Weekly Racing Roundup (6.6.22)

PROsport Aston Pair Sweep GT4 Round

Hugo Sasse and Mike David Ortmann won both GT4 European Series races at Paul Ricard to mark the second consecutive double victory for an Aston Martin entry this season.

The PROsport Racing pair rose from 11th on the grid to win the first 60-minute contest in their Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

A five-place grid drop carried over from a contact penalty at the previous round pushed them outside the top 10 for the start of Saturday’s encounter.

Simon Gachet got the best start in the No. 89 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG GT4 and built a lead of six seconds until a safety car period occurred for contact between the sister No. 53 Akkodis machine and Team Speedcar’s Audi R8 LMS GT4.

This erased the advantage that Pro-Am competitor Gachet had over the Silver pack, which shuffled to the front when the Am drivers stepped in for the second stint.

Ortmann had reached the top five before the pit stops under safety car, while Sasse charged through to put pressure on leading CMR Toyota Supra driver Romain Monti.

Sasse drafted past on the run down to Signes and set off to a three-second margin of victory, while Monti and Antoine Potty settled for second.

Sasse started Race 2 from fourth on the grid and took third immediately before passing the Pro-Am Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R of Kenny Herremans for second overall.

PROsport stopped earlier than the leading Mercedes-AMG of NM Racing and emerged from the pit window a couple of seconds behind, but Ortmann ate into the deficit and passed Enzo Joulie at Signes to hit the front.

Konstantin Lachenauer then also overtook Joulie in his and Gus Bowers’ Imola-dominating Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin and hustled Ortmann in the closing stages, but the PROsport driver held on by a tiny margin.

RESULTS: Race 1 / Race 2

Another Super Trofeo Brace for Spinelli, Weering

The in-form pairing of Loris Spinelli and Max Weering continued their unbeaten start to the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe campaign with two wins at Paul Ricard. 

The Bonaldi Motorsport duo dominated both 50-minute races in the south of France, giving themselves a huge 64-point cushion at the top of the Pro drivers’ standings.

Weering started Race 1 from pole and remained in that position throughout the first stint, although Arkadia Racing’s Pierre-Louis Chovet managed to keep close behind.

Bonaldi elected to bring its Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 into the pits before its closest pursuers, with Spinelli emerging for the second stint before Chovet and others had come in.

The late-pitting Chovet, a Super Trofeo debutant, handed over to Johan Boris Scheier but the Arkadia car suddenly slowed after its pit stop with a loss of power.

That gave Spinelli’s lead greater protection, while Target Racing’s Milan Teekens assumed second.

Instead of closing the gap to eventual winner Spinelli, Teekens became engaged in a battle with Amaury Bonduel that ended in contact and a spin for the Target driver at Beausset. Bonduel handed the place back but was handed a 10-second time penalty.

Teekens and Marzio Moretti also claimed second in Race 2, behind Spinelli and Weering who once again prevailed from pole.

Spinelli managed to gain some ground on Teekens in the first stint despite an early safety car due to Scheier crashing out from third after a tangle with Lewis Williamson.

Weering inherited the Bonaldi Huracan with nine seconds in hand to Moretti, who reduced the gap to just under six seconds but no further.

Solo driver Manuel Bejarano, who is Spinelli and Weering’s closest Pro championship contender after two rounds, completed the overall podium for Imperiale Racing.

Of note, the European fixture at Paul Ricard welcomed the 1000th Super Trofeo driver since the platform was established in 2009.

RESULTS: Race 1 / Race 2

Other Racing Action & News

***A Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 won the 24 Hours of Fuji, which took place across Saturday and Sunday. The Helm Motorsport quartet Yuya Hiraki, Reiji Hiraki, Yutaka Toriba and Shaun Thong completed 760 laps and finished two laps clear of the second-placed Grid Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. Results

***The Italian GT Championship held its second Sprint round of the year at Misano, where Ferrari and Honda teams shared out the honors. Jose Manuel Urcera and Daniele di Amato claimed victory in Race 1 driving Scuderia Baldini’s Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, before Jacopo Guidetti and Leonardo Moncini won the second contest for the Nova Race outfit. Race 1 / Race 2

***The Gulf 12 Hours will run as a continuous race for the first time in its history, promoter Driving Force Events has announced. The last 11 editions of the race, which typically takes place at Yas Marina and will do so again this year, have been split into two six-hour halves.

***Head of the Gulf 12H promoter team Andrea Ficarelli said: “Due to popular demand, we have taken on board feedback from all our competitors past and present and are happy to introduce a 12-hour race in one go instead of in two parts.” The race is open to GT3 (Pro, Pro-Am, Am), GT4 and 992-gen Porsche Cup cars. Ligier JS 2Rs and KTM X-Bow GTXs are also being considered.

***Japanese broadcaster J Sport and SRO Motorsports Group have agreed to a new deal for the TV network to show the rest of the current Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS season, which holds its next four rounds at Japanese circuits.

On this weekend: FIA World Endurance Championship (Circuit de la Sarthe)