Weekly Racing Roundup (9.3.18)

Falken Scores 1-2 in VLN as Bachler Sets Lap Record

Falken Motorsports scored its first 1-2 finish in VLN competition in the sixth race of the season on Saturday with Klaus Bachler and Martin Ragginger taking the win.

Bachler and Ragginger’s Porsche 911 GT3 R finished just two seconds ahead of the team’s BMW M6 GT3 driven by Stef Dusseldorp and Alexandre Imperatori.

Bachler moved into the lead on the run down to the first corner in the four-hour race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife before posting a VLN lap record on his second lap, with a time of 7:56.259.

Falken dominated the race, with Land Motorsport the only team able to challenge the pair of blue and green cars until Sheldon van der Linde and Jeffrey Schmidt were forced to drop out on lap 15 with tire damage.

Konrad Motorsport completed the podium, scoring its first top-three position of the season with its Lamborghini Huracan GT3 driven by Christopher Brueck and Michele Di Martino.

RESULTS: VLN 6

Eversley Crowned Inaugural PWC TCR Champion

Ryan Eversley won the inaugural Pirelli World Challenge TCR championship title at Watkins Glen International on Sunday with a double victory over the weekend.

He scored his fifth win of the 12-race season in the finale to clinch the title while rival Michael Lewis dropped back early.

His double win in upstate New York came after earlier victories at Virginia International Raceway, Lime Rock Park and Portland International Raceway in his No. 43 Honda Civic Type R TCR.

Only Eversley and Bryan Herta Autosport drivers Lewis and Mark Wilkins stood on the top step of the podium this season.

Lewis started Race 2 from pole but came into the pits with a problem on his Hyundai i30 N TCR, putting Eversley in prime position to claim championship honors.

Eversley ultimately finished ahead of teammate Mason Filippi, who finished third on Saturday behind Lewis.

RESULTS: Race 1; Race 2

Ojjeh Clinches Blancpain GT Sports Club Title in Hungary

Karim Ojjeh wrapped up the Blancpain GT Sports Club championship at the Hungaroring on Sunday morning in the penultimate race of the season.

The Saudi Arabian driver won the 40-minute race by 31 seconds ahead of Mario Cordoni, giving him his fourth Main Race win of the season in the No. 2 Boutsen Ginion BMW M6 GT3.

Ojjeh and Patrick van Glabeke passed Coach McKansy at the first corner but the AF Corse driver had his hopes of a win ended by a spin. 

Cordoni was in the lead meanwhile, but Ojjeh managed to pass him around the outside at Turn 2, in what proved to be the race-deciding move.

He continued out front for the rest of the race while Cordoni and McKansy completed the podium.

He racked up a total of 136 points in the first five weekends of the season, and with second-placed Cordoni on 82 points, Ojjeh has no chance of being beaten at the final in Barcelona.

Kenny Habul won the Qualifying Race on Saturday on his series debut but was taken ill overnight and so withdrew from both Sunday’s Sports Club and Blancpain GT races.

RESULTS: Hungaroring

Onslow-Cole, Pierburg Take Maiden GT Open Win at Silverstone

Tom Onslow-Cole and Valentin Pierburg dominated the second International GT Open race of the weekend at Silverstone on Sunday, taking their first overall series win.

The SPS Automotive Performance drivers picked up their fifth Pro-Am class victory of the season in their Mercedes-AMG GT3 after leading from lights to flag.

It came after Luzich Racing’s Daniel Serra and Marco Cioci won for the second time this year in Race 1 on Saturday.

Cioci had to defend from Jeroen Mul in the closing stages while Teo Martin’s Fran Rueda and Andres Saravia completed the podium.

Mul and Giovanni Venturini finished runner-up in both races, and have now come second six times this season. 

Third in the standings, they closed the gap to 14 points behind Mikkel Mac, who finished fourth with Alessandro Pier Guidi in Race 2.

Rueda and Saravia are second in the points table, nine points behind the leaders with two races each at Monza and Barcelona left to run.

RESULTS: Race 1; Race 2

MDM, RN Vision STS Win Red-Flagged GT4 European Series Races

MDM Motorsport and RN Vision STS took the GT4 European Series wins in a pair of red-flagged races at the Hungaroring.

Max Koebolt and Simon Knap’s gamble to stay out on slick tires paid off despite a heavy rain shower during the pit window in Saturday’s first race which was prematurely stopped due to dangerous conditions.

Most teams came into to the pits to switch to rain tires but MDM chose to keep Koebolt out until the very end of the pit window before sending Knap out on slick tires, hoping that conditions would improve.

Rainfall continued and race control decided to end the race early with the No. 1 BMW M4 GT4 out front.

In Sunday’s Race 2, Beitske Visser and Nico Menzel led a 1-2 finish for RN Vision STS, after Menzel made up several positions in his first stint to take the lead shortly after the pit window opened.

He was one of the last drivers to come in and Visser exited the pits with a 37-second lead over her teammate Gabriele Piana.

The race was again red-flagged and ended early when Leipert Motorsport’s Marcus Paverud went off track.

All four overall winners over the course of the weekend were first-time victors in the series.

RESULTS: Race 1; Race 2