Weekend Notebook: wins and podiums in Hungary and Japan

It was a positive weekend for the Ferrari teams competing in the International GT Open at the Hungaroring and in the GT World Challenge Asia and Japan Cup races at Fuji in Japan. Nicola Marinangeli and Vincent Abril secured a second-place overall in Race-1 in Hungary, while Marco Pulcini and Eddie Cheever achieved a pair of wins in the Pro-Am class. There were also class victories and podiums in Japan.

International GT Open. The fourth round of the championship took place at the Hungaroring track. The Prancing Horse cars delivered excellent results, with an overall podium finish, two wins, and five podium finishes out of six in the Pro-Am class, and a third place in the Am class.

The Ferrari 296 GT3 number 51 of AF Corse, driven by Nicola Marinangeli and Ferrari official driver Vincent Abril, finished runner-up in Race-1. Marco Pulcini and Eddie Cheever claimed victory in the Pro-Am class aboard the 296 GT3 number 27 of Spirit of Race, ahead of two other Ferrari cars: the number 11 of Racing One driven by Ernst Kirchmayr and David Fumanelli, and the number 16 of AF Corse with Brazilian drivers Marcelo Hahn and Allam Khodair. In the Am class, the number 5 296 GT3 of Olimp Racing driven by Stanislaw Jedlinski and Krystian Korzeniowski narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth.

In Race-2, the Pulcini-Cheever crew doubled their success in the Pro-Am class, with Hahn-Khodair’s car finishing second. The best Ferrari at the finish line was once again the number 51 of Marinangeli-Abril, finishing fifth overall. In the Am class, Jedlinski-Korzeniowski achieved a podium finish in their number 5 Olimp Racing car, placing third.

The next round will take place at the Paul Ricard track on 21 July.

GT World Challenge Asia. A class win and two other podiums were secured by the four Ferrari 296 GT3 cars competing in the third round of the championship at the Fuji track in Japan.

In Race-1, the number 75 car of Garage 75, driven by David Tjiptobiantoro and Christian Colombo, claimed victory in the Am category and finished fourth in Race-2: the Indonesian driver remains at the top of the championship standings.

The other two class podiums came in Race-2, which was contested in wet and very foggy conditions. In the Silver class, the number 77 Harmony Racing 296 GT3, driven by Liang Jiatong and Luo Kailuo, finished second, with a solid sixth place overall after retiring from Race-1. In the Silver-Am class, the number 296 Absolute Corse car driven by André Canard and Finn Gehrsitz secured third place. Meanwhile, the number 60 LMCorsa car driven by Shigekazu Wakisaka and Kei Nakanishi couldn’t do better than two eleventh-place finishes in the Pro-Am class.

The next round of the GT World Challenge Asia is scheduled for 7-8 July at the Suzuka track.

Japan Cup. Alongside the GT World Challenge Asia, the Fuji track also hosted the two 60-minute races of the Japan Cup, which saw the Ferrari 296 GT3 of K-Tunes Racing dominate.

Daisuke Yamawaki and Shinichi Takagi, in their number 98 car, secured two pole positions and two dominant victories in both the overall and Pro-Am standings. In the Am class, there was a double podium for the number 7 296 GT3 of Comet Racing, driven by Yorikatsu Tsujiko and Yusuke Yamasaki, with a third place in Race-1 (fifth overall) and a second place in Race-2, the latter also counting for the third step of the overall podium.

The next race is scheduled for 7-8 July at the Suzuka track, once again in conjunction with the GT World Challenge Asia.