V-Series.R to grace the Forza Motorsport front cover
Cadillac’s V-Series.R LMDh prototype has been revealed as the lead car on the front cover of the forthcoming Forza Motorsport video game, which will be released on Xbox Series consoles later this year.
Also on the cover is the 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray.
We are excited to see one of our GTP cars featured as a Forza Motorsport cover car!#IMSA | @CGRTeams | @CadillacVSeries | @ForzaMotorsport https://t.co/wjnHPSGszx
— #IMSA (@IMSA) May 26, 2023
Record-breaking 40-car grid for World Challenge Asia’s Fuji trip
The Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS’s has revealed a record-breaking provisional 40-car entry, which will assemble for the first of this year’s Fanatec Japan Cup events on June 16-18.
The overall number is on course to comfortably beat the championship’s previous best of 34, at Fuji in 2017, while 36 GT3s is believed to be a joint record for Japan. The same number contested 2019’s Suzuka 10 Hours.
20 of the 25 cars that appeared at Rounds 1 and 2 will be joined by the same number of local entries, while 20 are eligible for Fanatec Japan Cup points.
AAS Motorsport by Absolute Racing’s Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak and Alessio Picariello top the early drivers’ standings thanks to their two podiums at Chang International Circuit where Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim and Luca Stolz (Triple Eight JMR), and Anthony Liu and Fabian Schiller (Craft-Bamboo Racing) scored a win apiece. But they, as well as Fanatec GT Asia’s other full-season crews, face a tough task at Fuji where Fanatec Japan Cup entries old and new make their first appearances of the season.
Chief among them are reigning overall champions Takeshi Kimura and Kei Cozzolino who debut CarGuy Racing’s brand-new Ferrari 296 GT3. Race winners Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii (D’station Racing) are joined by fellow Fanatec Japan Cup returnees Plus with BMW Team Studie, The Spirit of FFF Racing, ABSSA Motorsport, LMcorsa and Comet Racing, as well as a host of new additions making their series debuts.
The GT3 entry list comprises Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Honda Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan and Porsche – 12 of the 13 manufacturers with currently homologated models.
Japan’s vibrant GT4 market also sees the class expand to four cars at Fuji where BMW, Porsche and Toyota compete.
And 57 cars for World Challenge Europe at Ricard
Over in Europe, the World Challenge Endurance Cup grid is set to be huge for its next race too. Round 2 of the endurance season on June 3rd, the annual six-hour race at Paul Ricard, has attracted a 57-car grid, the biggest seen at the circuit since 2017.
The Pro entry list remains unchanged from the season opener at Monza (won by ROWE Racing), with the same 17 teams set to do battle for overall honours and just one change among the drivers. The #71 AF Corse Ferrari crew sees Daniel Serra take up his place alongside Davide Rigon and Antonio Fuoco in the #71 after missing the opener.
The biggest class though, is the Bronze Cup, with 18 cars representing seven manufacturers. Elsewhere, there are 10 cars in Silver, seven in Gold and five in Pro-Am.
The additional entries come from Akkodis ASP (Mercedes), Come Ledogar Racing Team (Porsche) and Leipert Motorsport (Lamborghini).
The Vanthoors on the N24
This year’s Nürburgring 24 Hours was a memorable one for so many reasons, won in fine style by Frikadelli Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3. But, were there moments during the meeting that ‘crossed the line’ in terms of driver safety?
That’s the main question asked by racing brothers Laurens and Dries Vanthoor in the latest episode of their podcast ‘Over The Line’.
It’s well worth hearing their perspective…
Today we discuss the 24 Hours of Nurburgring on our podcast. A race loved by everybody, but did it cross a line this year?
🎢 24h of Nürburgring.
💥 Crashing in the same corners within a week.
💨 Dries his misfires on Saturday morning.Spotify: https://t.co/Barj40swmy… pic.twitter.com/J7TKruvSV0
— Laurens Vanthoor (@VanthoorLaurens) May 26, 2023
ADAC GT4 season gets underway
The 2023 ADAC GT season got off to a fast start over the weekend, with a pair of races in support of DTM at Oschersleben.
Race 1 was won by the CV Performance Mercedes-AMG of Jan Philipp Springob and Simon Primm triumphs.
The second encounter saw the defending champions, Hugo Sasse and Mike David Ortmann steer their Prosport Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 to victory.
Van ommen racing and DRK score wins in Prototype Cup
Also on the DTM support package at Oschersleben was Prototype Cup Germany, which staged a pair of races in its second event of the year.
Oscar Tunjo and Julien Apothéloz from van Ommen Racing by DataLab emerged victorious in Race 1, which was the third race of the season. Racing Experience’s Markus Pommer and Gary Hauser secured second ahead of Robin Rogalski and Valentino Catalano from DKR.
Initially, the Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport Duqueine of Laurents Hörr led through to the round of pit stops, with Tunjo second. After the driver changes Hörr’s teammate Matthias Lüthen took over the DKR Duquiene in the lead but eventually succumbed to the pressure from Apothéloz, who made a move at Turn 1. Lüthen then lost second, when Hauser found a way through and eventually finished off the podium.
In the second race, the DKR duo of Robin Rogalski and Valentino Catalano triumphed for the first time in the series. Behind it was a better race for Oscar Tunjo and Julien Apothéloz, who finished second, ahead of the Racing Experience example of Pommer and Hauser that completed the podium. As a result, Tunjo and Apothéloz head into the third meeting of the season as championship leaders.
The biggest drama of the race came on Lap 2, when Xavier Lloveras was forced to retire his van Ommen racing by DataLab Duquiene from the lead with technical issues.
