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Lewis Hamilton has penned a moving tribute to Formula 1’s original seven-time world champion, Michael Schumacher, as a…
The post Hamilton honors Schumacher’s legacy: ‘It’s about more than titles’ appeared first on F1i.com.
LVGP chief commercial officer Emily Prazer says that it’s very unlikely that Las Vegas will ever be able…
The post Vegas ‘unlikely to ever stage a sprint race’ appeared first on F1i.com.
With Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk having won Saturday’s first race, the Swedish driver was just five points behind going into today’s race, but would start four places behind Michelisz on the grid in tenth position, and so needed to pass him on track to deprive him of the title.
The first attempt to start the race was aborted due to heavy rain falling at the Guia circuit throughout the morning, with the race rescheduled for just after 1pm in the afternoon on what was now a drying track.
The two local drivers Andy Yan and Martin Cao, racing for the TCR China Hyundai team started from the front row on wet tyres, with Cao moving ahead of his team-mate at Dona Maria and leading the early phase of the race.
Michelisz started the race on wets, and moved ahead of team-mate Néstor Girolami into Lisboa at the start of lap one, who’d started the race on slick tyres, but despite the developing performance advantage of slicks on the drying track, the Argentinian stayed in position in order to fight off any charge from Björk’s Lynk & Co, who’d also opted for the conservative choice of starting on the Kumho wet tyre.
This meant the slick-shod Hondas of the three GOAT Racing drivers were free to climb the order. Borković, who started the race fourth, soon moved into the lead, overtaking Cao at Lisboa on lap six, while on the next lap Borković’s team-mate Guerrieri overtook six cars in one lap to move up to second position behind him, with the team’s third driver Marco Butti in tow.
The race was put behind the safety car for two laps when the Hyundai of Max Hart stopped in a precarious position at the fast Mandarin bend on lap nine with damage, after which a one-lap sprint followed. Borković led a formation finish for the Catalan Honda squad to win the race, while fifth place for Michelisz was enough to secure him the championship, with Björk crossing the line just behind the three Hyundais in eighth.
“What a beautiful day it has been,” said Michelisz. “I think that this was a season from where from the first moment we did not put a foot wrong if you consider my positions throughout the season. I scored in every single race, and we had great teamwork in every race.
“I know that since my first years in racing, if you have an efficient team you have a good chance to fight for a championship, and thanks to my team, and to my team-mates Mikel (Azcona) and Néstor (Girolami), I am incredibly grateful as without their support I would not be here.”
Kumho FIA TCR World TourTouring CarAll fia sport
SEASON 2024FIACircuit1FIAKumho FIA TCR World TourCircuitAll fia sportSEASON 2024Kumho FIA TCR World TourTouring Car00Sunday, November 17, 2024 – 1:28pmSunday, November 17, 2024 – 1:28pm
Jacques Villeneuve has pointed to the events that unfolded at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix earlier this month…
The post Villeneuve suggests Wittich ousting a fallout from Sao Paulo appeared first on F1i.com.
Argentina’s tourism minister Daniel Scioli says the country faces a mountain of work if it’s going to bring…
The post Argentina faces ‘a lot of hard work’ to bring F1 back appeared first on F1i.com.
Fernando Alonso says his belief that his experience and feedback will help Aston Martin turn around its fortunes…
The post Alonso relentlessly driven by ‘hope’ amid Aston Martin’s struggles appeared first on F1i.com.
Nine years after his victory in the inaugural running of the FIA GT World Cup, the German secured his second triumph in what was also third straight victory for Mercedes-AMG in the world’s most prestigious sprint race for GT3 machinery, following the manufacturer’s successes in the previous two editions with current BMW man Raffaele Marciello.
The race got underway with the safety car leading the pack for the first four laps, leaving the 22 runners with 12 tours of racing action to decide the 2024 FIA GT World Cup.
Once the racing commenced, polesitter Marciello initially settled into the lead in his BMW M4 GT3 from fellow front-row starter Dries Vanthoor, Ferrari’s Fuoco and Engel, who was trying to go around the outside of the Italian as they were negotiating the Lisboa corner.
From that moment on, the top five, completed by another BMW of Augusto Farfus, were running pretty much nose to tail.
Vanthoor initially managed to stay within 0.5s of the race leader, but his attention quickly had to shift from attacking to defending, with third-place man Fuoco looking very rapid.
With nine laps to go, the 296 GT3 with the 24 Hours of Le Mans winner behind the wheel launched a successful attack on the M4 GT3 of the Belgian going into R Bend, the final corner of the circuit.
From that moment on it went from bad to worse for Vanthoor who was immediately under pressure from Engel. The two came together in the mountain section of the circuit, with the Team WRT BMW driver brushing the wall at Turn 12, after a nudge from Engel, which ultimately led to him retiring the car.
Fuoco in the meantime went on to pursue Marciello and within one lap reduced the gap to his leading compatriot from 1.5s to 0.4s. Three laps from the chequered flag, Fuoco managed to repeat his R Bend move, now at the expense of the race leader.
The race was, however, far from over and the two continued their battle for the coveted FIA GT World Cup. Eventually, the victory was not meant for either of them, as both outbraked themselves on the penultimate lap going into the Lisboa corner with the two cars making contact but neither making the corner.
This led to Engel inheriting the lead and going on to win his second FIA GT World Cup, crossing the line over 11s clear of his nearest rival. The German received a 5s penalty for his coming together with Vanthoor but this did not alter the finishing order.
2018 FIA GT World Cup winner Farfus went on to finish second, delivering success for Macau-based Team KRC which operated his M4 GT3 this weekend, with Sheldon van der Linde rounding out the top three in another BMW.
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SEASON 2024FIACircuit1FIAGT World CupCircuitAll fia sportSEASON 2024GT World Cup01Sunday, November 17, 2024 – 7:11amSunday, November 17, 2024 – 7:11am
Having made his F1 debut in Monza as a late-season replacement for Logan Sargeant at Williams, Franco Colapinto…
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