RNW Staff

re! The German GT Championship travels to the Red Bull Ring this weekend (11th to 13th June) for round two of the season. For the first time this year, fans are able to cheer the teams on from the grandstands. Two Porsche drivers head to the fastest track on the calendar as championship leaders in the ADAC GT Masters: defending champion Michael Ammermüller (35/Rotthalmünster) and works driver Mathieu Jaminet (26/F, both SSR Performance). Thanks to a hygiene and infection protection concept developed by the Red Bull Ring in collaboration with the ADAC GT Masters, up to 3,000 fans per day are permitted at the racetrack. 

Marco Polo Motorsports experienced lows and highs during Rounds 5 and 6 at Virginia International Raceway. Though the No. 71 KTM X-Bow and drivers Nicolai Elghanayan and Mads Siljehaug had a sluggish start in the scorching heat and humidity, they were able to secure fifth in class and valuable points for the GT4 America championship on Saturday.

RLR MSport crossed the line fourth in LMP3 in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) 4 Hours of Le Castellet (4-6 June) with Mike Benham, Alex Kapadia and Malthe Jakobsen.

Lamborghini recorded an historic 100th GT3 race victory courtesy of K-PAX Racing’s Jordan Pepper and Andrea Caldarelli in the third round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS season at Virginia International Raceway. The series leaders achieved the landmark result during the opening race of the weekend, their fourth victory in five races at the start of the season to consolidate their points advantage.

United Autosports are delighted to confirm that Edouard Cauhaupe will join their IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship LMP3 team for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.

COOL Racing took podiums in both the LMP2 Pro-Am and LMP3 categories at the 4 Hours of Le Castellet, completing an excellent weekend for the team that included podium finishes in every race it entered across the European Le Mans Series, Michelin Le Mans Cup and Ligier European Series.

United Autosports scored three podium finishes at Paul Ricard today after both their LMP2 cars and one of their LMP3 cars finished in the top three of their respective classes during round three of the European Le Mans Series.

In one of the most turbulent editions of the Nürburgring 24 Hours with more than 14 hours of race interruption in dense fog, Audi Sport customer racing thrilled everyone with a strong recovery. However, there was hardly any reward in the end. From 64th place at the start of the race, Audi Sport Team Land fought its way back to the leading group but did not see the finish after an accident by Kelvin van der Linde. The best Audi R8 LMS in the end was fielded by Audi Sport Team Car Collection. From 25th place after an early tire change, the number 2 Audi improved to fifth place.

After claiming victory last year, ROWE Racing reached the podium once again at the 49th edition of the Nürburgring 24 Hours (GER). At the farewell appearance of the BMW M6 GT3, which will be replaced by the BMW M4 GT3 in 2022, Sheldon van der Linde (RSA), Martin Tomczyk (GER), Marco Wittmann (GER) and Connor De Phillippi (USA) finished second in the #98 car. Having started from 25th on the grid, the quartet put on an impressive recovery performance and crossed the finish line just 8.8 seconds behind the victorious Porsche. This proved to be the shortest-ever edition of the race after thick fog interrupted the event for more than 14 hours.

The Manthey customer team has clinched its seventh outright victory at the Nürburgring 24-hour race. At the 49th edition of the endurance classic, works drivers Kévin Estre from France, Michael Christensen from Denmark and the Italian Matteo Cairoli crossed the finish line in first place at the wheel of the No. 911 Porsche 911 GT3 R. This triumph rounds off the 25th anniversary celebrations of the team from the Eifel. Manthey expanded its accomplishment as the most successful team with the seventh win at the 24-hour race. It was also the 13th victory for a Porsche racing car. The Huber Motorsport customer squad achieved an emphatic win in the Pro-Am class with a 500+PS 911. Bad weather saw the race red-flagged for over 14 hours on Saturday evening. Consequently, the total driving time was only around nine and a half hours.

