Weekend Notebook: Podiums in Asia and Australia

The third race weekend of the GT World Challenge Asia in Buriram saw Ferrari entries secure class wins and podium finishes. Meanwhile, in the Australian series at Queensland Raceway, a Prancing Horse car claimed third place in Race-1. Eighth place was the best Ferrari result in the second Sprint race of the IMSA SportsCar Championship season in Detroit. The Prancing Horse also appeared at Portimão in the Ultimate Cup European Series.

IMSA. The second Sprint round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship took place on the streets of Detroit, featuring a 100-minute race that included the GTD Pro class alongside the GTP prototypes. The only Ferrari entered was DragonSpeed’s 296 GT3 number 81, driven by Albert Costa from Spain and Rasmus Lindh from Sweden. After qualifying in 11th place, the American team’s crew crossed the line eighth in class, one lap behind the winners.

The next round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship is the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, taking place over the weekend of 19–22 June.

GT World Challenge Asia. The Buriram circuit in Thailand hosted round three of the GT World Challenge Asia, featuring the usual format of two 60-minute races. Race-1, held on Saturday, 31 May, saw the Ferrari 296 GT3 number 96, of Winhere Harmony Racing start from pole position, thanks to Luo Kailuo, who maintained the lead throughout his stint before handing over to Yi Deng. The Silver class crew remained in front until the final lap, when the Chinese driver was overtaken and dropped to second place overall and in class. In the Silver-Am class, the team’s Ferrari 296 GT3 number 55, piloted by Liu Hangcheng and Elias Seppanen, finished fifth. In Pro-Am, Shigekazu Wakisaka and Giancarlo Fisichella were among the leaders in LMCorsa’s Ferrari 296 GT3 number 60 until the closing stages, when a series of penalties caused them to drop down the standings and finish tenth in class. Finally, in the Am category, David Tjiptobiantoro and Christian Colombo secured another podium, finishing runners-up in the Ferrari 296 GT3, number 75, of Garage 75.

Race-2 on Sunday, 1 June, saw the Ferrari 296 GT3, number 96, knocked out shortly after the start due to a multi-car incident on the straight. The best-placed Ferrari at the finish was the Ferrari 296 GT3, number 75, in the Am class, with Christian Colombo and David Tjiptobiantoro claiming a class win and extending their championship lead. The Ferrari 296 GT3, number 55, from Winhere Harmony Racing, crewed by Liu and Seppanen, finished eighth in class and 23rd overall, while Wakisaka and Fisichella were forced to retire early in LMCorsa’s Ferrari 296 GT3, number 60.

The next round of the GT World Challenge Asia will take place at Japan’s Fuji Speedway from 11 to 13 July.

GT World Challenge Australia. The third round of the GT World Challenge Australia season featured two 60-minute races held at Queensland Raceway. In Race-1, the Ferrari 296 GT3 number 26 of Arise Racing GT, driven by Elliott Schutte and Jaxon Evans, finished third after starting from fourth on the grid, while the team’s Ferrari 296 GT3 number 77, with Stephen Wyatt and Aaron Love, crossed the line in fifth place.

In Race-2, both Ferraris narrowly missed out on the podium, with Wyatt–Love finishing fourth ahead of Schutte–Evans in fifth. Nonetheless, Schutte and Evans remain at the top of the Pro-Am class standings, whilst Arise Racing GT continues to lead the team championship.

GT World Challenge Australia will now take an extended break, returning from 25 to 27 July at Sandown Raceway in Victoria.

Ultimate Cup European Series. The Portimão circuit in Portugal hosted the third round of the Ultimate Cup European Series season, featuring both the Endurance and Sprint Cup categories. In the four-hour Endurance race, the only Ferrari on the grid – the number 1 488 GT3 Evo of Visiom, driven by the French trio of Jean Paul Pagny, Jean-Bernard Bouvet and David Hallyday – finished ninth overall and fourth in the UCS1 class, having lost several laps in the early stages due to a technical issue.

In the Trofeo GT Sprint, which consists of four 25-minute races each weekend, Patrick Michellier triumphed in every outing at the wheel of his Ferrari 296 Challenge, entered by CMR in the Ultimate Cavallino Tridente Cup (UCTC) class. He also achieved three fifth-place finishes and one fourth in the overall standings.

The championship will return to the track after a lengthy summer break, over the weekend of 4-7 September, at Spain’s Aragon circuit.