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Weekend Racing Roundup, 7.7

Catch up on the latest action from around the world…

Photo: Australian GT Championship

Photo: Australian GT Championship

No summer break yet as this week’s Sportscar365 Weekend Racing Roundup shows. Action from Australian GT, Belgian Racing Car Championship, French GT, GT4 European Series, International GT Open and VLN…it’s all in here!

Australian GT Championship
Reigning Australian GT Champion Klark Quinn won his first race of the season in the first of three 40-minute sprint races at Townsville, Queensland. The McLaren driver was third after the opening lap and it was pole-sitter Steve Richards who led until the pit stops. A safety car period caused a reshuffle and when the field was released again with two laps to go Quinn was in the lead and went on to win the race.

In race two on Sunday championship leader Richard Muscat took the lead in turn four on the opening lap, but spun on lap 12. Klark Quinn took the lead, but six laps later his McLaren suffered an engine sensor failure and he was forced to retire. Tony D’Alberto inherited the lead and teammate John Bowe went on to win after taking over during the pit stops.

The third and final race saw Bowe dropping to third at the start, but he was soon back in the lead. After the pit stops, with Bowe/D’Alberto having to stop an extra ten seconds, it was Muscat in the lead. D’Alberto pushed hard, broke the lap record, but finished four seconds down on Muscat.

Race 1 – 1. Darrell Lea (K. Quinn) McLaren, 2. Erebus Motorsport (Muscat) Mercedes, 3. VIP Petfoods (T. Quinn) Aston Martin

Race 2 – 1. Maranello Motorsport (Bowe/D’Alberto) Ferrari, 2. VIP Petfoods (T. Quinn) Aston Martin, 3. Erebus Motorsport (Muscat) Mercedes

Race 3 – 1. Erebus Motorsport (Muscat) Mercedes, 2. Maranello Motorsport (Bowe/D’Alberto) Ferrari, 3. VIP Petfoods (T. Quinn) Aston Martin

Photo: Vincent Wouters

Photo: Vincent Wouters

Belgian Racing Car Championship
Fred Bouvy and Michaël Schmetz scored their first victories in Belgian Racing Car Championship at the Zandvoort Masters this weekend, as the format was changed from one 180-minute to two 90-minute races.

The Red Bull liveried No. 9 Brussels Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage had to start at the back of the grid on Saturday, but took the lead from the No. 99 Belgium Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R of Kenneth Heyer, Dylan Derdaele and Xavier Maassen after the second and final safety car period ten minutes from the end.

The pole-sitting NSC Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 GT3 of Nick Castburg and Thierry Verstraete couldn’t challenge for the lead in the final dash to the finish as the car was stuck in gear.

On Sunday Bouvy and Schmetz took a straightforward win starting from pole, once again in front of the No. 99 Belgium Racing Porsche. After having problems with the air jacks in Race 1, the second Brussels Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage of Tim Verbergt, Damien Coens and Bert Redant made it to the podium this time, as the NSC Lambo was penalized with a late 10 second stop-and-go for overtaking under yellow.

Heyer-Maassen-Derdaele now lead the championship with a small margin on both Brussels Racing Aston Martins.

Race 1 – 1. Brussels Racing Aston Martin (Schmetz/Bouvy), 2. Belgium Racing Porsche (Heyer/Maassen/Derdaele) 3. Thems Racing Ferrari (Van Hooydonk/Vandierendonck)

Race 2 – 1. Brussels Racing Aston Martin (Schmetz/Bouvy), 2. Belgium Racing Porsche (Heyer/Maassen/Derdaele) 3. Brussels Racing Aston Martin (Verbergt/Redant/Coens), 4. NSC Motorsport Lamborghini (Verstraete/Catsburg)

Photo: DPPI

Photo: DPPI

French GT Championship
After visiting Spa-Francorchamps the French GT teams went to Val de Vienne this weekend and it was another victory for Philippe Giauque and Morgan Moullin-Traffort in the opening race on Saturday.

The Sofrev ASP drivers were fifth before the pit stops, second after their stop and with 22 minutes left Moullin-Traffort took the lead. Soheil Ayari closed the gap after Moullin-Traffort ran off the track, but despite being threatened by Ayari Moullin-Traffort held on to the lead.

