“Super Swede” Lundqvist Joins Precision Performance Motorsports New Lamborghini Huracan GTD Evo For Daytona Rolex 24 Hours

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Christmas Has Come Early For The Young “Super Swede” Joining Precision Performance Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GTD For Daytona Rolex 24 Hours

Anglo American Oil Company Ltd, distributors for Sunoco Race Fuels, are today delighted to announce that Linus Lundqvist, winner of this season’s Sunoco Whelen Challenge, will be joining Precision Performance Motorsport, for the 24 Hours of Daytona, January 26-27, 2019.

2018 British BRDC F3 Champion Linus Lundqvist will be driving in the all new Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo in the GT Daytona class.

AAOC Managing Director, Anders Hildebrand explained the reason for the team and class selection, “When the first Sunoco Daytona Challenge was put together by Anglo American Oil Company it was thanks to the support of Jim France who wanted to increase the international awareness of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Today, ten years later it seems ridiculous that the Rolex 24 star-packed grid has not always been a massive international race on the bucket list of every racing driver.

The Sunoco Daytona and Whelen Challenge winners have brought talent, speed and excitement to the race and not disappointed the teams they raced for. 2018 Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner Stuart Middleton bettered Felipe Nasr’s Challenge winners’ previous third place record by taking the chequered flag in second overall – quite a feat!

For the last four years, thanks to support from Sonny Whelen of Whelen Engineering, we have been placing the Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner in the #31 Whelen sponsored Action Express run Cadillac DPi race car. However, with the increasing level of competitiveness in the top class we feel that the pressure imposed on our winner will take out the enjoyment of this, maybe once in a lifetime experience. Sonny and I therefore decided for 2019 that we should place our winner in the GTD (GT3) class which has a mix of PRO and AM drivers and a class that would really make our Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner shine.

Our tenth Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner and 2018 British F3 Champion Linus Lundqvist was amazing in the British F3 Championship. Having followed him and seen him race this season I’m confident that he will do us proud with his race craft and speed. 

I’m extremely pleased that we are going to race with the North Carolina based Lamborghini race team Precision Performance Motorsports. I’ve worked with Team Manager Sunny Voelker previously through the Sunoco 240 Challenge programme and know she runs a very good team. I’m also super confident that Linus will do extremely well behind the wheel of the new Lamborghini GT3 Evo and maybe, maybe we could better Stuart’s last year record by winning the class!”.

Precision Performance Motorsports Team Manager, Sunny Voelker said, “Having a talented young driver like Linus join our Rolex 24 driver line-up is a massive win for PPM and complements our focus on driver development, and of course it’s an honour to campaign the long-standing Sunoco Whelen Challenge program. “.

A delighted Lundqvist added, “I am really excited to have everything confirmed, I can’t wait to get on that plane and fly across the Atlantic to race in the States for the first time. It’s going to be a real adventure! I’m super happy to be given the trust and opportunity to drive the Lamborghini GT3 Evo for Precision Performance Motorsports at Daytona! It will be a lot to learn considering it will be my first endurance race but I’m going to do my best and try to learn and enjoy it as much as possible. I also want to say a special thank you to Sonny Whelen, because without him and Whelen Engineering, this opportunity wouldn’t be possible.  Also, a big thank you to Eva and Anders Hildebrand and everyone at Anglo American Oil Company Ltd. I’m super proud to be one of the Sunoco Whelen Challenge Winners.”

Precision Performance Motorsports Team Overview:

Precision Performance Motorsports has established itself as a leader in the sport on and off the track. 2019 will mark the 16th year of full-time operation. They operate the race team as a business with a focus on accountability and results, while building long-term partnerships with drivers and sponsors through open and honest communication and by learning more about their objectives. PPM previously fielded race cars in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and K&N Pro Series. Currently PPM fields sports cars in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Pirelli World Challenge and WeatherTech series. PPM provides a comprehensive driver development program, race car rentals, setup, test consultation, and driver coaching. Current inventory includes 4 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evos and 2 Lamborghini GT3.

