Weekend notebook: Ferrari wins in Barcelona and Australia

In the opening round of the Le Mans Cup, contested in Barcelona, Kessel Racing Ferraris secured both victory and third place. Meanwhile, in the European Le Mans Series on the same Catalan circuit, the Swiss team took second place with the number 57 296 LMGT3, which featured official driver Daniel Serra at the steering wheel of the Prancing Horse entry.

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit hosted the opening round of GT World Challenge Australia on Saturday and Sunday with a pair of one-hour races that included two Ferrari 296 GT3 contenders entered by reigning champions Arise Racing GT.

European Le Mans Series. With a determined and thrilling comeback in the final stages of the race, Ferrari official driver Daniel Serra, at the wheel of the number 57 296 LMGT3 entered by Kessel Racing and shared with Takeshi Kimura and Ben Tuck, brought home second place in the 4 Hours of Barcelona, just seven-tenths off the win after 121 laps.
Two other Maranello cars completed the top five of the championship season-opener: fourth place went to the number 55 296 LMGT3 of Spirit of Race, crewed by Duncan Cameron, David Perel and Matthew Griffin, while fifth went to number 51 of AF Corse with Charles-Henri Samani and Conrad Laursen, alongside fellow official driver Davide Rigon.
Eighth place for the number 86 of GR Racing, with Michael Wainwright, Riccardo Pera and Tom Fleming at the steering wheel, ahead of number 50 of Richard Mille AF Corse, featuring Custodio Toledo, Riccardo Agostini and official driver Lilou Wadoux, starting from fourth on the grid, ahead of the second Kessel Racing car, number 74, with Andrew Gilbert, Fran Rueda Mateos and another Ferrari driver, Miguel Molina.
Twelfth place went to number 66 of JMW Motorsport, driven by Scott Noble, Jason Hart and Gianmaria Bruni, after an off-track excursion in the early stages compromised their race.
The next round of the series is scheduled for 4 May, with the 4 Hours of Le Castellet.

Le Mans Cup. After a challenging qualifying session that saw them start from eighth place on the grid, Murat Cuhadaroglu and David Fumanelli, in the number 33 296 GT3 entered by Kessel Racing, delivered a focused and determined race that secured them victory, helped in part by a drive-through penalty handed to the number 51 of AF Corse following contact between Eliseo Donno and a car from another class. The young Italian, paired with Alessandro Cozzi, had started from third and briefly led the race before the penalty dropped them to sixth place at the finish.
Joining Cuhadaroglu and Fumanelli on the podium, in third place, was the second Kessel Racing car, the number 17, courtesy of Lorenzo Innocenti and Andrea Belicchi.
The second round of the championship will take place on 2 and 3 May at the Paul Ricard circuit.

GT World Challenge Australia. Race 1 took place in dry conditions, though it was not without drama in the form of safety cars and penalties. Elliott Schutte in the #26 296 GT3 led from pole before handing the car to Jaxon Evans who continued their faultless performance. A rapid stint from the second-placed car of Jayden Ojeda saw him close in to challenge for the lead in the final laps, but Evans held firm and reached the chequered flag in front to take a first victory for the team.

The #77 296 GT3 of Stephen Wyatt and Jordan Love started from 10th on the grid. The duo fought hard over 34 laps to finish sixth in what was Wyatt’s first ever appearance at Phillip Island.

Wet and windy weather moved in for Race 2 on Sunday and contributed to an entertaining hour of GT3 action. Having started in fourth place, Evans in the #26 advanced to second position before finding himself engaged in another battle with Jayden Ojeda charging from behind. This time fortunes were reversed with Ojeda finding his way past, but Race 1 winners Schutte and Evans would hang onto third and secure another podium finish, rounding out a very strong start to the season.

Jaxon Evans: “Credit to Elliott he started the race well, managed the safety car restarts and handed the car to me in the lead. There was a lot of pressure from behind but I think all the heavy lifting was done at the beginning, so big thanks to Elliott and also to the entire Arise Racing GT team. The car has been flawless even when we were testing here. It’s a pleasure to drive and I’m looking forward to the next race already.”

Elliott Schutte: “It was pretty intense. It’s a great start and I’m feeling more comfortable in the car so looking forward to having a crack this year.”

Round 2 of the championship takes place at Sydney Motorsport Park on 2-4 May.