An early pit stop though for the Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo (#10, Brendon Leitch / Tyler Cooke / Fidel Leib / Seb Morris), plus mixed strategies for both the Porsche and the Ferrari, meant the lead continued to swap between all three contenders throughout the afternoon.

The die was cast during the final Code 60 though with a perfectly-timed pit stop from Haegeli by T2 Racing heading into the final hour, a call that ultimately secured the German team’s first 24H SERIES win in only its second 24H SERIES outing.

The competition was so tight that Marc Basseng collected the chequered at the end of 384 laps of the 4.574km Hockenheimring just 53 seconds ahead of a hard-charging Josef Král.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable,” Marc Basseng explained. “It’s our second race with this team and the new car, and now we’ve won! It was really hard, a big challenge, but our strategy was absolutely perfect and we made no mistakes. We had a little bit of luck as well, but in the end that’s what you need to win a race like this.”

Despite losing time during its penultimate stop for fuel, Leipert Motorsport completed a superb run to finish 3rd on the German team’s first GT3 outing since 2017.

Less than one lap back, the CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#85, Charles Putman / Charles Espenlaub / Joe Foster / Shane Lewis), which had been running 3rd in the closing stages, was forced to make a final splash-and-dash for fuel just two laps from home. The American team held on to finish a strong 4th.

Audi R8 LMS GT3s finished 5th, 6th and 7th on the road as Rutronik Racing by TECE (#18, Michael Doppelmayr / Pierre Kaffer / Elia Erhart / Swen Herberger) led home both the #34 (Gustav Edelhof / Elmar Grimm / Max Edelhoff) and the #88 (Pierre-Yves Paque / Martin Lechmann / Vincent Piemonte / Christian Kranenberg) Car Collection Motorsport entries. The latter had a difficult start to the day with two spins early on, one of which was on the way to the grid.  

Bas Koeten Racing took an impressive 1-2 finish in the 991 class, the Dutch team’s solo-entered Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (#925, Marcel van Berlo / Glenn van Berlo / Bart van Helden) leading home the ‘sister’ NKPP Racing by Bas Koeten Racing Cup car (#991, Harry Hilders / Gijs Bessem / Bas Barenbrug) after a metronimic run.

Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors (#955, Fabrizio Broggi / Sergiu Nicolae / Sabino de Castro) had been on-course to finish 3rd, but a long pit stop on the cusp of the final hour opened the door for DUWO Racing (#909, Andrey Mukovoz / Stanislav Sidoruk / Sergey Peregudov) to secure the final rostrum spot almost within sight of the flag.

The result means DUWO Racing now leads the Overall GT Teams’ standings with 69 points.

The post Haegeli by T2 Racing takes sensational first 24H Series win at Hockenheim first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

Split pit stop strategies and strong running throughout the afternoon meant that, following both teams’ final pit stops, the Volkswagen and the Audi were still on the same lap heading in the closing stages.

Mathieu Detry was scything into Emil Heyerdahl’s lead at a rate of just under a second per lap when the AC Motorsport Audi was forced to make a late-race splash-and-dash with eight minutes left on the clock. Incredibly, two laps later, the #1 Autorama Motorsport Volkswagen also had to pit for fuel, and both TCR cars were separated by less than 10 seconds when they rejoined.

Ultimately, Heyerdahl was able to secure Autorama Motorsport’s second successive TCE win of the season, albeit by just 4.3 seconds from AC Motorsport. The Swiss team completed 350 laps of the 4.574km Hockenheimring en-route to victory.

The race had looked set to be a three-way fight for victory with CWS Engineering (#278, Colin White / Jean- François Brunot), the Ginetta G55 GT4 even tangling with the AC Motorsport Audi on-track at one-stage. A late-race scare though saw the Ginetta lose its front right wheel heading out of the hairpin, necessitating a quick wheel hub repair.

