Weekend Racing Roundup, 11.17

The FIA World Endurance Championship race in Bahrain wasn’t the only racing event this weekend, as several top drivers took part in the SUPER GT season finale at Motegi or raced in the Macau GT Cup on the Guia Circuits in Macau. In Europe the Italian racing season was concluded with the 6 Hours of Rome, at Vallelunga.

SUPER GT – GT500
James Rossiter headed to the final round of the 2014 SUPER GT season at Motegi leading the championship, but on the opening lap the Petronas Toms’s driver was hit by the Nissan GT-R of Joao Paulo de Oliveira. Pole-sitter Ronnie Quintarelli, third in the championship, was not involved and extended his lead over the S Road MOLA GT-R.

A faultless pit stop meant Tsugio Matsuda was back in the lead after all other teams had completed their mandatory stop. The KeePer TOM’S Lexus of Daisuke Ito and Andrea Caldarelli eventually moved into second place, but finished 51.744s behind race winners Matsuda and Quintareli. With 20 points for the winners Quintarelli eand Matsuda were crowned the new champions, beating the KeePer drivers. It was the first Nissan championship in six years.

Race – 1. Motul Autech (Matsuda/Quintarelli) Nissan, 2. KeePer TOM’S (Ito/Caldarelli) Lexus, 3. Weider Modulo (Yamamoto/Izawa) Honda.

SUPER GT – GT300
At Motegi it was Gainer Dixcel driver Bjorn Wirdheim who converted his pole position into the race lead as the GT300 field headed into the first corner. Behind the Swedish driver Morio Nitta (Prius) and Tatsuya Kataoka (BMW) battled for second place, with the Hatsune Miku BMW taking the position on the opening lap.

The OGT Panasonic Toyota Prius pitted first, with the BMW now chased by two rivals. Hatsune Miku changed four tires on the BMW, which cost them 15 extra seconds in the pits. As a result the Prius moved back into second place, where it stayed until the finish. The Gainer Dixcel Mercedes won the race, but BMW drivers Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Kataoka claimed the drivers’ title in GT300.

Race – 1. Gainer Dixcel (Hiranaka/Wirdheim) Mercedes, 2. OGT Panasonic (Nitta/Saga) Toyota, 3. Goodsmile Hatsune Mike (Taniguchi/Kataoka) BMW.

Macau GT Cup
Once again some of the best GT3 drivers lined up on the streets of Macau to fight for the Macau GT Cup this weekend. Three-time race winner Edoardo Mortara beat Blancpain GT Series champion Laurens Vanthoor to pole position, but the two Audi Race Experience drivers were unable to keep the Mercedes-AMG Driving Academy cars at bay.

Maro Engel and Renger van der Zande blasted through at the start, taking first and second just meters into the race. Van der Zande was unable to catch his teammate, the gap between the two cars just over a second for most of the race. The Audi drivers were not in a position to challenge Van der Zande and after 12 laps it was Engel who finally took the win, having lost the race with a puncture in 2013. Van der Zande finished 1.223s behind, while Mortara kept his podium streak going by taking third.

Race – 1. Mercedes-AMG Driving Academy (Engel) Mercedes, 2. Mercedes-AMG Driving Academy (Van der Zande) Mercedes, 3. Audi Race Experience (Mortara) Audi.

GT Asia Series
Round 13 of the GT Asia Series was held in Macau, as part of the Macau GT Cup, with the drivers lining up for the single 12-lap race. Heading into the final round Mok Weng Sun was the points leader, with Anthony Liu also still in contention for the title.

Anthony Liu started the race from 19th overall, right in front of Mok Weng Sung who qualified his car in 21st overall. In the race the BBT Ferrari made up one position, finishing 18th overall and taking the GT Asia Series race win. Mok Weng Sun finished second in class, which meant the Clearwater Racing drivers scored enough points to claim his third GT Asia Series title.

Race – 1. BBT Team by AF Corse (Liu) Ferrari, 2. Clearwater Racing (Mok) Ferrari, 3. Dilango Racing (Malagamuwa) Lamborghini.

6H di Roma
The Vallelunga circuit hosted the 6H di Roma this weekend and it was the Avelon Formula Wolf CN2 of Ivan Bellarosa, Luca Pirri and Alexey Chuklin that started the race from pole position, ahead of the MSR Corse Tatuus CN2.

In the race, however, the CN2 cars were beaten by the No. 1 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Giancarlo Fisichella, Marco Cioci and Piergiuseppe Perazzini. The AF Corse drivers finished almost a lap clear of the MSR Corse Tatuus and two laps clear of the second AF Corse Ferrari of Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin. Other notable entries were the Audi Sport Italia Audi R8 LMS and the Nova Race Nissan GT-R.

Race – 1. AF Corse (Fisichella/Cioci/Perazzini) Ferrari, 2. MSR Corse (Lacorte/Sernagiotto) Tatuus, 3. AF Corse (Cameron/Griffin) Ferrari.