RNW Staff

Thrilling racing at the penultimate round of the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring. Constant changes in position, a bad day for the favourites, and tragic retirements – the spectators in the packed grandstands were treated to magnificent motorsport on Sunday. After 44 eventful laps, Marvin Dienst (25/Lampertheim) was first across the finish line in the #8 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to claim his second win in the German GT Championship. “That is my second victory in the ADAC GT Masters, and both have come at the Sachsenring. I know where to overtake here, which helped me,” explained Dienst. His young partner, ADAC Stiftung Sport driver Jan Marschalkowski (19/Inning), was also delighted to get his maiden win as a rookie. Championship leader Raffaele Marciello (27/CH), who alternated with Daniel Juncadella (31/E) at the wheel of the #48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, came home second after a controlled race. In doing so, the driver from Mann-Filter Team Landgraf extended his lead in the table. Local favourite Maximilian Paul (22/Dresden) and Marco Mapelli (35/I) were third in the #71 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo. The ADAC GT Masters weekend at the Sachsenring was watched by 26,000 spectators – the sixth crowd record in a row at the sixth round of the season.

For the first time, an Austrian has won a DTM race at Red Bull Ring. Porsche driver Thomas Preining from KÜS Team Bernhard scored a commanding home win in the Sunday race of DTM Red Bull Ring powered by REMUS. The 24-year-old from Linz won from the two Germans Luca Stolz (Mercedes-AMG Team HRT) and Maro Engel (Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing). Engel had started the race from pole position, Preining was eighth on the grid. The Porsche works driver, who raced with a special helmet design in memory of motorsport legend Walter Lechner, Preining’s former team principal and friend, was able to make up positions by virtue of a good strategy and entertaining overtaking manoeuvres and racked up his second DTM race win after 35 laps, already having secured the maiden DTM victory for Porsche at Norisring back in July. “I am super happy with my performance! I was already confident prior to the start and I knew it was going to be a good race. That it would go this well and especially that I could move up so quickly was something I hadn’t expected,” Preining said right after the race.

United Autosports scored its first European Le Mans Series outright race victory of the season when Phil Hanson/Tom Gamble/Duncan Tappy steered their #22 Oreca to a magnificent 23 second win in the latest four-hour race in Belgium today (25 Sep).

If any passerby answered how late K-PAX Racing prepared its No. 1 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO Friday night at Sebring International Raceway, the word might be “unusually” late. It was dark. Most of the day’s track goers had gone home for the day. But if you were to ask the crew itself, it was simply another day-in-the-life fueled by a championship mindset that has driven them for years.

D’station Racing’s Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii led every lap from pole and set fastest time at Okayama en route to their second victory in three races earlier today. However, this year’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS champions are Takeshi Kimura and Kei Cozzolino (CarGuy Racing, Ferrari) who survived a first lap collision with title rival Nick Foster to win the crown by three points.

Laurin Heinrich (Germany/SSR Huber Racing) clinched his fifth win of the season at race 13 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland at the Sachsenring on Saturday. The Porsche Junior beat Bastian Buus (Denmark/Allied-Racing) and Morris Schuring (Netherlands/SSR Huber Racing) to the flag. With three races remaining on the 2022 calendar, Heinrich leads the championship standings with 243 points ahead of Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands/Team GP Elite), who has 203 points. Dylan Pereira (Luxembourg/IronForce Racing by Phoenix) ranks third with 191 points.

Dream comeback for Jules Gounon (27/F): After a break for an injury, it was uncertain for a long time whether the 2017 champion would start at the Sachsenring. Only on Wednesday did the Frenchman receive the all-clear from his doctor. From that point on, however, Gounon has been unstoppable on his return to racing. He and his driving partner from Drago Racing Team ZVO, Fabian Schiller (25/Troisdorf), produced a commanding display in Saturday’s race to claim their third win of this season’s German GT Championship at the wheel of the #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3. “I am really happy. The Sachsenring is my favourite circuit. It is fantastic to win here three times and to claim the third win of the season for our team.” Fabian Schiller had two reasons to be delighted, as he also won the Pirelli Junior competition. Pole-sitter Raffaele Marciello (27/CH) and Daniel Juncadella (31/E) from Mann-Filter Team Landgraf finished second in the #48 Mercedes-AMG GT3. In doing so, Marciello extended his lead at the top of the table. Third place, after an inconspicuous but extremely efficient performance, went to Kim-Luis Schramm (24/Meuspath) and Dennis Marschall (26/Eggenstein) in the #27 Rutronik Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

Second DTM race win in a row: Nick Cassidy has won the Saturday race in DTM at Red Bull Ring powered by REMUS. Having started from pole position, the New Zealander with the Ferrari of the Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse team was able to bring home a commanding lights-to-flag win by virtue of a good strategy and despite success ballast. Just a fortnight ago, the 29-year-old had scored his maiden DTM race win in the Sunday race at Spa-Francorchamps. “A really great day. Winning here at Red Bull Ring with AlphhaTauri and Red Bull is simply fantastic,” a buoyant Cassidy said at the finish. At the 4.318 kilometres long track in Styria, René Rast (GER) finished second with the ABT Audi. As a result, the three-time DTM champion scored further valuable championship points and took over second place in the drivers’ standings with 117 points. In the morning, Rast had already been fastest in qualifying and therefore scored three additional points but had to start the race from fourth place following a grid penalty from Spa-Francorchamps. Third place in the race went to Austro-Italian Mirko Bortolotti with the Lamborghini in the home round of the Grasser Racing Team.