Undeterred, the British team was still able to secure the final spot on the TCE podium as well as TCX class victory, a result that now leaves CWS Engineering just one point behind Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing in the Overall TCE Teams’ standings.

Behind CWS Engineering, the Munckhof Racing BMW M4 GTR (#210, Eric van den Munckhof / Marco Poland) finished a solid 4th ahead of the Autorama Motorsport SEAT León Cup Racer V1 DSG (#211, Luigi Stanco / Armando Stanco / Dario Stanco), the latter hacing lost time in the pits with broken bonnet pins.

The GSR Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR SEQ (#105, Ernesta Globytė / Rokas Kvedaras / Rolandas Salys / Rimvydas Savickas) suffered minor right rear wheel hub damage after a brief brush with the Stadler Motorsport Porsche, as well as an extensive coolant leak. The Lithuanian team recovered to finish 6th overall in TCE and 3rd in the TCR class on its first 24H SERIES event since 2019.

Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing’s second TCR entry (#112, Rhys Lloyd / Christoph Hurni / Christoph Lenz / Yannick Mettler) had also been in the fight for TCE victory early on, but terminal gearbox issues ended up dropping the Volkswagen out of contention. Following a three-hour pit stop, the Golf was able to finish the race in a classified 7th.

Endurance racing action continues on 16-17-18 July as the SERIES powered by Hankook travels to the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal for the fifth annual 24H PORTIMAO. After the summer break, CREVENTIC will host the returning 24H BARCELONA in Spain on 3-4-5 September.

The post Grandstand finish in TCE at the 12H Hockenheimring first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

The MiddleCap racing with Scuderia Praha Ferrari 488 GT3 (#11, Matúš Výboh / Josef Král / Dennis Waszek), which finished 2nd at both of the previous 24H SERIES events, got the ball rolling early around the 4.574km Hockenheimring with a 1m 39.109s, a time that ultimately would not be beaten during the 30-minute session.  

Just behind the Ferrari though, a scintillating lap from Germany’s Max Edelhoff secured the Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 (#34, Gustav Edelhof / Elmar Grimm / Max Edelhoff) its best qualifying position of the season, just three-tenths adrift of the #11 Ferrari. Further back, the Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo (#10, Brendon Leitch / Tyler Cooke / Fidel Leib / Seb Morris) claimed 3rd on the grid for its first GT3-class start in the 24H SERIES in more than four years, falling just 0.006s short of a front row start. Incredibly, the Rutronik Racing by TECE Audi R8 LMS GT3 (#18, Michael Doppelmayr / Pierre Kaffer / Elia Erhart / Swen Herberger) booked its own second row start on home turf with a laptime only 0.003s slower than Leipert.

Herberth Motorsport (#92, Jürgen Häring / Bobby Gonzales / Tim Müller / Alfred Renauer), already a two-time race winner in 2021, will start its home race from 6th on the grid, behind the Haegeli by T2 Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (#66, Pieder Decurtins / Manuel Lauck / Marc Basseng). In an unorthodox move for the perennial Porsche customer, Herberth will compete this weekend with a Ferrari 488 GT3.

Just behind the Bavarian team, the CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#85, Charles Putman / Charles Espenlaub / Joe Foster / Shane Lewis) and the second Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 (#88, Pierre-Yves Paque / Martin Lechmann / Vincent Piemonte / Christian Kranenberg) will line up 7th and 8th respectively.

The Reiter Engineering KTM X-BOW GTX (#725, Nico Pronk / Peter Kox / Dennis Retera) was the fastest of the GTX runners and will start 9th overall at The Hockenheimring ahead of the MP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo (#58, Thomas Gostner / David Gostner / Corinna Gostner). A spin for the latter heading into turn two briefly caused the Code 60 flags to be flown, but a swift recovery allowed the Italian team to rejoin and round out the overall top 10 on the grid.

