[ad_1] Nakajima Honda’s Bertrand Baguette and Kosuke Matsuura won the Suzuka 1000km, while 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button finished 12th after a fraught Super GT debut. Troubles for Button’s #16 Mugen Honda team began when he was released into the path of the #7 BMW as he took the wheel at the first

[ad_1] Kondo Nissan’s Joao Paulo de Oliveira and Daiki Sasaki claimed a surprise Suzuka 1000km pole, as 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button qualified ninth on his Super GT debut. Oliveira, who was nominated by Kondo Racing to take part in the second leg of qualifying, lapped the Suzuka circuit in 1m47.74s to secure

[ad_1] Nissan, Honda and Toyota have all committed to field factory teams in the inaugural Suzuka 10 Hours round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge next year. The three Japanese car makers made the pledge at the official launch of the race ahead of this weekend’s Suzuka 1000Km round of the Super GT Series, which the

[ad_1] Ex-Formula 1 driver Will Stevens will return to the WRT Audi team for the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup round at the Hungaroring later this month. The former Caterham and Manor F1 racer will take up his place in the Belgian team’s Sprint Cup line-up alongside Markus Winkelhock in Hungary on August 27. The

[ad_1] Audi took a fourth victory in the Spa 24 Hours with Sainteloc drivers Markus Winkelhock, Christopher Haase and Jules Gounon. Sainteloc Racing, running as a factory-backed team for the first time, scored an 11-second victory over the M-Sport Bentley of Maxime Soulet, Andy Soucek and Vincent Abril at the end of the double-points Endurance

[ad_1] Mercedes led the Spa 24 Hours at three-quarter distance with the Auto Sport Promotion entry shared by Raffaele Marciello, Edoardo Mortara and Michael Meadows. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Marciello at the wheel held an advantage of just under 20 seconds over the chasing WRT Audi R8 LMS of Rene Rast as the blue-riband Endurance

[ad_1] The Ferrari shared by Giancarlo Fisichella, James Calado and Marco Cioci led the Spa 24 Hours at one-quarter distance. The AF Corse-run Kaspersky Ferrari 488 GT3 moved back to the front of the blue-riband Endurance Cup round of the Blancpain GT Series as the six-hour mark approached. Cioci held a 10-second advantage over Christian

[ad_1] An endurance race planned for New Zealand in 2018 is set to link up with the Bathurst 12 Hour in a new mini-series. The new 12-hour race at Hampton Downs would join the fixtures of the same duration at Bathurst and Sepang in a series for GT3 and GT4 machinery over the European winter

[ad_1] Ferrari factory driver James Calado secured pole position for the Spa 24 Hours Endurance Cup round of the Blancpain GT Series. The Briton jumped to the top spot in the times on his second lap in the ‘superpole’ qualifying session aboard the AF Corse-run Kaspersky Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3. His time of 2m17.390s gave

[ad_1] The Honda NSX GT3 already racing in North America as an Acura will go on sale to customers ahead of the 2018 season. The Japanese manufacturer reaffirmed its commitment to offer cars for sale on the announcement of its GT3 customer programme at Spa today ahead of this weekend’s blue-riband round of the Blancpain

[ad_1] Mercedes has taken the wraps off a new GT4 car that will enter competition in 2018. The Mercedes-AMG GT4 has been unveiled ahead of this weekend’s Spa 24 Hours Endurance Cup round of the Blancpain GT Series and will go on sale at a list price of €198,850 (£176,975), excluding taxes. Mercedes has joined

[ad_1] Porsche LMP1 driver Andre Lotterer will return to the wheel of an Audi in this weekend’s Spa 24 Hours. The 35-year-old, who claimed his three Le Mans 24 Hours victories with Audi, has accepted a last-minute invitation to race for the Belgian WRT squad in the blue-riband Endurance Cup round of the Blancpain GT