PPM joins IMSA WeatherTech family with Lamborghini Huracan GT3

With their first successful season of sports car racing behind them, Precision Performance Motorsports (PPM) has made the commitment to take the next step up the ladder with Lamborghini Squadra Corse and will campaign a brand-new Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo in the GT Daytona class of IMSA’s WeatherTech Championship. The fresh machinery is slated to run both the Endurance and Sprint Championships.

“We had a really great year in 2018, which, in turn, has garnered a lot of positive attention and interest,” says Team Owner, Rick Gdovic. “Naturally, we have to grow our program with that interest. We felt it best to continue putting our energy, focus, and commitment into racing with Lamborghini. We’ll continue with Super Trofeo, as I feel that is one of the best racing platforms in the paddock and with the strong partnership and support of Lamborghini, we’ll also take the step up to WeatherTech and GTD in 2019.”

PPM has been racing for 16 years, primarily in NASCAR ranks, operating out of their 16,000 sq. ft. shop in China Grove, NC; outside of the racing capital of America, Charlotte, NC. 2018 was the team’s first year contesting sports car racing. Their inaugural sports car campaign included 3 overall pole positions, 1 overall win, multiple podiums in the Pro, Pro-Am, and Am classes of Super Trofeo, a GT3 podium in the SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge, and a track record at Road America.

“We have a great team made up of some very talented people who have shown we can put together a high quality, competitive race program. I have full confidence with Team Manager, Sunny Voelker at the helm that we can do bigger and better things in 2019 with Lamborghini.” finished Gdovic.

PPM’s driver line-ups for both WeatherTech GTD and Super Trofeo will be announced shortly. PPM has driving and sponsorship opportunities for both Super Trofeo and GTD races for 2019 available.

The first event for IMSA’s WeatherTech Championship is the illustrious 24 Hours of Daytona, January 26-27, 2019. Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America kicks off at the breath-taking Barber Motorsports Park April 5-7, 2019.

 

Keen’s Retirement Helps Lundqvist Extend Whelen Lead At Brands Hatch

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Linus Lundqvist took a step closer to competing in the 2019 Rolex 24 At Daytona after extending his Sunoco Whelen Challenge lead at Brands Hatch last weekend.

British F3 and British GT’s joint event at Brands Hatch represented a penultimate opportunity for Phil Keen to cut Linus Lundqvist’s advantage. But, instead, it was the Carlin driver who left Kent with one hand firmly on the senior competition’s trophy after extending his lead to 17.89 points.

It might have been very different for Keen whose retirement prevented the British GT3 Pro from taking advantage of Lundqvist’s winless weekend. Indeed, the Swede also failed to set a fastest lap or claim pole position for either of the two races that count towards the Sunoco Whelen Challenge, which actually reduced his overall score by almost four points.

Nevertheless, his new 98.33 season average now looks beyond Keen’s reach, while Stuart Moseley will be relying on bigger Radical European Masters grids at the championship’s final two rounds if he’s to potentially collect the maximum number of points still available. He’s now 22.44 marks behind Lundqvist in the overall standings.

Further back, Nicolai Kjaergaard is now just 1.31 points behind Moseley in fourth after claiming a British F3 win, third place and two fastest laps at Brands Hatch, while a who’s-who of world GT stars – Jonny Adam, Nicki Thiim, Marco Sorensen and Yelmer Buurman – fill positions five to eight following their latest British GT exploits. Just four points separate the quartet.

British GT4 championship leader Jack Mitchell is best of the championship’s ‘juniors’ in ninth, and British F3 driver Kush Maini completes the top-10.

Lundqvist & Reid Remain On Course For Sunoco Challenge Titles

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Linus Lundqvist tightened his grip on this year’s Sunoco Whelen Challenge last weekend at Spa-Francorchamps where the BRDC Formula 3 Championship was joined by British GT. Meanwhile, at Oulton Park, Kyle Reid’s march towards Sunoco’s 240 Challenge was slowed only slightly during the latest Mini Challenge Cooper and JCW rounds.

Whelen: Lundqvist’s Competition To Lose

Linus Lundqvist’s lead now stands at a very healthy 14 points after two victories helped maintain his 102-point season average.