The debuting 9und11 Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup MR (#719, Tim Scheerbrarth / Georg Goder / Ralf Oehme / Martin Schlüter) and Reiter Engineering’s second KTM (#724, Horst Felbermayr Jr. / Eike Angermayr / Nicolai Elghanayan / Mads Siljehaug) complete the GTX top three in qualifying and will start 11th and 12th overall. The Vortex V8 Vortex 1.0 meanwhile (#701, Philippe Bonnel / Nicolas Nobs / Bastien Gouret / Arnaud Gomez), which currently lies second in the Overall GT Teams’ championship, will start 19th after a difficult morning.

The final GTX runner this weekend – Red Camel Jordans.nl (#999, Ivo Breukers / Luc Breukers / Ivo Breukers) – endured a tough start to its debut weekend with the new 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, sensor issues preventing the Dutch team from completing even a single lap in qualifying. Red Camel Jordans.nl is set to start the race though this afternoon.
 Class pole position in the 991 class went to the Bas Koeten Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (#925, Marcel van Berlo / Glenn van Berlo / Bart van Helden), which took an astounding overall win at this event last year. The MRS GT-Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (#989, Saif Alameri / Nikolai Gadetskii / Thierry Vermeulen) fell just 0.070s short of snatching the category’s top spot, and will thus start between Bas Koeten’s entry and the Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (#955, Fabrizio Broggi / Sergiu Nicolae / Sabino de Castro).

The ST Racing BMW M4 GT4 (#438, Samantha Tan / Chandler Hull / Jon Miller / Nick Wittmer) remains unbeaten in GT4 qualifying during its maiden 24H SERIES campaign, although the Canadian team was aided by an off-track moment for its nearest rival, PROsport Racing. The Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (#401, Nico Verdonck / Rodrigue Gillion / Kurt Hensen) ended the 30-minute session in the barriers at turn 13 inside, an impact that brought an early end to qualifying for the 12H HOCKENHEIMRING.

The post MiddleCap racing with Scuderia Praha tops tight qualifying for 12H Hockenheimring first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

The AC Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS (#188, Stéphane Perrin / Mathieu Detry / Stefan Wieninger) was the first of the TCE runners to set a truly blistering lap – a 1m 51.014s – halfway through the division’s dedicated 30-minute qualifying session, although this time was quickly bested by the CWS Engineering Ginetta G55 (#278, Colin White / Jean-François Brunot).

AC Motorsport fell out of contention with 10 minutes of the session left to run, however, when Mathieu Detry beached the Audi in the gravel at turn two, bringing out a brief red flag. The Audi was recovered quickly, but the Belgian team took no further part in TCE qualifying. Detry’s pace was still fastest enough to secure AC Motorsport 3rd on the grid.

That left CWS Engineering and the two Autorama Motorsport Volkswagens as the main challengers for pole position, a 1m 49.819s from CWS eventually putting TCE pole position out of reach. This marks CWS Engineering’s first TCE pole in the 24H SERIES since last year’s 24H DUBAI.

The Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR DSG (#112, Rhys Lloyd / Christoph Hurni / Christoph Lenz / Yannick Mettler) will start alongside CWS Engineering on the front row courtesy of the Swiss team’s final flying lap, while the sister VW (#1, Constantin Kletzer / Jasmin Preisig / Emil Heyerdahl) will start 4th. The latter currently leads the Overall TCE Teams’ championship standings by just one point.

The GSR Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR (#105, Ernesta Globytė / Rokas Kvedaras / Rolandas Salys / Rimvydas Savickas) will make its first series start since 2019 from 5th on the grid. An early contender for pole position, Autorama Motorsport SEAT León Cup Racer V1 DSG (#211, Luigi Stanco / Armando Stanco / Dario Stanco) will start 6th ahead of TCX class rival, the Munckhof Racing BMW M4 GTR (#210, Eric van den Munckhof / Marco Poland).

