Weekly Racing Roundup (6.5.23)

Crash Ends Super GT Race Early; Result Under Appeal

A huge accident caused the third round of the Super GT season to be ended 18 laps early while the results remain provisional under an appeal from the NDDP Racing Nissan team.

Nissan GT500 driver Tsugio Matsuda and GT300 competitor Kosuke Matsuura came together and made heavy contact with the right-side barriers at the exit of Suzuka’s fast 130R left-hander.

Both drivers were OK after the accident, with Matsuda’s NISMO team later confirming that, following a hospital evaluation, the experienced Japanese driver did not suffer any major injuries.

When the race was halted, the No. 3 Nissan Z GT500 of Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi was at the front and it was provisionally declared the winner. However, ten teams protested against the fact that it hadn’t completed two mandatory pit stops.

Following that hearing, Super GT amended the provisional results with a 60-second penalty for the No. 3 Nissan, which dropped it to fourth and promoted the WedsSport Bandoh Toyota GR Supra of Yuji Kunimoto and Sena Sakaguchi to the victory spot.

NDDP Racing’s initial objection to its penalty was rejected by the race organizers but, according to the series, the Nissan team has announced its intention to appeal.

While there was confusion surrounding the GT500 winner, Team Studie took victory in the GT300 class with its BMW M4 GT3 driven by Seiji Ara and Masataka Yanagida.

RESULTS: Suzuka (provisional)

Xwift Weathers the Storm to Win GT4 Europe Thriller

Toyota team Xwift Racing fought off torrential rain on slick tires to win the second of two GT4 European Series races at Paul Ricard last weekend.

Etienne Cheli and Antoine Potty claimed Silver Cup and overall honors after the latter driver successfully steered Xwift’s Toyota GR Supra GT4 through a downpour in the final 20 minutes.

The first half of the second race was dry, with Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin driver Konstantin Lachenauer leading the Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 of Gabriele Piana.

After a delay on its out-lap, the Aston Martin lost ground and Michael Schrey took the lead for Hofor until rain started falling.

Several cars pitted for wet tires, although many also remained on wets as the precipitation was only light. Schrey was one of those to stay on his car’s original tires, as was Potty in the second-placed Toyota.

Potty overtook Schrey into Signes but the pair remained close as the rain worsened into a downpour. The Xwift driver managed to crawl around the final lap to take the win, while Schrey was tapped into a slow spin at Signes by an out-of-control Mercedes-AMG.

The highest-placed car that adopted wets was the Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW in fourth, but it was significantly quicker than the cars that had stayed on wets.

Race 1 saw Lachenauer and Victor Weyrich take victory for Racing Spirit of Leman after leapfrogging the Xwift Toyota in the pits.

Potty and Cheli went on to finish second and left Paul Ricard as the second-highest pairing in the Silver Cup standings behind Schrey and Piana.

RESULTS: Race 1 / Race 2

***The Paul Ricard event also included the inaugural round of the McLaren Trophy one-make series. Euan Hankey and Mark Hopton swept the weekend in their McLaren Artura Trophy run by the Greystone GT team. Top honors in the 570S class went to One Motorsport’s Bradley Ellis and David Foster, followed by solo driver Danny Henrey from 7TSIX. Race 1 / Race 2

On this weekend: FIA World Endurance Championship (Le Mans), ADAC GT Masters (Hockenheim), 24H Series (Monza)