For Mercedes-AMG Motorsport, the turbulent 24-hour race at the Nürburgring ends with a podium result and two further top ten positions. The most successful GT3 from Affalterbach is the #7 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed car: with a rousing final spurt, Maximilian Götz (GER), Daniel Juncadella (ESP), and Raffaele Marciello (ITA) secured third place overall. Further down, Jules Gounon (FRA), Fabian Schiller (both GER) and Matthieu Vaxiviere (FRA) concluded the season highlight in sixth place with the team’s #8 sister car. Tenth place for 10Q Racing Teams (#40) with Dominik Baumann (AUT), Yelmer Buurman (NED), Kenneth Heyer and Thomas Jäger (both GER) rounds out the top ten results. The 49th ADAC TOTAL 24h Race will go down into the history books of the race as the shortest running because of an interruption of over 14.5 hours. The #4 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT car that had been dominant until the red flag was out was in contention for victory after the restart but retired following an accident while in second place. With the Mercedes-AMG GT4, the performance and sports car brand scored two class wins (SP10 and SP8T) by Customer Racing Teams Schnitzelalm Racing and BLACK FALCON Team TEXTAR.

The #69 Ligier JS P320 crew of Matt Bell and Maurice Smith finished second in Round 2 of the Michelin Le Mans Cup at Circuit Paul Ricard, moving to the top of the championship standings. Starting in eighth, Smith made a good start and the team gained time pitting under an early Safety Car, with Bell pressuring the leader towards the end of the race.

United Autosports leave Paul Ricard with the Michelin Le Mans Cup championship lead after John Schauerman and Wayne Boyd scored their second podium finish in as many races yesterday at Le Castellet.

The Porsche 911 GT3 R has impressively demonstrated its strengths in the initial phase of the 24-hour race. In ever-increasing rain during the first hour, works driver Kévin Estre put in an inspired drive. Taking up the race from eleventh in the so-called “Grello” run by the Manthey customer team, the Frenchman worked his way to the top within just four laps. After the first hours of racing, the No. 911 car is comfortably holding its own among the top group.

The BMW M Motorsport teams managed to avoid any accidents during the turbulent opening stage of the Nürburgring 24 Hours (GER) and are battling for top positions after four hours of racing. Heavy rain on parts of the Nordschleife and dry stretches in in other areas made tyre selection extremely difficult. Both ROWE Racing and Schubert Motorsport displayed a knack for making the right choice. The three cars for the two teams are now in the top five on a much drier track. The chasing performance given by Martin Tomczyk (GER) was particularly impressive, as the starting driver in the #98 BMW M6 GT3 from ROWE Racing moved up from 25th on the grid to third place.

Last year’s winners ROWE Racing lived up to the #1 on the BMW M6 GT3 in Top Qualifying. In difficult conditions on a wet circuit, Nick Yelloly (GBR) claimed pole position for the Nürburgring 24 Hours with a lap time of 10:01.619 minutes. The race will start on Saturday at 15:30. Jesse Krohn (FIN) finished fourth in the Schubert Motorsport #20 BMW M6 GT3, while Max Hesse (GER) was tenth in the #77 BMW M6 GT3 of the BMW Junior Team. Just before the start of Top Qualifying, the lap of honour for the BMW M3 ‘Eifelblitz’ in memory of Sabine Schmitz ensured a sensational atmosphere.

The Rutronik customer team will take up the Nürburgring 24-hour race from the ninth grid spot with the Porsche 911 GT3 R. Under extremely challenging conditions on a drenched track, Porsche Young Professional Julien Andlauer set the fastest time of all 911 drivers. The 21-year-old Frenchman lapped the 25.378-kilometre circuit in 10:14.558 minutes. The identical 500+hp vehicles fielded by Manthey (#911) and Frikadelli Racing (#31) head into the popular endurance race in the Eifel from positions eleven and twelve on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm.

Record winner at the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, successful operations team for Porsche Motorsport in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), reputable supplier of performance kits for road cars: The name Manthey stands for top performance on the racetrack and the road. In 2021, the company based in Meuspath in the Eifel celebrates its 25th anniversary. Here are 25 interesting, spectacular and at times unexpected facts about Manthey-Racing:

Next week’s event in Portugal marks Toyota’s 100th race at the top level of World Championship endurance racing. Since the debut of the 83C car in the Fuji 1000km in October 1983, Toyota prototypes have participated in 99 World Championship races.

Marco Polo Motorsports and the No. 71 KTM X-Bow will be returning to Alton, Virginia to compete at VIRginia International Speedway this weekend for rounds five and six of the GT4 America championship. With four races in the 2021 season complete, drivers Nicolai Elghanayan and Mads Siljehaug are tied for third in GT4 America Silver Cup standings with CCR Racing/Team TFB, eager to break away and close in on the points leaders on what is looking to be another wet weekend.