The TOPCAR Sport CUPRA TCR DSG (#131, Ronny Jost / Fabian Danz / Ruedi Jost) was the first of the TCE runners to set a hot lap in the opening moments. Less than a minute after it had done so though, Ronny Jost ground to a halt on-track with suspected clutch problems. The CUPRA took no further part in the session, and will start from the back row of the grid.

The post CWS Engineering takes TCE pole position at Hockenheim first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

The Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (#91, Ralf Bohn / Daniel Allemann / Robert Renauer / Alfred Renauer), one of two multi-time winners of the 12H MUGELLO competing in Tuscany this weekend, played a flurry of late-race Code 60s to perfection to leapfrog its way to the front of the GT pack from 6th on the grid.

As the opening four hours drew to a close though, Herberth’s Robert Renauer had to reduce his pace by more than two seconds per lap to avoid putting the sister #92 Porsche one lap down. All whilst simultaneously keeping the Haegeli by T2 Racing Porsche – the sister car’s nearest rival – behind him on-track.

Renauer eventually collected the chequered flag after completing 109 laps of the 5.245km Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, and only just managed to prevent the Haegeli by T2 Racing Porsche from sneaking past on the run to the line.

Renauer’s efforts mean the second Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (#92, Jürgen Häring / ”Bobby Gonzales” / Stefan Aust / Marco Seefried) will take tomorrow’s restart in 4th, one place and one lap ahead of the 5th-placed Haegeli by T2 Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (#66, Pieder Decurtins / Manuel Lauck / Marc Basseng).

“That was not easy!” Ben Constanduros. “Sometimes it’s harder to go slow on track than fast. But that was all part of our plan and that really helped our teammates. Now we’re in the lead position, it keeps the #92 in the game, we have a lot of fuel in the car, and really good tyres. It’s been a perfect day for us.”

In an equally enthralling finish, the DINAMIC MOTORSPORT Porsche 991 GT3 R (#7, Roberto Pampanini / Mauro Calamia / Ivan Jacoma) managed to snatch 2nd place from the MiddleCap racing with Scuderia Praha Ferrari 488 GT3 (#11, Josef Kral / Miroslav Výboh / Matúš Výboh) on the very last lap.

Scuderia Praha, another two-time winner of the 12H MUGELLO, has completed more laps in the lead than any other GT competitor thus far this weekend.

The Equipe Verschuur Renault RS01 (#9, Harrie Kolen / Erik van Loon / Mike Verschuur), the Hella Pagid – racing one Ferrari 488 GT3 (#30, Axel Sartingen / Daniel Schwerfeld / Francesco Lopez / Daniele Di Amato), and the Rutronik Racing by TECE Audi R8 LMS GT3 (#18, Michael Doppelmayr / Pierre Kaffer / Elia Erhart / Swen Herberger) crossed the line in 6th, 7th and 8th places respectively.

Equipe Verschuur, which snatched pole position in the dying moments of qualifying earlier today, led for much of the early going but fell back into the midpack during the pit stop shuffles.

All three will line up ahead of the CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo (#85, Charles Putman / Charles Espenlaub / Joe Foster / Shane Lewis).

The Reiter Engineering KTM X-BOW GTX (#724, Eike Angermayr / Nicolai Elghanayan / Horst Felbermayr Jr. / Mads Siljehaug) rounds out the overall top 10 and is also the current leader in a frenetic GTX category.

Issues for the category’s early frontrunners mean the Siauliai – RD Signs racing team Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo (#720, Audrius Butkevicius / Egidijus Gutaravicius / Ramunas Capkauskas / Paulius Paskevicius) is now 2nd in-class ahead of the Vortex V8 Vortex 1.0 (#701, Philippe Bonnel / Pierre Fontaine / Nicolas Nobs).

The Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo (#710, Ray Calvin / Gabriele Rindone / Matthias Hoffsümmer) had been well in contention for class victory early on but suffered a high-speed impact with the tyre wall on the main straight shortly after half-distance. Gabriele Rindone fortunately emerged from the damaged Lamborghini under his own power.

