Yas Marina Post-Race Notebook

***Mercedes-AMG beat BMW to the manufacturers’ title by a margin of five points, despite winning one fewer race. While AMG came out on top at Yas Marina and Bathurst, BMW racked up wins at Kyalami, Spa-Francorchamps and Indianapolis. Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Christoph Sagemueller accepted the distinctive, globe-shaped trophy on behalf of the manufacturer.

***The brand’s Head of Customer Racing Stefan Wendl, who was also in attendance in Abu Dhabi, reflected with pride on Mercedes-AMG’s successful 2023 season. “Actually, I can’t be more proud than I am on this season,” he told Sportscar365.

***Wendl continued: “I came from Macau winning the FIA GT World Cup, which is the most competitive sprint race on the most difficult track in the world, which makes us really proud. And then coming here with this IGTC trophy, which means a lot for us, because it reflects our competitiveness on the most iconic tracks. It shows, from my perspective, also the strength of our customer teams and of our driver lineup.”

***Sky Tempesta driver Jonathan Hui took home the Independent Cup title, despite a class victory for Herberth Motorsport’s Antares Au. Hui, who shared the No. 93 McLaren 72oS GT3 Evo with Kevin Tse, Eddie Cheever and Chris Froggatt, finished just four points ahead of Au in the standings.

***Au, Tim Heinemann and Matteo Cairoli persevered through a troublesome race with the No. 33 Porsche 911 GT3 R that saw them hampered with both radio issues and a left-rear puncture.

***GruppeM Racing fell short of the Gulf 12H distance record, which was set in the January 2022 edition by 2 Seas Motorsport. Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and Mikael Grenier covered 348 laps, 11 less than Martin Kodric, Isa Al Khalifa and Ben Barnicoat managed.

***Engel, Stolz and Grenier, meanwhile, all became first time winners at the event, marking the second time in a row an entire lineup of drivers won the event for the first time after Antonio Fuoco, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi did so last year.

***Gounon is the third Mercedes-AMG driver to be crowned drivers’ champion following Daniel Juncadella in 2022 and Tristan Vautier in 2018. The Andorran driver ended with 91 points, while the overall win saw Luca Stolz jump into second place with 83 points ahead of Dries Vanthoor (80), Philipp Eng (74) and Sheldon van der Linde (68).

***Eng said: “It was, of course, disappointing that we had the technical issue. It cost us several laps, and thus, the championship battle was essentially over. However, we had a good package here, and the car performed well. The highlight of the season was, of course, the victory at Spa. Additionally, there was the win at Indianapolis and the podium at Kyalami.”

***The IGTC is yet to crown a repeat winner of the drivers’ championship. New champion Gounon was preceded by Laurens Vanthoor, Markus Winkelhock, Vautier, Dennis Olsen, Nicky Catsburg and Augusto Farfus, Come Ledogar and Alessandro Pier Guidi and finally Juncadella.

***Sportscar365 understands that the BMW M4 GT3 was given more boost as part of a pre-race Balance of Performance change because octane 98 fuel (a lower amount than at other IGTC races) had a negative impact on performance for the turbocharged car. To compensate, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo was given a 10 kg weight break.

***Maro Engel said GruppeM Racing’s plan to aggressively focus on serving its ten 100-second mandatory ‘Imposed Pit Stops’ was ‘defined quite early on’. The No. 99 Mercedes-AMG was the first car to visit the pit lane at the end of the opening lap and held a one-stop advantage over the remaining Pro runners for the vast majority of the contest.

***Additionally, Engel admitted GruppeM was “quite on the limit” of needing a brake change on the No. 99 car. “We kept a close eye on it,” he said. “The guys, after having inspected it, decided that we we could go to the end. From a driver’s perspective it felt good.”

***SunEnergy1 Racing’s hopes of a Pro-Am podium were dashed deep within the final hour of the race when the car first spun and then later stopped by the side of the track, both with Philip Ellis at the wheel. Ellis told Sportscar365 that first a brake failure and then an engine cooling issue were to blame for the problems.

***2 Seas Motorsport driver Ian Loggie encountered an unusual issue with his racing boots as the race played out. “My foot was stuck to the pedal with pickup and the heat off the pedal,” Loggie told SRO’s official broadcast. “So every time I wanted to come off the pedal and go to the brake, my foot stuck to the throttle. So I had to lift 20, 30 meters before, pull my foot off the throttle and then go on the brakes. The whole thing was a mess.”

***Loggie and co-drivers Isa Al Khalifa and Al Faisal al Zubair finished ninth overall and second in the Am-class, which was won by the Car Collection Motorsport Porsche of Dustin Blattner, Constantin Dressler and Joel Sturm.

***Twenty-four cars took the start of the race on the Sunday morning, with the No. 76 7Tsix Mercedes-AMG an additional withdrawal after Matthew Topham crashed the car at Turn 5 in qualifying on Saturday.

***Nicola Marinangeli brought the race for the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 to a premature end when he made rear contact with the barriers at Turn 5 with just under three hours to go, after which the car was retired.

***MP Racing’s family-driven No. 73 Mercedes-AMG of Thomas, Manuela, Corinna and David Gostner endured a troubled run that included a refueling issue, as well as several spins. It finished 18th overall.

***With this year’s IGTC season completed, focus now turns to the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour on Feb. 16-19. The Gulf 12H will not feature next year, with the Nürburgring 24 making its debut on the calendar for the first time.