Trending Sports Updates

Photo: Bruno Vandevelde/MPS Agency. The Forestier Racing by Panis crew of Louis Rousset, Oliver Gray and Esteban Masson triumphed in the Imola round of the European Le Mans Series, denying United Autosports victory in the team’s 500th race. A blistering final stint from Masson ensured the No. 19 Oreca 07 Gibson crossed the line some 52 seconds ahead of the No. 22 United Autosports entry of Griffin Peebles, Gregoire Saucy and Ben Hanley. It was a second win of the season for the Forestier Racing by Panis crew to narrow the points deficit to the United Autosports squad, while the podium was completed by the No. 25 Algarve Pro Racing machine of Matthias Kaiser, Tristan Vautier and Jake Hughes. Rousset maintained the lead from pole at the start but was passed at the Villeneuve Chicane by Adrien Closmenil in the No. 37 CLX Motorsport machine that also started on the front row shortly before the first virtual safety car period of a chaotic opening to the four-hour contest. However,...

Photo: Racingpixels/Creventic Up2Race held the lead of the Michelin 12H Nürburgring going into the overnight intervention after a red flag was brought out for a frightening crash in the final hour of the opening half of the race. The No. 88 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo, driven by Tim Heinemann, Oleksiy Kikireshko and Fabio Grosse, cycled up into first place after deciding not to stop under a Code 60 caution period caused by a high speed crash for the No. 921 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The points leaders in the 992 class sustained a race-ending accident going into the first corner which necessitated lengthy barrier repairs. Thankfully, driver Joshua Bednarski was able to exit his car unassisted. In an unusual instance for Creventic competition, the event was red flagged as the barrier repairs were expected to take longer than the forty minutes remaining of the race. This caused much confusion amongst the paddock as some cars had pitted for fuel under the Code 60 while others ...

Photo: Bruno Vandevelde/MPS Agency. Esteban Masson continued his dominance of the European Le Mans Series’ Imola weekend after topping a very close qualifying session. Masson had set the pace in both of the free practice sessions and again topped the timesheets in qualifying at the wheel of the No. 29 Forestier Racing by Panis Oreca 07 Gibson. However, the reigning ELMS champion endured a nervy conclusion to qualifying after Masson failed to improve on both of his final two laps and a whole host of rivals closed the gap. In the end Masson’s 1:30.866 was good enough for top spot, but he was just 0.032 seconds faster than Ian Aguilera in the No. 17 CLX Motorsport entry. Third fastest was Gregoire Saucy in the points-leading No. 22 United Autosports Oreca on a 1:30.928, which was less than a tenth quicker than Reshad De Gerus in fourth at the controls of the No. 34 Inter Europol Competition machine. Fifth was Job van Uitert in the No. 28 IDEC Sport car on a 1:30.990, whi...

Photo: Bruno Vandevelde/MPS Agency. Esteban Masson continued to set the pace in second practice for this weekend’s Imola round of the European Le Mans Series in a session that came to an early end. The reigning champion clocked a 1:31.991 in the opening minutes of the 90-minute FP2 session to again lead the way in the No. 19 Forestier Racing by Panis Oreca 07 Gibson, although his time was four tenths of a second slower than he managed during Friday’s FP1 . The session was stopped four minutes early after Rene Binder in the No. 88 Proton Competition Oreca and the No. 68 M Racing Ligier JS P325 Toyota LMP3 machine of Nick Adcock tangled at Tosa. There were therefore no late improvements and so Masson finished up just 0.005 seconds faster than Ian Aguilera aboard the No. 37 CLX Motorsport Oreca, who set a quick time with his opening push lap of the session. Third fastest was Gregoire Saucy aboard the No. 22 United Autosports entry that heads the standings after winning las...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Racingpixels/Creventic GetSpeed Team PCX Racing snatched pole position for the Michelin 12H Nürburgring thanks to a rapid lap for Benjamin Paque. The Michelin 24H European Series points leaders set a fastest combined time of 1:53.324, just 0.575 seconds faster than the No. 18 Sainteloc Junior Team Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II. Semi-Pro driver Paque produced the fastest lap of qualifying in the No. 28 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. The Belgian laid down a remarkable 1:52.729 lap which just a fraction faster than his teammate, Mercedes-AMG factory driver Mikhael Grenier. It appeared as though the PCX crew would lose its advantage after an off-track moment for Paque in the final moments of Qualifying 3, but the 21-year-old maintained his blistering pace to set the fastest time and see out the rest of the session. Reigning teams’ champions Proton Competition claimed third place on the grid with its Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo. It was just ahead of the No. 88 Up2Race Porsche, which secured fou...

Photo: MCH Photography Alpine FIA World Endurance Championship driver Fred Makowiecki believes that if anyone can ensure the future of the squad, it’s Signatech boss Philippe Sinault. Makowiecki admitted he was “a little bit shocked” when it was announced in February that Alpine would be exiting the WEC at the end of this season. Since then, Sinault has been working on plans to ensure the Alpine A424s that his team operates can remain on the WEC grid in 2027 and has held talks with multiple OEMs, including Chinese electric giant BYD , about taking over the program. Long before Alpine’s factory entry into the Hypercar ranks in 2024, Signatech had enjoyed a relationship with the French manufacturer and Makowiecki said that Sinault knows what it takes to get a brand involved. “The only thing I can say is I know Philippe Sinault is working really hard,” Makowiecki told Sportscar365 when asked about his future. “We have to keep in mind that, w...