Despite losing a minute on the grass after a spin at turn nine, the Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors Porsche 911-II Cup (#955, Fabrizio Broggi / Sergiu Nicolae / Sabino de Castro) continues to lead comfortably in the 991 class ahead of JUTA Racing (#910, Julius Adomavičius / Andrius Gelžinis / Jonas Gelžinis) and GDL Racing (#967, Mario Cordoni / Axel Blom / Andres Bruno Josephsohn / Andres Michel Josephsohn).

The latter’s sister 911-II Cup (#969, Roberto Rayneri / Gianluca De Lorenzi / Maurizio Fratti / Giacomo Giubergia), which had started from pole position, has dropped to 7th in-class after visiting the gravel trap twice already today.

Problems for the ST Racing BMW M4 GT4 (#438, Samantha Tan / Chandler Hull / Jon Miller) means the Centri Porsche Ticino Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS MR (#412, Christian de Kant / Thomas Herbst / Antonio Spavone / Valerio Presezz / Alessandro Fogliani) currently leads the way in GT4.

The Canadian team suffered suspected suspension issues early and brought out the fifth Code 60 of the day when it pulled to a stop at turn two.

Luck was absent once again for the Team Zakspeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#13, Sergey Stolyarov / Evgeny Kireev / Victor Shaytar) in Italy.

A glancing blow from the Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo (#34, Johannes Dr. Kirchhof / Gustav Edelhof / Elmar Grimm) caused an enormous amount of right front suspension damage to the Mercedes, costing Zakspeed more than two and a half hours in the pits as a result.

The post Herberth Motorsport leads enthralling 12H MUGELLO first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

The NKPP Racing by Bas Koeten Racing CUPRA TCR (#175, Harry Hilders / Gijs Bessem) completed 102 laps of the 5.245km Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, and crossed the finish line less than 25 seconds ahead of the AC Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS (#188, Stéphane Perrin / Mathieu Detry).

The pair will share the TCE front row for tomorrow’s restart, and will also start on the same lap.

After losing time in the pits, the Red Camel-Jordans.nl CUPRA TCR (#101, Ivo Breukers / Rik Breukers), which had pulled almost a lap clear at half-distance, has now slipped back to 3rd, but holds a one-lap advantage over the RC2 Junior Team by Cabra Racing CUPRA Leon Competición TCR (#108, Rubén Fernández / Victor Fernández / Felipe Fernández). The latter entry marks the series debut of the new CUPRA Leon Competición TCR.

The Speed Lover Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS (#206, Kurt Hensen / Philippe Wils) rounds out the top five thus far in TCE, and has also pulled three laps clear of nearest rival CWS Engineering in the TCX class. The CWS Engineering Ginetta G55 (#278, Colin White / Jean-Francois Brunot / James Kell), now 7th overall in TCE, started from the very back of the field following problems in qualifying, and had even taken the division’s overall lead before spinning at turn 11.  

The sole remaining Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR (#1, Marcus Menden / Walter Reho / Emil Heyerdahl) is currently running 6th overall in TCE. The sister #112 suffered an enormous accident during free practice and could not be repaired in time for the race itself.

The JUTA Racing junior CUPRA TCR (#121, Audrius Navickas / Aurimas Jablonskis / Nerijus Baliunas / Algirdas Gelžinis / Ignas Gelžinis), the Elite Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR DSG (#147, Simone Patrinicola / Pierluigi Alessandri / Gianvito Rossi), and the Lotus PB Racing Lotus Elise Cup PB-R (#205, Denis Bonvini / Luca Flaccadori / Franco Nespoli / Maurizio Fortina / Alberto Grisi) currently round out the top 10 in TCE.

