Mishumotors Corvette tests ahead of Nashville
Mishumotors’ Corvette C7 GT3-R has been out testing ahead of its appearence in the GT America event on the streets of Nashville this weekend.
In the event, the car will run #70 and be driven by Mirco Schultis.
The full entry list for the Music City Grand Prix, which features 12 GT3 cars and 10 GT4 cars, can be found HERE >>>
GT4 Japan entry gets boost for Okayama
Three more teams – Comet, CREF and Craft-Bamboo – will contest GT World Challenge Asia’s upcoming GT4 Japan event at Okayama on August 18-20.
Comet, CREF and Craft-Bamboo all compete in Fanatec GT Asia’s GT3 class, but none are strangers to GT4 either.
CREF raced a McLaren 570S GT4 at Suzuka and Okayama last year and now return with the new-for-2023 Artura, which makes its competitive Asia debut at Okayama. The entry features Yuko Suzuki and Masataka Inoue who raced the team’s 720S GT3 at Fuji and Motegi earlier this season.
Fellow Japanese team, Comet, fielded GT3 and GT4 entries last year before solely focusing on the senior class this. However, that changes at Okayama where its Mercedes-AMG will be in the hands of Risa Oogushi and Kazuki Oki.
Craft-Bamboo, meanwhile, makes its first GT4 start since Shanghai 2019. The former class champion is yet to name its driver combination but will run a Mercedes-AMG just as it did four years ago.
Those three additions take the current GT4 Japan entry to eight.
Okayama’s GT4 Japan races will decide this year’s Fanatec Japan Cup titles and, potentially, the overall GT4 championship as well. Two more races – both part of Fanatec GT Asia – follow at Sepang in September.
YZ Racing with BMW M Team Studie’s Masaki Kano and Max Orido currently top both standings after winning twice at Motegi.
The two 60-minute sprints will be SRO Motorsports Group’s first-ever standalone GT4 races in the region. Mirroring the existing Fanatec GT Asia format, each car features two drivers who swap places between minutes 25-35, while two quarter-hour qualifying sessions set both grids.
Le Mans finale for Sports Prototype Cup
The Sports Prototype Cup has announced that the final races of its 2023 campaign will take place at the legendary Le Mans circuit on November 10th to 12th.
The calendar announcement was triggered by the racing planned at Portimao being rescheduled to 2024.
The Le Mans event will take place on the Bugatti circuit, known for hosting world championships such as MotoGP. The Sports Prototype Cup has been invited by the French Trophee Tourisme Endurance series, ensuring a shared full grid of prototypes competing across three races.
An additional endurance-style race is included in the event, as its 11th race of the year.
VGRT to bring Hyundai to Pilot Challenge
The Victor Gonzalez Racing Team has announced that it will partner with Bryan Herta Autosport and manufacturer Hyundai for the remaing races of the current Michelin Pilot Challenge season, switching from competing with Honda.
“Since our very beginning, the VGRT and Fiebruz Originals family have been committed to representing the Hispanic community in the highest stages of the racing world,” the team stated.
“We are very excited to start this new chapter beginning with our next race on Aug. 6 at the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Weekend, where we will be racing a Hyundai Elantra N in the TCR (Touring Car) class at Road America.”
Herta entries have won four consecutive driver and team TCR championships with Hyundai from 2019-2022. The team has two cars atop the 2023 standings heading to Road America. The #99 VGRT entry won two races last year with Honda power and is eighth in this year’s TCR standings after six races.
“We have known VGRT as a winning and tough competitor the last few years, and we are all looking forward to now welcoming Victor and the team as a partner,” Herta said.
“This will strengthen our lineup of Elantra N TCR teams at a crucial time as the battle for the manufacturer’s championship comes down to the wire in the final four Michelin Pilot Challenge races of the season.”
Images courtesy of Corvette Motorsport and SRO