By contrast, Phil Keen scored just 55 points during his British GT3 outing in Belgium, which cut his overall average by 4.58 to 88. That might have been enough to retain second overall but the Barwell driver now requires an exceptional end to his 2018 campaign and a dip in Lundqvist’s form if he’s to become the first-ever two-time Sunoco Challenge winner.

Troubled weekends for several other British GT3 Pros and F3 drivers has allowed Radical European Masters racer Stuart Moseley to move back up to third. However, he will be relying on bigger grids next time out if he’s to apply serious pressure on Keen and Lundqvist ahead.

Lundqvist’s bid for this season’s British F3 crown and Sunoco Whelen Challenge Rolex 24 At Daytona prize drive both benefitted from a poor weekend for Nicolai Kjaergaard who’s now unlikely to recover from his current 68-point season average, while British GT3 Pro team-mates Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim also saw their slim chances effectively ended at Spa. The TF Sport pair are separated by just 0.79 points in fifth and sixth, the latter a position Thiim now shares with British GT title rival and former Whelen winner Jonny Adam.

Yelmer Buurman and Kush Maini both remain inside the top-10 and one place ahead of new British GT4 Championship leader Jack Mitchell whose consecutive class victories have helped improve his season’s average no end.

240: Reid Gives Rivals A Glimmer Of Hope

Kyle Reid’s supreme start to the season ensured even a slight wobble would impact on his high average score, and so it proved for the first time in 2018 at Oulton Park. Nevertheless, extra points for Race 2 pole position and victory ensured his overall score remains a still formidable 116.67.

That’s 14.59 more than Radical Challenge racer Steve Burgess, who wasn’t in action last weekend, and another 3.51 ahead of Mini Challenge JCW championship leader Ant Whorton-Eales who rocketed from eighth to third after improving his average by more than 10 points.

Dominic Jackson, just like Radical rival Burgess, has another chance to make inroads into Reid’s advantage next weekend, while Mini Challenge JCW duo Nathan Harrison and Jordan Collard complete the top-six with 90 and 88.57 points, respectively.

Kelvin Fletcher has slipped from fourth to seventh despite finishing second in British GT4’s Pro/Am class. Robbie Dalgleish (Mini Challenge Cooper), Jon Minshaw (British GT3 Am) and Rob Smith (Mini Challenge JCW) complete the top-10.

Lundqvist & Reid Gear Up For Crunch Sunoco Challenge Weekends

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There’s been little change at the top of both Sunoco Challenge standings despite two bumper weekends featuring myriad Whelen and 240-eligible series.

Instead, attention has switched to Spa-Francorchamps and Oulton Park on July 21/22 when both competitions’ current front-runners – Linus Lundqvist and Kyle Reid – continue their respective BRDC British F3 and Mini Challenge Cooper campaigns.

However, that’s not to say recent events have had no impact at all on the pursuit of a fully-funded seat in 2019’s Rolex 24 At Daytona and its official 240-mile GT4 support race.

Indeed, the senior Sunoco Whelen Challenge now appears a two-horse contest between current leader Lundqvist and 2015 winner Phil Keen – currently 9.92 points behind – following Stuart Moseley’s frustrating Radical European Masters outing at the Hungaroring last weekend.

 

Moseley once again demonstrated his undoubted pace en route to a brace of victories, another podium, two pole positions and one fastest lap. However, an entry comprising just five cars meant far fewer marks were available for each of those achievements, which reduced his overall season’s average by almost 10 points. Thus, Moseley’s new 75.89-point total is not only 26.61 lower than Lundqvist’s current benchmark but also only good enough for fifth overall.

The two beneficiaries, Nicolai Kjaergaard and Nicki Thiim, ensure that British F3 and British GT3 Pro drivers now lock out the overall top-four, as well as filling positions six to nine. Patrik Matthiesen is the best placed British GT4 Pro in 10th, while Brad Smith remains LMP3 Cup’s leading contender in 15th despite another low turnout at Spa two weeks ago.