On Sunday Moullin-Traffort battled with Nicolas Armindo and took the lead after ten minutes. He then pulled away and handed over the Ferrari to Giauque as late as possible and despite a 15-second pit handicap Giauque returned in front of Sainteloc Racing’s David Hallyday. Hallyday closed the gap to Giauque and passed the Ferrari on the last lap to claim victory.

Race 1 – 1. Sofrev ASP (Giauque/Moullin-Traffort) Ferrari, 2. Duqueine (Police/Ayari) Ferrari, 3. Sport Garage (Cayrolle/Santamato) Ferrari.

Race 2 – 1. Sainteloc Racing (Hallyday/Guilvert) Audi, 2. Sofrev ASP (Giauque/Moullin-Traffort) Ferrari, 3. Sofrev ASP (Debard/Panis) Ferrari.

Photo: Marcel ten Caat

Photo: Marcel ten Caat

GT4 European Series
Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport drivers Ricardo van der Ende and Bernhard van Oranje were the masters of Zandvoort following a double win in this weekend’s Zandvoort Masters event.

On Saturday the Racing Team Holland BMWs started from the front row, but Germany’s Jörg Viebahn passed them both before the pit window. His Dutch teammate Bertus Sanders held onto the lead after the pit stops, but he lost the lead when his gearbox went into neutral. In traffic Van der Ende pulled away from the other competitors to win race one.

In race two Van der Ende and Van Oranje won their second race of the weekend. Van der Ende moved into the lead on lap three and teammate Van Oranje had no difficulties pulling away from the rest of the field. Once again Viebahn’s Porsche closed in rapidly, but the German driver ran out of time and finished in second place.

Race 1 – 1. Racing Team Holland (van der Ende/B van Oranje) BMW, 2. PROsport Performance (Viebahn/Sanders) Porsche, 3. Racing Team Holland (Knap/PC van Oranje) BMW

Race 2 – 1. Racing Team Holland (van der Ende/B van Oranje) BMW, 2. PROsport Performance (Viebahn/Sanders) Porsche, 3. Alfab Racing (Roos/Behrens) Aston Martin.

Photo: FOTOSPEEDY

Photo: FOTOSPEEDY

International GT Open
A warm Hungaroring hosted round four of the season and it was Ombra Racing claiming victory in race one. Villorba Corse took the lead at the start and it was Montermini who built up an eight second lead before the pit stops. Ombra Racing’s Alan Sicart took the lead during the pit stops, courtesy of not having a pit time handicap, and he managed to keep AF Corse’s Giorgio Roda behind during his stint.

In race two V8 Racing’s Nicky Pastorelli lost the lead to Zampieri and the top two stayed the same until the pit stops. After the driver changes Maleev was in the lead, followed by Isaac Tutumlu and Miguel Ramos. The two Corvette drivers passed Maleev and then went on to fight each other. Ramos took the lead on lap 32 and Tutumlu was unable to pass him after that. With the win Pastorelli and Ramos have retaken the championship lead.

Race 1 – 1. Ombra Racing (Barba/Sicart) Ferrari, 2. AF Corse (Roda/Ruberti) Ferrari, 3. V8 Racing (Ramos/Pastorelli) Corvette.

Race 2 – 1. V8 Racing (Ramos/Pastorelli) Corvette, 2. SRT (Soulet/Tutumlu) Corvette, 3. Scuderia Villorba Corse (Montermini/Schiro) Ferrari.

Photo: VLN

Photo: VLN

VLN
The first post-Nürburgring 24 Hours race of the VLN season took place this weekend and resulted in a second win of the season for Frikadelli Racing. Sabine Schmitz, Klaus Abbelen, Patrick Huisman and Frank Stippler finished first after two hours and 45 minutes.

The race was shortened after an accident in practice resulted in a lot of work for the Stewards of the Meeting. A lot of drivers didn’t respect the 60kmh limit and before everything was sorted several hours had gone by. Despite being penalized as well the Frikadelli Racing Porsche fought back to take the overall win.

Race – 1. Frikadelli Racing Team (Schmitz/Abbelen/Huisman/Stippler) Porsche, 2. GetSpeed Performance (Osieka/Mies/Jans) Porsche, 3. Raceunion Teichmann Racing (Brinkmann/Laser/Palttala) Porsche.

Marcel ten Caat (@marceltencaat) is a contributor to Sportscar365 and other publications including Autosport.nl.

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