[ad_1] Dean Stoneman has stepped down from his Blancpain GT Series drive with the Strakka McLaren squad ahead of next weekend’s Spa 24 Hours. The 26-year-old Briton had made the switch to GT racing at the start of this season, having contested GP3, Formula Renault 3.5 and Indy Lights since recovering from testicular cancer. Stoneman

[ad_1] More manufacturers than ever are going into this month’s Spa 24 Hours with a chance of victory, according to Blancpain GT Series boss Stephane Ratel. Ratel is predicting an “amazing level of competition” at the double-points Endurance Cup round of the BGTS on July 29/30 in which nine manufacturers are represented with factory-backed cars

[ad_1] Porsche has committed to the remainder of the Intercontinental GT Challenge series combining the top GT3 enduros around the world. The German manufacturer has revealed that it will provide factory support for teams competing in the new California 8 Hours fixture at Laguna Seca in October and the Sepang 12 Hours in December, the

[ad_1] BMW DTM driver Tom Blomqvist will make his Spa 24 Hours debut later this month with the factory Rowe Racing squad. The 23-year-old Briton will drive the #98 BMW M6 GT3 in the double-points Endurance Cup round of the Blancpain GT Series on July 29/30 together with Bruno Spengler and Nicky Catsburg. Blomqvist has

[ad_1] Le Mans 24 Hours winner Timo Bernhard will enter his factory-supported Porsche outfit Team 75 Motorsport in next month’s Spa 24 Hours. Porsche factory drivers Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen will share a 911 GT3 R in the Belgian endurance classic. The German team, founded by two-time Le Mans winner Bernhard and

[ad_1] Bentley will field a third factory car in next month’s Spa 24 Hours as it bids for its first victory in the Belgian endurance classic. The British manufacturer has brought in the German Abt team, which led its challenge for Nurburgring 24 Hours honours last month, to run an additional Continental GT3 alongside the

[ad_1] 1 A.Soucek, M.Soulet, V.Abril Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley 6h01m17.768s 2 V.Shaytar, M.Molina, D.Rigon SMP Racing Ferrari 29.272s 3 A.Garcia, N.Muller, R.Rast Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi 1m19.230s 4 R.van der Zande, F.Serralles, D.Juncadella Akka ASP Mercedes 1m22.658s 5 L.Ordonez, A.Buncombe, K.Chiyo RJN Motorsport Nissan 1m37.964s 6 S.Leonard, J.Dennis, R.Frijns Team WRT Audi 1m55.276s

[ad_1] Mercedes claimed pole position for the Paul Ricard 1000km Endurance Cup round of the Blancpain GT Series with a last-gasp lap from Yelmer Buurman. The Black Falcon Mercedes driver posted a 1m56.442s after the chequered flag had fallen at the end of the final 15-minute qualifying session to take the pole. Buurman had been

[ad_1] The Czech ISR and French Sainteloc teams will join Audi’s roster of factory teams for the first time at the Spa 24 Hours next month. The two newcomers will field factory Audi R8 LMS GT3 cars in the Endurance Cup round of the Blancpain GT Series at Spa on July 29/30 alongside regular works

[ad_1] Former Red Bull protege Beitske Visser and Dennis Marschall have been announced as new members of BMW’s junior programme. Visser spent the past three years in Formula Renault/V8 3.5, and is the first female driver invited to the current incarnation of BMW’s young driver scheme. “I am proud to be part of the BMW

[ad_1] Porsche is working on putting together a factory-supported entry for the Spa 24 Hours next month. The German manufacturer has revealed that it is busy with a plan to put at least one car with three factory drivers in the Pro class of the blue-riband round of the Blancpain Endurance Series on July 29/30.

[ad_1] McLaren is set to terminate its contract with CRS to develop and build its GT3 and GT4 racing machinery. The move has yet to be officially announced, but Autosport has learned that McLaren Automotive began proceedings to bring the relationship with its GT racing partner of the past seven years to an end last