Weekend Racing Roundup, 11.2

The 2015 season draws to a close and more titles were decided this weekend. The International GT Open season finale was held in Spain, while over at the Nürburgring the VLN teams raced in their final round of the season. Over in Japan Super GT was at Autopolis for round seven of the 2015 season.

International GT Open
Teo Martín Motorsport drivers Miguel Ramos and Alvaro Parente clinched the 2015 International GT Open title at the Circuit de Catalunya this weekend, securing the first title for the McLaren 650S GT3.

Parente and Ramos finished in third place in the first race on Saturday, while teammates Andrew Watson and Fernando Monje won the penultimate race of the season. AF Corse’s Michele Rugolo and Pasin Lathouras had to win the race to keep a mathematical chance of winning the title, but a mistake late in the race cost them victory. A podium finish for Parente and Ramos was enough to secure the title.

On Sunday there was chaos on lap one, with the Ferrari of Ezequiel Perez Companc and Raffaele Giammaria one of the cars going off at the first corner. The AF Corse drivers fought back and shortly after the mandatory pit stops Perez Companc caught the two cars in front of him and moved into the lead, to take his fifth win of the season.

Race 1 – 1. Teo Martín Motorsport (Monje/Watson) McLaren, 2. AF Corse (Lathouras/Rugolo) Ferrari, 3. Teo Martín Motorsport (Ramos/Parente) McLaren.

Race 2 – 1. AF Corse (Perez Companc/Giammaria) Ferrari, 2. Shaune Balfe (Balfe/Keen) Ferrari, 3. Teo Martín Motorsport (Ramos/Parente) McLaren.

VLN
Foggy conditions meant the final round of the 2015 VLN series was red flagged earlier than planned, which resulted in a surprise victory for an SP7 class car, the first time since August 2009. Renault Clio drivers Dirk and Tim Groneck secured the VLN title.

The race itself was won by the Black Falcon Team TMD Friction Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of Manuel Metzger, Philipp Eng and ‘Gerwin’. The trio was in first place when the red flag was shown after 17 laps. Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus finished in second place, the SCG003C this time driven by Manuel Lauck, Franck Mailleux and Jeroen Bleekemolen.

Race – Black Falcon Team TMD Friction (Metzger/Eng/’Gerwin’) Porsche, 2. Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus (Lauck/Mailleux/Bleekemolen) SCG003C, 3. Frikadelli Racing (Kräling/Brück) Porsche.

Super GT
Round seven of the 2015 Super GT series took place at a cold Autopolis circuit and resulted in wins for Nissan in both GT500 and GT300.

The Calsonic Impul Nissan GT-R of Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira started from pole and held the lead, ahead of the Zent Cerumo Lexus RC F and the Motul Autech Nissan GT-R. The three cars battled for the lead until the pit stops.

Despite staying out longer and a quick pit stop, Hironobu Yasuda was unable to keep a flying Tsugio Matsuda behind. The No. 1 Motul Autech Nissan took the lead and Yasuda hanging onto the end it was Matsuda who won the race at Autopolis. Yasuda finished just three-tenths behind in second place.

In the GT300 class race victory went to the No. 3 B-MAX NDDP Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 of Kazuki Hoshino and Mitsunori Takaboshi, winning their second race of the 2015 season. Andre Couto and Katsumasa Chiyo started 14th on the grid, but finished in second place. The result means Couto takes the drivers’ title, while Gainer wins the Teams’ title.

Race (GT500) – 1. Motul Autech (Matsuda/Quintarelli) Nissan, 2. Calsonic Impul (Yasuda/De Oliveira) Nissan, 3. Keihin NSX (Tsukakoshi/Mutoh) Honda

Race (GT300) – 1. B-MAX NDDP (Hoshino/Takaboshi) Nissan, 2. Gainer Tanax (Couto/Chiyo) Nissan, 3. Studie (Muller/Ara) BMW.