Hartog Was “Fighting With Legends” in Hard-Fought Fourth

Photo: Xynamic/PMAP

Loek Hartog described his late-race battle with Nicky Catsburg as “fighting with the legends” as the Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver nearly pulled off an upset overall podium in Sunday’s Suzuka 1000km.

The 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America champion finished fourth overall alongside co-drivers Richard Lietz and Antares Au in the No. 10 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, picking up top Bronze Cup class honors in a stacked 12-car class.

The Chinese squad’s Porsche rebounded from a refueling issue early in the six-and-a-half-hour Intercontinental GT Challenge race to get back in contention when Porsche factory driver Lietz passed the No. 89 Team KRC BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Neil Verhagen for the class lead with three hours and 30 minutes to go.

“We had a refueling issue so we basically had to box again,” Lietz told Sportscar365. “Then we were a bit off-sequence but with the safety car we came back.

“Then at the end, with the [Herberth] car, [Ralf] Bohn was in the car, the Bronze driver. It was a bit of a fight.

“It was a crazy situation, the BMW went a bit in the gravel and I could take the lead.

“It was difficult to overtake him on track but with the mistake it was possible. Then once we were in clear air, we had a good pace.”

With a strong earlier stint by Bronze-rated Au, Lietz and Hartog handled the remaining driving duties, which saw the 22-year-old pass the No. 6 Origine Porsche of Laurin Heinrich following the car’s final stop and quickly close the gap to the third-placed No. 2 Johor Motorsports JMR Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Catsburg.

The two Dutch drivers then battled nose-to-tail, before Hartog made slight contact with the Corvette factory ace entering the final chicane with less than ten minutes to go, which resulted in Catsburg running wide.

No action was taken by race control, although it essentially solidified the finishing order.

“I just tried my best whenever I had the overspeed,” Hartog told Sportscar365. “Fair play. I kinda pushed him off. It’s fair. He took a bit of an advantage but I would have done the same thing in his shoes.

“It was just a great battle.”

Hartog, nonetheless, was beaming post-race with his starring late-race drive.

“I’m fighting with legends now,” he said. “It’s cool. I’m grateful for the opportunity. I’m happy with what we got.

“I think every second until that point where we basically got the jump below the other Bronze cars, it was really hard fighting. That’s what got us there.

“The rest of the race we could drive with a bit less pressure but in the end end when we were fighting for [overall] trophies, it got a bit more tense again.”

Lietz, meanwhile, indicated there were orders for Hartog to hold position in fourth overall in order to not jeopardize the Bronze Cup win.

“I think we made the call to stay where we were but when you are so close, as a driver, you also have to drive,” he said. “Thank god everything went well and they worked together and there was no major contact.

“A Bronze victory was perfect.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John