It’s a similar story in the Sunoco 240 Challenge where runaway leader Kyle Reid must continue his incredible start to the Mini Challenge Cooper campaign at Spa next weekend if he’s to once again strengthen an already significant advantage.

The SCK Motorsport driver’s lead has actually increased in recent weeks after both Steve Burgess and Dominic Jackson failed to make inroads during their Radical UK Challenge outing at Spa. Their respective deficits now stand at 21.49 and 26.9 points ahead of Reid’s upcoming assignment at Oulton Park.

A host of leading British GT3 and GT4 Am drivers will also be competing simultaneously at Spa-Francorchamps where Kelvin Fletcher will be eager to continue his recent climb up the rankings. Fletcher has been British GT4’s standout amateur in recent rounds and now lies less than 10 points behind Jackson in fourth.

Robbie Dalgleish has the power to boost his own 240 score while taking points out of Cooper rival Reid when he also visits Oulton Park, while Jon Minshaw is best placed of British GT3’s Am contingent in sixth overall.

Lundqvist & Reid Continue To Set Sunoco Whelen & 240 Challenge Pace

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Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps welcomed BRDC British F3, British GT, Mini Challenge JCW and Radical UK Challenge drivers last Saturday and Sunday on a bumper weekend of Sunoco Whelen and 240 Challenge action.

However, two familiar names remain top of their respective standings after Linus Lundqvist defended his Whelen lead thanks to another winning British F3 performance, and Kyle Reid extended his 240 advantage despite the Mini Challenge Cooper championship enjoying a weekend off.

 Whelen: As you were at the top

 Linus Lundqvist maintained his healthy lead in the race for January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona prize drive courtesy of another fast and consistent British F3 outing at Silverstone. A victory, pole position and second place in the championship’s two Sunoco points-paying contests helped him average 102.5 for the weekend, the same number as his pre- and post-event totals.

A slight improvement from his nearest rival Phil Keen – who finished second in British GT’s race at the same venue – saw the overall gap between them close by 0.18 points. However, Lundqvist’s new 9.92-point advantage remains significant as the season enters its second half. Indeed, the Swede will likely require a poor weekend if the likes of Keen and third place driver Stuart Moseley are to make serious inroads.

Lundqvist’s F3 title rival Nicolai Kjaergaard remains fourth, albeit 24.37 points adrift, while a second victory and third podium in as many British GT3 races has brought Nicki Thiim into play. The Dane made a sluggish start to the season but has risen up the rankings in recent weeks and now lies just 2.05 points behind his fellow countryman.

TF Sport team-mate and ‘Dane Train’ partner in crime Marco Sorensen picked up extra marks for a third consecutive British GT3 fastest lap at Silverstone and lies sixth, one place ahead of Kush Maini who added 10 to his season’s total by claiming two British F3 podiums, a pole position and fastest lap.

British GT3 rivals Yelmer Buurman and Jonny Adam are next up, while the same championship’s best placed GT4 Pro driver, Patrik Matthiesen  rounds out the top-10.

240: Reid extends lead without turning a wheel

 A weekend off for leader Kyle Reid offered his Radical UK Challenge, British GT3/4 Am and Mini Challenge JCW rivals an opportunity to close the gap.

Steve Burgess went into the weekend as Reid’s nearest challenger after enjoying a strong start to this season’s Radical UK Challenge campaign. However, high average scores are only maintained through consistently strong results, and at Spa Burgess suffered his weakest weekend of the season so far. Indeed, just one podium and pole position across the three races reduced his average by more than 20 points to 102.22.

That’s 21.78 fewer than Reid and just 3.33 more than Radical rival Dominic Jackson who added 10 points to his season’s average by claiming three wins, two fastest laps and a pole position in Belgium.

Kelvin Fletcher also continued his climb up the standings thanks to another excellent British GT4 Am performance. Class victory and fastest lap sees him move up two places and nine points to fourth ahead of F3 Cup’s Stuart Wiltshire, who didn’t race last weekend, and Jon Minshaw who finished second in British GT3.

A perfect British GT3 weekend for Mark Farmer, which featured victory, fastest Am lap and pole position, sees him lie less than two points behind championship rival Minshaw and a similar number ahead of Mini Cooper Pro racer Robbie Dalgleish.

