Herberth Motorsport has signed off the 2020 24H Series season with its third outright win of the year at the 12H Mugello, but was denied a 1-2 finish with less than an hour of the race left to run.
The #91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (Ralf Bohn / Daniel Allemann / Robert Renauer) led the field away for the second part of the 2020 12H Mugello earlier this morning, and even had to fend off its sister entry (#92, Robert Renauer / Alfred Renauer / Max Edelhof / Vincent Kolb) during a frenetic opening few laps before eventually pulling ahead. Throughout the afternoon, the gap between 1st and 2nd was regularly under 60 seconds.
All hope of a 1-2 finish was lost though when the #92 Herberth Porsche suffered gearbox failure with barely an hour left to run, the resultant oil leak leading to only the third Code 60 caution period of the event. That left the #91 Herberth Motorsport free to collect a hard-earned victory at the 2020 12H Mugello. The Bavarian team completed 334 laps of the 5.245km Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello en-route to the chequered flag.
The CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo (#85, Charles Putman / Charles Espenlaub / Joe Foster / Shane Lewis) took a well-earned 2nd overall after a faultless run, equalling its best finish in the 24H Series to-date. The American team took its first outright Series pole position yesterday, and even took the restart on the same lap as the two Herberth Motorsport cars.
Despite a couple of brief offs at turn nine, the MP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo (#58, Thomas Gostner / David Gostner / Corinna Gostner / Manuela Gostner) secured its first outright podium finish in the 24H Series with 3rd place on home turf in Italy.
Though unable to make the finish, the #92 Herbert Motorsport Porsche had still completed enough laps to be classified 5th overall in the GT division.
What had been an incredibly tight fight for GT4 honours throughout the 12H Mugello ultimately went to the Team Avia Sorg Rennsport BMW M4 GT4 (#451, Björn Simon / José Manuel de los Milagros Viñegla / Sergio Paulet Diaz / Philippe Valenza). A succession of unscheduled pit stops in the final hour ended up dropping the PROsport Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (#401, Nico Verdonck / Rodrigue Gillion / Carrie Schreiner) four laps adrift, but the German team still came home 2nd in-class.
The results secure Team Avia Sorg Rennsport the Overall GT Teams’ championship in the 24H Series Continents, while PROsport Racing scored enough points to put the Overall GT Teams’ title in the 24H Series Europe out of reach.
The Speed Lover Porsche 991-II Cup (#978, Eric Mouez / Olivier Dons / Jürgen van Hover) took 991 class victory, just ahead of the EBIMOTORS Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS MR (#473, Alessandro Cutrera / L.M.D.V. / Marco Talarico / Marco Frezza). The Italian team made an impressive return to the 24H Series after a two-year absence with 3rd in-class in GT4.
The RD Signs racing team Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo (#720, Audrius Butkevicius / Egidijus Gutaravicius / Arturs Batraks / Martynas Griska) rounded off a tough weekend in Mugello with 9th place in the GT division on its Series debut.
Fourth win of 2020 seals TCE title for Autorama Motorsport in Mugello
Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing has successfully defended its Overall 24H TCE Teams’ championship after taking its fourth win of 2020 at the 12H Mugello.
The Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR (#112, Miklas Born / Roberto Ferri / Yannick Mettler / Alberto Vescov) secured the 24H Series Europe Overall TCE Teams’ title last time out in Sicily, and took the win in Mugello this afternoon to secure the 24H Series Continents Overall TCE Teams’ championship as well. This marks the second time in two years that the Swiss team has taken both of the top titles in the 24H Series’ TCE division.
Autorama Motorsport completed 307 laps of the 5.245km Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello en-route to the chequered flag.
In an amazingly tight battle for TCR honours, the NKPP Racing by Bas Koeten Racing CUPRA TCR (#175, Harry Hilders / Gijs Bessem) finished less than 90 seconds adrift after a metronomic run from the back row of yesterday’s TCE grid. A run blighted only by a moment through the gravel at turn nine during the closing stages.
The fight for the final spot on the TCR podium proved similarly tight, the second Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing entry (#1, Constantin Kletzer / Jasmin Preisig / Philipp Hagnauer / Stefan Tanner / Yannick Mettler) finishing just two minutes ahead of the AC Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS (#188, Stéphane Perrin / Mathieu Detry / James Kaye).
The TOPCAR Sport CUPRA TCR (#131, Fabian Danz / Kari-Pekka Laaksonen / Adrian Spescha) finished 5th overall in the TCE division, just ahead of TCX class winner, Nordschleife Racing (#226, Guillaume Roman / Daniel Waszczinski / Mathieu Sentis). This result marks the maiden win for the Nordschleife Racing Ligier JS2 R in the 24H Series in the sports car’s maiden championship campaign.
After qualifying on pole position, and despite losing time early on Friday, the JR Motorsport BMW M3 E92 (#703, Ted van Vliet / Oscar Graper) drove a solid race to secure 2nd in the TCX class.
The Red Camel-Jordans.nl CUPRA TCR (#101, Ivo Breukers / Luc Breukers) endured a tough event, losing almost 1.5 hours in the pits to recurrent suspension issues. The Dutch team nevertheless managed to finish 6th overall in the TCE division.
The 24H Series will return with a nine-race calendar in 2021, starting with the 24H Dubai on 14-15-16 January. One week later, the non-championship 6H Abu Dhabi is scheduled to take place at the Yas Marina Circuit on 22-23 January.
Results overall Results per class
Press release Creventic
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