Three crews will go head-to-head for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS drivers’ title at Okayama on Sunday after Naoki Yokomizo and Kiyoto Fujinami took theirs and Yogibo Racing’s second win in three races earlier today.

Tyrolean Clemens Schmid with the Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini and South African Sheldon van der Linde with the Schubert Motorsport BMW set the pace in the two free practice sessions on Friday, the opening day of DTM Red Bull Ring powered by REMUS. The lap time of 1m 28.565s set by local hero Schmid in the first session was the fastest time of the day at the 4.318 kilometres long track in Styria. Behind Schmid and DTM points’ leader Sheldon van der Linde (1m 28.574s), another Austrian, Thomas Preining (1m 28.594s) ended up in the top three of the day with the KÜS Team Bernhard Porsche. In bright sunshine, the 27 drivers from DTM participated in the practice day in preparation for the 13th and 14th race of the season. In the process, margins were small: in the morning, the times of the first 21 drivers were within one second, in the afternoon, it was even the first 25.

Porsche Motorsport GB has revealed its plans for the 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup GB season at the Porsche Experience Centre, Silverstone. As the championship’s 20th anniversary year entered its penultimate weekend, teams, sponsors and guests were given an insight into what lies ahead for the fastest single marque GT racing championship in the UK – a successful blend of initiatives that will support the healthy grid and continue to promote close racing. 

The BMW M Hybrid V8 has arrived in North America and was presented to the public in its racing colours for the first time at a launch event at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles (USA). The first prototype developed by BMW M Motorsport in 25 years will sport an avant-garde livery which leverages the iconic BMW M colours when it competes in the GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2023. The four core drivers who will take their place at the wheel of the two BMW M Team RLL cars were also announced at the Petersen Museum. They are BMW M works drivers Connor De Phillippi (USA), Philipp Eng (AUT), Augusto Farfus (BRA) and Nick Yelloly (GBR). When the car makes its race debut at Daytona (USA) in January 2023, they will receive big-name support from IndyCar series driver Colton Herta (USA).

The curtain falls on the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS season next weekend (30 September-2 October) when a three-hour Endurance Cup race at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will decide the final championship battles.

The Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland will remain as a support series to the ADAC GT Masters next season. The one-make cup and the German GT championship have extended their partnership, which started in 2018. As a result, most of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland races will continue to run as part of the ADAC GT Masters support programme. This season’s calendar included four joint events – with two doubleheaders still to be contested.

The two SSR Performance Porsche 911 GT3 R are on their way to the penultimate DTM event of the season at the Red Bull Ring. Dennis Olsen (NOR) recently celebrated the team’s first DTM victory at Spa. 

Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific is set for a busy weekend of racing, with its drivers and teams preparing to take on the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), GT World Challenge Asia and Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA).

WeatherTech Racing drivers Maximilian Götz (Germany), Maximilian Buhk (Germany), and Mikaël Grenier (Canada) will compete in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the season finale IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Motul Petit Le Mans to run at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Sept. 28 – Oct. 1. 

United Autosports will be making their 40th racing appearance at Spa-Francorchamps in the European Le Mans Series LMP3 class. Making their debut at the Silverstone circuit in 2016 in a Liger JS P3, United Autosports finished first and second, a defiant debut, with a line-up that still sees some of those drivers on the current 2022 grid. 

Emotions peaked during the 2021 Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS Championship at Sebring International Raceway, where K-PAX Racing officially reached the top after a continuous uphill battle – a totally restructured program that welcomed new cars, drivers and dynamics. The team, as well as those from Lamborghini Squadra Corse, scaled the fence to watch its Huracán GT3 EVO cross the finish line – securing titles across the board in the penultimate rounds of the series season.

The Austrian factor is generating a lot of excitement in the final sprint for the coveted DTM title. It is points’ leader Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) that everybody is after, especially so the Austrians, and that in the penultimate season round, DTM Red Bull Ring powered by REMUS in Styria from 23 till 25 September: Lucas Auer, second in the standings, is from Kufstein, three-time DTM champion René Rast, currently third, lives in Bregenz and Mirko Bortolotti, fourth in the points’ standings at present, grew up in Vienna. Norisring race winner Thomas Preining, van der Linde’s teammate Philipp Eng and Clemens Schmid also have a home round at the Grand Prix circuit near Spielberg. Moreover, Grasser Racing Team with team principal Gottfried Grasser is based right at the Red Bull Ring.