RNW Staff

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.

The 49th running of the ADAC TOTAL 24h Race at the Nürburgring started with a strong performance by Mercedes-AMG Motorsport. On Thursday afternoon, teams with the GT cars from Affalterbach were out for first qualifying. In the session during which the full focus was on running-in the cars and finding the right set-up, Nico Bastian (GER) posted the fastest time in the field with over 120 cars in the #6 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT entry. With the team’s #4 sister car in eighth place, another one of the eight Mercedes-AMG GT3s also ended up in the top ten. Starting grid positions for the season highlight with its high-class entry will be determined during Top Qualifying 2 on Friday evening. Three Mercedes-AMG GT3s have already secured their slots for this session: the #4 Mercedes-AMG HRT car, the #7 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed entry as well as the latter’s #9 sister car.

Racing returns to action this weekend in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS with the third doubleheader of the 2021 season at Virginia International Raceway. The team will not only sport a new line up for the World Challenge round, but it will also compete in IMSA Lamborghini Super Trofeo competition after […]

Team 1AIM Villorba Corse racing programs resume on June 4-6 at the 4 Hours of Le Castellet, which is the third round of 2021 European Le Mans Series. The Italian team will be back in action at the Paul Ricard circuit, France, with their Ligier JS P320 powered by Nissan and racing drivers Alessandro Bressan, Damiano Fioravanti and Andreas Laskaratos. After being hit by another prototype and forced to an early retirement in the previous race, held at the Red Bull Ring last month, the squad led by Raimondo Amadio is immediately aiming to fight back, showing a competitive pace and scoring championship points as the team did in Barcelona at the beginning of the season.

Motorsport can be really cruel, and Henrique Chaves felt it in his skin at Paul Ricard, where he watched his Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo retiring when a podium was within his reach in the 2021 GT World Challenge Europe’s third round.

K-PAX Racing is off to its best start ever, remaining unbeaten through the first four rounds of Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS, and its two Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVOs make a convincing claim to add VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) to the list of tracks where it has seen success this season. This time the team has the opportunity to share its successes with GT racing fans in the paddock, as the event marks the first-time fans are welcome back into the paddock to witness all the series action in real-time.

RLR MSport is bullishly pursuing a podium result in the 2021 European Le Mans Series (ELMS) 4 Hours of Le Castellet (4-6 June) as it seeks redemption for its nil point score at the Red Bull Ring. 

Set to return to action this coming weekend at the VIRginia International Raceway (VIR), Jason Bell is hoping to improve on his triple podium performance at the same facility less than a year ago. Sticking with the GMG Racing program but making the move to the Aston Martin Vantage GT4, Bell will compete in both […]

Following her hometown weekend at COTA, Taylor Hagler will return to VIRginia International Raceway for the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS weekend June 4-6th. Competing in the Pro-Am category, Hagler will be teamed with Jacob Abel in the No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo for the third stop on the SRO calendar. 

United Autosports make their way to the south of France this weekend for round three of the European Le Mans Series and round two of the Michelin Le Mans Cup at Paul Ricard.

 The curtain is raised on the BMW M4 GT3 in its new BMW M Motorsport design: ahead of the Nürburgring 24 Hours (GER), BMW’s new GT flagship was revealed in its new livery, heralding the final phase of testing. The BMW M4 GT3 will contest its first race on 26th June at round four of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS). The purchase price for the car, which has undergone significant improvements in the areas of driveability, cost efficiency and operation, will be € 415,000 net. You can find our Media Guide with detailed data and facts on the development of the BMW M4 GT3 attached to this press release and in the BMW Group Pressclub.

The European Le Mans Series descends on Circuit Paul Ricard this weekend for the third round of the 2021 championship: the 4 Hours of Le Castellet. Armed with a fresh chassis and a new addition to the driving lineup, the No. 17 IDEC SPORT and Era Motorsport Oreca LMP2 car will be one of 42 entries ready to compete this weekend.