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Racing Roundup

Weekly Racing Roundup (6.25.18)

Race reports from VLN, DTM, Blancpain GT Sports Club and GT4 European Series…

 

Photo: Mercedes

Wittmann Denies Mortara a Double DTM Win at Norisring

Edoardo Mortara came close to scoring a double win in the DTM rounds at the Norisring in Nuremburg with Marco Wittmann holding on for a narrow victory in Race 2.

The BMW Team RMG driver finished just 0.450 seconds clear of Mortara’s No. 48 Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM to take his second win of the season in Sunday’s race at the DTM’s only street circuit.

This came after Mortara took a solid win on Saturday in his HWA-run Mercedes over championship leader Gary Paffett whose attempts to take the lead in the closing stages proved unsuccessful.

Wittmann completed the podium in the weekend’s first race, a further sixth-tenths behind Paffett.

It was a difficult weekend for the Audi contingent with a best result of seventh from Nico Mueller in Race 2 coming after the Audi RS5 DTMs failed to score any points on Saturday.

RESULTS: Norisring

Photo: VLN

Frikadelli Scores First VLN Win in Three Years

Lance David Arnold and Felipe Fernandez Laser gave Frikadelli Racing its first win in three years on Saturday as the VLN season got back underway following the Nürburgring 24.

Frikadelli’s No. 31 Porsche 911 GT3 R finished the four-hour race with a 34-second lead over the Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 of Frank Stippler and Vincent Kolb.

Frikadelli was in a race against the clock to prepare its car for the start of the race after Laser went off track during qualifying.

Wochenspiegel Team Monschau locked out the front row in qualifying, giving Ferrari a 1-2 on the grid for the first time in the series’ history.

The team’s No. 22 Ferrari 488 GT3 completed the podium, while Falken Motorsports finished fourth with its BMW M6 GT3.

RESULTS: VLN 3

Photo: SRO

RN Vision STS, Equipe Verschuur Secure GT4 European Series Wins

RN Vision STS and Equipe Verschuur each claimed a win in the GT4 European Series rounds at Misano.

Gabriele Piana and Razvan Umbrarescu combined in the first race to take their RN Vision STS-run BMW M4 GT4 to its first win of the season while Finlay Hutchison and Ricardo van der Ende completed a similar feat in Race 2.

The battle early on Saturday’s race was between van der Ende and Phoenix Racing’s Nicolaj Moller-Madsen and continued until after the pit stops when Hutchison and Milan Dontje, now in the lead cars, were followed by Umbrarescu.

Hutchison and Dontje were later given penalties for lapping cars during a safety car period, giving Umbrarescu the effective lead and his first win of the season.

In Race 2, Hutchison passed Dontje to take the lead on lap five and he and van der Ende stayed out front for the rest of the race.

The No. 10 McLaren 570S GT4 crossed the line ten seconds clear of Saturday winner Piana.

RESULTS: Race 1; Race 2

Photo: SRO

Lucchini Leads Lights-to-Flag in Blancpain GT Sports Club at Misano

Luigi Lucchini took a commanding lights-to-flag victory in the Blancpain GT Sports Club Main Race at Misano on Sunday morning.

The BMS Scuderia Italia driver took his Ferrari F458 Italia GT3 to the win after also claiming victory in Saturday’s Qualifying Race.

Karim Ojjeh finished second in his Boutsen Ginion-run BMW M6 GT3 while Coach McKansy secured the final podium position for HP Racing International.

Mario Cordoni attempted to make up positions early in the race but he spun his AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 while overtaking Ojjeh, dropping him to the back of the field.

Ojjeh passed McKansy’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 with 15 minutes remaining to take the runner-up spot.

RESULTS: Main Race

News & Notes

***Jake Dennis will replace Alessio Picariello in Montaplast by Land Motorsport’s No. 29 Audi R8 LMS GT3 for the rest of the ADAC GT Masters season. He will join Christopher Mies in the car beginning at the Nürburgring round on Aug. 4-5.

***The Japanese leg of the Blancpain GT Series Asia gets underway this weekend with a season-high grid of 31 cars set for Suzuka. It includes 23 GT3 entries and eight GT4 cars including several local teams with race-by-race entries such as CarGuy Racing, D’station Racing and Porsche Team Ebi.

***Next Monday’s edition of the Weekly Racing Roundup will include reports from the Blancpain GT Series Asia races as well as the LMP3 Cup from Snetterton.

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.

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