Despite securing pole position, JR Motorsport has endured a tough opening four hours at the 12H MUGELLO. The team’s BMW E46 GTR (#202, Bas Schouten / Coos Schouten / Dirk Schouten) was in contention for TCE pole position before suspension issues hit, and in the opening stages of the race had already moved up to 2nd before transmission problems struck. The sister BMW M3 F80 meanwhile (#203, Ted van Vliet / Ward Sluys / Sandra van der Sloot) ran at the head of the TCE field for the first hour but has now spent more than an hour in the pits. The pair are now at the tail of the field in TCE.  

The final eight hours of the 12H MUGELLO will get underway tomorrow at 10.00 hrs local time, and the event is set to run uninterrupted until the chequered flag drops at 18.00 hrs. 

The post NKPP Racing by Bas Koeten Racing holds narrow TCE lead at 12H MUGELLO first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

Though attempts to find a replacement weekend on this year’s calendar were unsuccessful, CREVENTIC and management at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps are already planning the return of the 12H SPA for 2022.   

Consequently, round three of this year’s 24H SERIES will now take place at the 5.842km Circuit Paul Ricard on 22-23 April. The move marks the first time both France and the home of the Formula 1 French Grand Prix have featured on the 24H SERIES calendar in four years.

Ole Dörlemann, CREVENTIC’s sporting coordinator: “When hosting any endurance racing program, let alone one that encompasses three continents, we always have to be prepared for circumstances to change and to adapt accordingly. As such, we’d like to thank the management and staff at the Circuit Paul Ricard for making this year’s event a reality in such a short space of time.

The venue is an old favourite of both CREVENTIC and our competitors, and we feel confident the 12H CIRCUIT PAUL RICARD will promote the familial atmosphere and close racing indicative of the 24H SERIES. We’d also like to thank the team at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and look forward to working with them again in 2022.”

Located in La Castellet in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of south-east France, the Circuit Paul Ricard was commissioned by its namesake – pastis magnate Paul Ricard – in 1969, with both four-time Le Mans winner Henri Pescarolo and Grand Prix winner Jean-Pierre Beltoise signed on as consultants.

Opened on 19 April 1970, the circuit went on to secure the rights to host the Formula 1 French Grand Prix just one year later over the aging Circuit de Charade and Rouen-Les-Essarts. Paul Ricard would host the French GP 14 times over the following two decades before losing the rights to Magny-Cours for 1991.

Following a change of management (and financier) at the turn of the century, plus F1 later returned to Le Castellet in 2018, following a two-month refurbishment over the winter of 2017 that included more than 10,000 tons of asphalt being used to resurface the entire track and pitlane.

Circuit Paul Ricard first hosted the 24H SERIES in 2015 with the 24H PAUL RICARD. Britain’s Ram Racing secured its first outright series win at that event just ahead of the then-named HB Racing Team Herberth, which would go on to win the two subsequent events in 2016 and 2017.

The post Paul Ricard set to replace Spa-Francorchamps on the 2021 calendar first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

 The NKPP Racing by Bas Koeten Racing Porsche 911-II Cup (#991, Gijs Bessem / Harry Hilders / Marcel van Berlo) emerged as one of two 911 Cup cars in contention for overall victory after myriad issues struck both GT3 runners.

After a spirited battle with its nearest rival – the DUWO Racing Porsche 991-II Cup (#909, Andrey Mukovoz / Sergey Peregudov / Stanislav Sidoruk) – Harry Hilders eventually brought the NKPP Porsche home to collect both the 991-class win and outright victory at the Hankook 16H HOCKENHEIMRING.

The race winner completed 470 laps of the 4.574km Hockenheimring en-route to the chequered flag, one more than 2nd placed DUWO Racing, which needed a splash-and-dash for fuel on the penultimate lap.

The result marks the first time a Porsche Cup car has ever taken an outright win in the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook. The previous best result was 2nd overall, which Motorsport Services managed with its Porsche 997 Cup at the Hankook 12H HUNGARY in 2013.

