Weekend Recap: GTWC Europe, ELMS & N24 Qualifiers Action
Catch up on a busy weekend of European sports car racing...
ROWE Takes Commanding Endurance Cup 1-2 at Monza
ROWE Racing claimed a one-two at the 3 Hours of Monza and delivered BMW’s first Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup victory in five years.
Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann and Nick Yelloly led from start to finish in their pole-sitting No. 98 BMW M4 GT3 and beat teammates Dan Harper, Neil Verhagen and Max Hesse by 13.5 seconds.
ROWE initially looked set to finish first and third in a BMW 1-2-3 result until Dries Vanthoor pitted the No. 32 Team WRT car with an issue on its left-front Pirelli tire.
That promoted the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Jordan Pepper, Andrea Caldarelli and Mirko Bortolotti to third, with Bortolotti narrowly holding off Sainteloc Junior Team Audi driver Patric Niederhauser at the end to seal a podium.
Despite missing out on a top-three sweep, Sunday’s race yielded the first win for the BMW M4 GT3 in GTWC Europe Endurance Cup and brought the Munich-based manufacturer to the top step of the series podium since the 2018 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
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Racing Team Turkey Wins Barcelona Thriller
Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood and Louis Deletraz took overall victory in the 4 Hours of Barcelona in the Pro-Am entered Racing Team Turkey Oreca 07 Gibson after Deletraz charged back to the lead after a black and orange flag in the final hour.
A strong pass by Deletraz aboard the No. 34 Oreca 07 Gibson with 15 minutes remaining, overtaking Duqueine Team’s Neel Jani, proved crucial for the race victory.
The Swiss driver’s move up the inside of his compatriot at Turn 7 came at the end of a charging comeback drive, fighting back following a late unplanned pitstop.
The TF Sport-entered car looked in command of the opening round of the season until race control ordered the team to replace the car’s tail section with half an hour remaining in the race due to damage.
With the overtake completed, Deletraz remained ahead of Jani and took the checkered flag 2.3 seconds ahead of the No. 30 Oreca, which Jani shared with Nico Pino and Rene Binder.
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Frikadelli Delivers First Overall Win For Ferrari 296 GT3
Frikadelli Racing Team claimed victory in Sunday’s Nürburgring 24 Qualifiers, marking the first overall win for the Ferrari 296 GT3 in global competition.
Felipe Fernandez Laser drove the Rinaldi Racing-run Ferrari to a narrow 1.935-second victory over Saturday’s race-winning No. 2 Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Dani Juncadella in the four-hour contest at the Nordschleife.
Fernandez Lasr shared driving duties with Nicky Catsburg and Earl Bamber.
Having started fourth on the grid, Catsburg jumped into an early lead at the start, extending his advantage through the first round of pit stops, which briefly saw the No. 11 Schnitzelalm Mercedes of Marcel Marchewicz out front due to making a shorter initial stop.
Bamber held control during his stint before Fernandez Laser overcame intermittent rain showers to take the historic first win.
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Aitken Joins No. 3 Cadillac Lineup for Spa
Returning WEC Venues for 2024, 2025
LMGT3 Set for Two Cars Per Manufacturer
Peugeot’s Special Livery for Le Mans
K-PAX Racing on its European Return