaron Telitz had initially triumphed after coming out on top in a duel with the No. 25 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

However, stewards determined post-race that Schandorff was found to have twice exceeded the pit lane speed limit on exit during his two final stops with an average speed of 66.1 kph (41 mph) and 71.9 kph (44.7 mph), respectively.

The maximum speed limit in the pits during the Gulf 12H is set at 60 kph (37 mph).

As a result of the infractions, the No. 69 McLaren was given a drivethrough penalty for each of the infractions, converted to a 30-second post-race penalty.

The stewards’ decision document goes on to state that “as the first breach was not reported prior to the second breach occurring, the stewards determine that it is not appropriate to impose an increased penalty for the repeat offence.”

As a result of the penalty, Zhou Bihuang, Gilles Magnus and Dennis Marschall have been promoted to first place, giving Audi its first Gulf 12H victory since 2019.

Herberth Porsche Penalised for Drive Time Infringement

Additionally, the No. 7 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R was penalized after the race due to a drive time infringement.

Stewards found that Dustin Blattner and Ralf Bohn failed to meet the minimum combined Bronze driving time, resulting in a penalty of one lap plus 67 seconds.

The No. 7 Porsche keeps its GT3 Am class wins as it was three laps ahead of the nearest challenger, but drops to eighth in the overall classification as a result of the penalty.

RESULTS: Lenovo Gulf 12 Hours (Final)

This story was updated at 3 a.m. GST (6 p.m. EDT) to include the additional penalty for Herberth Motorsport.

Davey Euwema is Sportscar365's European Editor. Based in The Netherlands, Euwema covers the FIA World Endurance Championship, European Le Mans Series and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, among other series.

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