The Hankook 16H HOCKENHEIMRING took a dramatic turn shortly before three-quarter distance when long-time race leader CP Racing went off at Sachs corner. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo (#85, Charles Putman / Charles Espenlaub / Joe Foster / Shane Lewis) had already pulled six laps clear of the chasing pack by this point, but lost more than 45 minutes in the pits with front end damage.

Though the Mercedes eventually re-joined in 3rd place, and was catching the leaders by more than 4s per lap, issues with the radiator meant CP Racing lost another 35 minutes in the pits later on. This ultimately dropped the GT3 class winner to 7th overall at the flag and 4th in the GT division.

Issues similarly befell the Equipe Verschuur Renault R.S.01 GT3 (#9, Harrie Kolen / Erik van Loon / Mike Verschuur), which took outright pole position for the event on Friday, led for much of the opening four hours on Saturday, and was setting the pace after half distance as well. Two suspected driveshaft failures though – one on Saturday, one today – meant the Dutch team eventually retired from the event.

The final 991-class entrant – the Speed Lover Porsche 991-II Cup (#978, Eric Mouez / Jeroen Kreeft / Rolf Lietart / Dominique Bastien) – also suffered problems, losing much of its pace after making heavy contact with the barriers on Saturday afternoon.

That, plus a lengthy pit stop for repairs on Friday, meant the Belgian team could do no better than 3rd in-class. The teams’ third category podium in succession though means Speed Lover does move to the top of the 24H SERIES Europe Overall GT Teams’ standings, four points clear of nearest rival Herberth Motorsport.

After a solid run, the Team Avia Sorg Rennsport BMW M4 GT4 (#451, Olaf Meyer / Björn Simon / Heiko Eichenberg / José Manuel de los Milagros) came home 6th overall at the Hankook 16H HOCKENHEIMRING. The result netted the German team not only 3rd in the GT division but also a win in the GT4 class, its first of the season.

Its nearest rival – the PROsport Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (#401, Nico Verdonck / Rodrigue Gillion / Tom Heeren) – had good pace earlier in the day but lost almost an hour in the pits when its right rear assembly collapsed, causing a puncture and a spin on the exit of Sachs. The Aston nevertheless collected 2nd in-class and 5th in the GT division.

The post NKPP Racing by Bas Koeten Racing takes record-breaking win at Hockenheim first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

Although TCR teams have secured overall podiums at TCE-only races in the past, this weekend marks the first time that a TCR competitor has finished on the podium of a 24H SERIES event that features both the GT and TCE divisions.

The Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR (#1, Constantin Kletzer / Jasmin Preisig / Christoph Lenz / Rhys Lloyd / Yannick Mettler) was aided by incidents for the GT3 frontrunners, and also had to weather an incredibly close battle between the top three runners in TCE in the closing stages.

In the end, Rhys Lloyd collected the chequered flag for Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing, the #1 Volkswagen having completing 450 laps of the 4.574km Hockenheimring en-route to the team’s second class win of the season.

Victory had looked set to go to the sister Autorama Volkswagen (#112, Alberto Vescovi / Roberto Ferri / Miklas Born / Marek Schaller / Benjamin Leuchter), but a bizarre incident in which the onboard fire extinguisher discharged in the cabin cost the team several laps to rectify. Having secured its fourth consecutive TCR podium of the year though, the #112 maintains its advantage at the top of the Overall TCE Teams’ championship standings.

The TOPCAR Sport CUPRA TCR (#131, Fabian Danz / Karen Gaillard / Kai Jordan) rounded out the TCE podium, despite almost being eliminated on the very first lap of the race in a bizarre collision with AC Motorsport and Red Camel-Jordans.nl. So close was the battle for the podium, the CUPRA finished just 47s behind the top two after 16 hours of endurance racing.

