Weekend notebook: Double podium in Barcelona

In the fourth round of the European Le Mans Series, Ferrari took second and third place in the four-hour Barcelona race. In the Super GT Japan at Suzuka, the Pacific CarGuy Racing team continued to gain experience.

ELMS. An intense four hours of racing in Barcelona ended with the table-topping Proton Competition crew prevailing, the latest win allowing them to edge further away at the top of the general standings. The no. 77 Porsche staged a comeback, eventually moving into first place in the latter part of the race, crossing the finish line with a moderate margin over the first of the Ferrari 488 GTEs on track, the Spirit of Race-run no. 55 with David Perel, Duncan Cameron and Matthew Griffin, who now occupy second spot in the general standings some 27 points shy of the top. Third step of the podium went to JMW Motorsport’s no. 66 Ferrari crewed by the Giacomo Petrobelli, Sean Hudspeth and Miguel Molina trio, who were able to pull back after slipping down to fifth place. In the battle for first place, the no. 66 ended up in the gravel and subsequently had to serve a drive-through for having caused an accident.

Fourth place for the Kessel Racing Ferrari with Takeshi Kimura, Frederik Schandorff and Mikkel Jensen. Sixth place for Iron Lynx with Claudio Schiavoni, Matteo Cressoni and Davide Rigon, while ninth went to Pierre Ehret, Nicolas Varrone and Diego Alessi of the Rinaldi Racing team, hampered by a drive-through for having sent an opponent into a spin.

The Iron Dames immediately crashed out of the race with Sarah Bovy finishing against the wall in turn 2 after contact with Freddie Hunt’s no. 10 Ligier-Nissan Eurointernational.

The next round, the penultimate of the season, is at Spa Francorchamps on 25 September.

Super GT Japan. The Pacific CarGuy Racing team's apprenticeship in the championship continued with round five of the season at the Suzuka track, finishing in eleventh place in the GT300 class. The no. 9 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 of Kei Cozzolino, accompanied this time by Naoki Yokomizo, finished the race having recovered several positions after starting from fifteenth place.

The sixth round of the season is scheduled at the Sugo circuit on the 17 and 18 September.