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Photo: Porsche After 12 races and six weekends of racing from February to September, Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama celebrated its champions – and its fifth season of competition – on Sunday evening after the finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Four title-winners were recognized among the GT3 Cup Pro-Am and Masters classes, plus the same categories for the Cayman class, all of whom dedicated year-long efforts that led to success. Ely’s GT3 Cup Landslide; Hankins’ Narrow Triumph Laura Ely ran lightyears ahead of her GT3 Cup Masters competitors, winning the class championship by more than 200 points. Adding another season-long trophy to her collection – she was a Sprint Challenge USA West title-winner in 2022 – Ely won three of the final four races with Black Sheep Racing to secure the top spot. Combined with three victories earlier in the year, Ely’s season-ending total of 574 points made her the highest-scoring driver since Sprint Challenge USA West’s ince...

Photo: HRC US Current Honda Racing Corporation USA Vice President Kelvin Fu has been named as the company’s new president, replacing David Salters. Announced on Tuesday, Fu (pictured above, left), has long served in senior roles at HRC US, having initially joined the California-based motorsports arm of Honda in 2015, when it was known as Honda Performance Development, managing chassis design, aerodynamics and the performance engineering group. He was named director of programs in 2020 before being promoted to VP in 2021. Fu will begin his new position, succeeding Salters, on Sept. 16., who has taken a new job outside of motorsports in the technology startup sector. Salters  joined HPD in 2015 as chief engineer and engine technical leader before becoming technical director in 2019 and then president in 2020. During his tenure, Salters oversaw the development of the Acura ARX-06 LMDh car, launched in 2023, one year after Acura won the DPi manufacturer’s championship wit...

Photo: Kristof Vermeulen/MPS Agency Ralf Aron will make his European Le Mans Series debut in this weekend’s 4 Hours of Silverstone as several LMGT3 squads feature revised lineups amid the clashing Suzuka 1000km. The ELMS event will mark Aron’s latest outing after missing more than five months of the season having suffered two fractured vertebra in a crash during this year’s Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour in February. Aron enjoyed a triumphant comeback in the NLS7 contest around the Nordschleife in July and will now pilot the No. 62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo at Silverstone with team regular Maxime Martin racing at Suzuka. Others in action in Japan include Anders Fjordbach, with his place in the No. 54 High Class Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo being taken by GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS racer Benjamin Paque. Another new driver will also get to experience the No. 59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo as Anthony McIntos...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Charly López/DPPI Alpine driver Charles Milesi said he was “gutted” to miss out on Lone Star Le Mans glory, revealing a “big chunk of marbles” got stuck under the car and cost him when battling the victorious Ferrari. The No. 35 Alpine A424 Milesi shared with Ferdinand Habsburg and Antonio Felix da Costa was a frontrunner throughout the FIA World Endurance Championship contest at the Circuit of The Americas but ultimately had to settle for third place . Milesi had been running second behind the No. 7 Toyota TR010 Hybrid — which retired from the race in the final minutes with hydraulics woes — when the race resumed after a safety car period with 45 minutes remaining. But he lost the place to the No. 50 Ferrari 499P of Nicklas Nielsen at Turn 8 in the closing stages when contending with both the discarded tire rubber and LMGT3 traffic. A five-second penalty for an unsafe release from its pit box then meant the Alpine trio slipped behind the No. 38 Her...

Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI A Virtual Safety Car for debris has effectively reset the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas as the race reached the halfway mark. The No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R of Earl Bamber led at the time of the VSC with 3 hours and 13 minutes left on the clock in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Lone Star Le Mans event. However, with leading Hypercar entries having previously been on various strategies and some with setbacks, the race’s first full reutilization, which turned into a safety car period some ten minutes later, came as a reset. Bamber led at the halfway mark ahead of the No. 35 Alpine A424 of Antonio Felix da Costa, with Tom Gamble third in the No. 007 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Valkyrie. Da Costa benefitted from the VSC after Charles Milesi was handed a five-second penalty for a pit infringement in the second hour. The No. 7 Toyota TR010 Hybrid of Nyck de Vries ran fourth, with the No. 36 Alpine of Jules Gouno...

Photo: Andrea Lorenzina/DPPI Antonio Giovinazzi maintained the lead from pole in the No. 51 Ferrari 499P after an eventful first hour of the Lone Star Le Mans FIA World Endurance Championship contest. Giovinazzi and Jack Aitken in the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R had set an identical time in qualifying and converted that pace into the race as they remained at the front. A heavy rain shower just minutes before the start, which particularly affected the back of the circuit while the pit straight remained almost completely dry, meant two additional formation laps were needed at the start. By the time green-flag racing began on lap three, the track was virtually dry but it was Giovinazzi who maintained the lead at the start and quickly began pulling away from Aitken. The sister No. 50 factory Ferrari 499P of Miguel Molina dispatched Ferdinand Habsburg in the No. 35 Alpine A424 for third while Andre Lotterer in the No. 17 Genesis GMR-001 was also on a charge as he climbe...