Dakar Rally mainstay Tim Coronel took his second consecutive class win in the 24H SERIES aboard the Day V Tec BMW 240i (#240, Jan Jaap van Roon / Tim Coronel / Gaby Uljee), despite having trouble getting the BMW rolling on the warm-up lap.  

Nordschleife Racing meanwhile (#226, Guillaume Roman / Daniel Waszczinski / Michel Sallenbach) had finished two laps ahead of its Dutch rival, but a start procedure infringement meant the Ligier JS2 R was penalised four laps after the race, and has thus been classified 2nd in TCX and 5th overall in the TCE division.

The Red Camel-Jordans.nl CUPRA TCR (#101, Ivo Breukers / Luc Breukers / Steven Liquorish) finished a hard-earned 6th in the TCE division. Having been indirectly involved with the opening lap accident on Friday, the CUPRA suffered further damage with an off-track moment in the wet later that afternoon, the effects of which were still being felt during an extended pit stop this afternoon.

Sadly, having survived its earlier accident, the AC Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS (#188, Stéphane Perrin / Vincent Radermecker / Mathieu Detry) was eventually retired with irreparable handling problems.

The post Autorama Motorsport makes TCE history at 16H HOCKENHEIMRING first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

The Equipe Verschuur Renault RS01 (#9, Harrie Kolen / Erik van Loon / Mike Verschuur) had started CREVENTIC’s first ever endurance event in Germany from pole position, and led convincingly throughout the opening four hours of the race.

Early brake problems however soon dropped the Renault behind the CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo (#85, Charles Putman / Charles Espenlaub / Joe Foster / Shane Lewis), and despite a scintillating stint from team owner Mike Verschuur, during which he set the race’s 1m 40.881s fastest lap, the Renault later ground to a halt at turn 16 with a suspected driveshaft failure. The Dutch team has yet to return to the track and has dropped to the back of field.

New leader CP Racing also had problems to overcome when a brief rain shower at Hockenheim sent the entire pack to the pits for wet rubber, the American team doing likewise just four laps after its regularly scheduled pit stop.

Despite this lost time, the Mercedes-AMG has now completed 236 laps of the 4.574km Hockenheimring and now holds a six-lap advantage heading into the overnight intervention. Racing is scheduled to continue tomorrow at 12.00 hrs local time.

The DUWO Racing Porsche 991-II Cup (#909, Andrey Mukovoz / Sergey Peregudov / Stanislav Sidoruk) holds the 991-class lead ahead of nearest rival, NKPP Racing by Bas Koeten Racing (#991, Gijs Bessem / Harry Hilders / Marcel van Berlo).

Following Equipe Verschuur’s problems, the top two in the Porsche Cup class are also 2nd and 3rd overall at the Hankook 16H HOCKENHEIMRING, and will restart tomorrow on the same lap.  

The Team Avia Sorg Rennsport BMW M4 GT4 (#451, Olaf Meyer / Björn Simon / Heiko Eichenberg / José Manuel de los Milagros) has recovered from an early puncture and is now 4th in the GT division (8th overall). The German team also holds the GT4 class lead after the first eight hours of running at Hockenheim.

Its nearest rival – the PROsport Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (#401, Nico Verdonck / Rodrigue Gillion / Tom Heeren) – had led the category early on but has since dropped to 5th in the GT division after losing more than 20 minutes in the pits. Stunning pace from Nico Verdonck during the wet stages of the race though means the Aston has closed to within just a few minutes of the leading BMW.

The Speed Lover Porsche 991-II Cup (#978, Eric Mouez / Jeroen Kreeft / Rolf Lietart / Dominique Bastien) entered the Hankook 16H HOCKENHEIMRING as the 991-class standings leader in the 24H SERIES Europe, but lost more than an hour in the pits after Dominique Bastien made heavy contact with the tyre barriers at turn 12.

The post CP Racing leads at halfway point of 16H HOCKENHEIMRING first appeared on InsideRacing.com.