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Photo: Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe Honors were even on a dramatic opening weekend of Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe action at Paul Ricard with the victories shared between the No. 15 Rexal Villorba Corse machine of Nicholas Pujatti and Benedetto Strignano and the No. 72 DL Racing entry of Kevin Gilardoni and Simone Iaquinta. Silas Rytter had led the opening half of the first contest before the race began to unravel for the polesitting No. 36 Oregon Team crew. First, Rytter picked up a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage by going off the track as he battled side-by-side with Jonathan Cecotto on lap one, before the No. 36 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 was then slapped with a 40-second sanction for speeding in the pitlane. To compound the misery, shortly after Patrik Fraboni took over he was passed in a double move by both Strignano and Iaquinta at the final corner. Strignano then spent the remainder of the race under stern pressure from Iaquinta and things ca...

Photo: Laurent Cartalade/MPS Agency. Reigning European Le Mans Series champions Forestier Racing by Panis overcame 20 seconds of time penalties to win Sunday’s 4 Hours of Barcelona. The French team continued its winning ways when Esteban Masson took the No. 29 Oreca 07 Gibson that he shared with Oliver Gray and Louis Rousset across the line 13.398 seconds ahead of Reshad De Gerus in the No. 34 Inter Europol Competition machine. Masson pinched the lead from the pole-sitting Inter Europol car in the final ten minutes of the race. The Panis entry bounced back from two separate ten-second penalties served in the second hour when Rousset was at the wheel, the first for overtaking off-track and having a lasting advantage and the other for disrespecting race director’s instructions. Masson, who was in the car at the time of serving the penalties, dropped back to fourth at the end of the second hour but rallied back to the lead shortly after. De Gerus, meanwhile, brought home the Polis...

Photo: Toyota SUPER GT organizer GTA has explained further the circumstances that forced this year’s Sepang 300km to be called off. The GTA and event promoter HARO Sports & Entertainment announced on Wednesday that the series’ return visit to Sepang slated for June 19-21 will not take place, while on Friday a reduction in this year’s calendar to seven races was confirmed . It comes amid the economic impact that has arisen from the U.S./Israel-Iran conflict and the imperative to reduce fuel consumption in the countries that have been worst-affected by the reduction in fuel supply from the Gulf region. Addressing reporters on Sunday ahead of the opening round of the new season at Okayama, GTA chairman Masaaki Bandoh explained in further detail the circumstances behind what was billed as a “postponement” of the Sepang round. “The main reason we were forced to postpone the race is the sharp rise in the price of fuel and crude oil,” Bandoh told assembled reporters. “In Japan, t...

Photo: SRO The No. 007 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Marco Sorensen, Nicki Thiim and Mattia Drudi scored an unlikely victory in the opening round of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS at Paul Ricard after a late safety car cost the No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and Lucas Auer a dominant win. The Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter entry’s biggest threat seemingly came at the start of the six-hour contest when the lights went green very early and polesitter Engel was attacked by Benjamin Goethe in the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. But Engel withstood that attack and quickly built a lead after an early safety car following a nasty first-lap incident on the pit straight when the No. 555 CSA Racing McLaren of Baptistie Moulin and the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Porsche 911 GT3 Evo of Robin Knutsson both had sizeable impacts with the wall. Engel, Stolz and Auer controlled the race thereafter until a safety car in th...

Photo: Laurent Cartalade/MPS Agency ***Four Hours of Barcelona polesitter Reshad de Gerus believes having a two-driver lineup will be a benefit in tomorrow’s European Le Mans Series season opener. The No. 34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 Gibson is the only car in the record 47-car field with a driving duo. “We had more track time in the Prologue and also in the practice sessions,” de Gerus told Sportscar365. “For sure, the race is going to be a bit tough driving only with two, but we have a great collaboration with Bijoy [Garg], my teammate, so we are hoping to be at the front and so far, so good.” ***Unlike other championships, the ELMS does not impose a maximum drive time, only mandating each driver complete at least 40 minutes in the race in order to be eligible to score points. ***It wasn’t all clear sailing for the Polish squad in qualifying, however, as the No. 13 Inter Europol Ligier JS P25 Toyota, which initially set the second quickest time in LMP3, has been disquali...

Photo: Laurent Cartalade/MPS Agency Reshad de Gerus beat reigning champion Esteban Masson to take the overall pole position for the 4 Hours of Barcelona in a qualifying session which came down to the final lap. The No. 34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 Gibson sat at the top of the times for much of the LMP2 qualifying session until last year’s European Le Mans Series champion Esteban Masson set a faster lap in the final moments of the 15-minute session. De Gerus responded with a 1:28.368 lap on his final run, clinching pole by just 0.189 seconds. The No. 34 Inter Europol car is the only car on the grid to have just two drivers, as Frenchman De Gerus shares his car with Bijoy Garg. Masson and the No. 29 Forrestier Racing by Panis car will line up second for Sunday’s race, 0.077 seconds ahead of Tom Dillmann in the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca. Laurents Hörr finished the session in fourth in the No. 18 IDEC Sport entry, with former Formula E driver Jake Hughes lining...

Photo: Laurent Cartalade/MPS Agency Reshad De Gerus led an Inter Europol Competition 1-2 in the second and final Free Practice prior to qualifying for Sunday’s European Le Mans Series season opener in Barcelona. The Frenchman, in the only two-driver LMP2 lineup this weekend, was the only drive to break the 1:30 barrier in the stop-start session, having reeled off a 1:29.622 in the No. 34 Oreca 07 Gibson he shares with Bijoy Garg. It was 0.450 seconds quicker than teammate Tom Dillmann in the No. 43 machine. The chart-topping times were set in quick succession in between two red flag periods, both for oil cleanup, that led to an interrupted first part of the 90-minute session. The first red came out at the five-minute mark for oil in Turns 2 and 3, while a Full Course Yellow turned into a second stoppage for oil on the start/finish straight. The session restarted with 59 minutes to go and ran largely uninterrupted, other than a pair of additional FCYs in the final 30 minutes. T...