Ant Whorton-Eales picked up a brace of podiums to remain best-placed Mini Challenge JCW driver in ninth, while British GT4 Am Nick Jones rounds out the top-10.

 

 

Lundqvist Fends Off Late Maini Challenge To Extend F3 Championship Lead At Silverstone

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Double R Racing’s Linus Lundqvist converted his first qualifying pole into victory at Silverstone today (Saturday), but the Swedish driver was made to work for it after a race-long challenge from Lanan Racing’s Kush Maini. Douglas Motorsport’s Jordan Cane almost made it a three-way fight for the lead after closing up on the duo in the latter stages.

Lundqvist’s win, his fourth of the year, continues his trend of taking victory at every venue visited so far this year, and extends his championship lead to 48 points over Carlin’s Nicolai Kjaergaard.

Qualifying
Lundqvist had been fastest in both Friday test sessions on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, and continued his testing form into qualifying this morning, securing pole position by just 0.051s from Maini.

Maini topped the times for much of the session before the championship leader took over at the top with less than five minutes remaining, with Maini’s second his best qualifying performance of the year so far.

A late effort for Carlin’s Clement Novalak put him third on the grid, with the British driver 0.171s away from Lundqvist’s time, and 0.040s ahead of fellow Brit Cane.

Carlin’s Billy Monger equalled his best qualifying result so far with fifth, just 0.013s behind Cane, with Jamie Chadwick 0.017s behind in sixth for Douglas Motorsport.

Championship challenger Kjaergaard was seventh, but still less than a quarter of a second off the outright pace and only 0.006s behind Chadwick. A late effort from Hillspeed’s Jusuf Owega put him eighth on the grid, with Pavan Ravishankar taking his best qualifying result of the year with ninth.

Fortec’s Tom Gamble completed a top-10 separated by just 0.687s on the second longest circuit of the year. Less than a second covered the top-13 drivers, with the top-16 separated by 1.339s,

Race one
Lundqvist stretched his championship lead with a lights to flag victory in the opening race at Silverstone, holding off a late charge from Maini to take his fourth win of the season.

Maini was just 0.392s behind at the chequered flag, with Cane taking third for Douglas Motorsport, having closed right up to the top-two in the closing stages.

Novalak claimed fourth for Carlin, holding off a race long threat from Douglas Motorsport’s Chadwick in fifth, with Kjaergaard sixth for Carlin. Owega claimed seventh for Hillspeed after a late move on Carlin’s Monger, with Double R’s Krishnaraaj Mahadik and Fortec’s Gamble completing the top-10.

Lundqvist and Maini both made good starts to lead into Copse on the first lap, with Cane getting off the line well to claim third from Novalak. Further back, Kjaergaard passed team mate Monger for sixth place, while Mahadik had a great opening tour to rise from 15th on the grid to claim 10th at the end of lap one.

Lundqvist’s lead was almost eight tenths after the opening lap, but from then on Maini was fractions quicker, and brought the margin down to just under half a second by lap seven, with Maini setting a new BRDC British F3 lap record around the newly resurfaced Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in the process.

On lap eight, Maini was close enough to Lundqvist to attempt a move. Exiting Aintree corner, he was firmly in the slipstream down the Wellington straight, and challenged at Brooklands. He was alongside but took the outside line at Luffield, with Lundqvist holding him off across the line starting lap nine, with the pair separated by just over a tenth of a second. The pair were close again at Copse at the start of lap nine, with their scrap almost bringing Cane into the battle for the lead.

Lundqvist stretched the margin back out to almost half a second starting the last lap, and held off the Indian driver to win by just under four tenths, to increase his championship lead to 48 points. Maini’s second place puts him much closer in the championship standings to Kjaergaard, while Cane climbs to seventh overall.

The top-three drivers were presented with their trophies on the podium by BRDC member and GT racer Martin Plowman.

BGT: Back-To-Back Wins For Century’s BMW M4 GT4

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An absorbing GT4 race eventually went the way of Century’s Aleksander Schjerpen and Jack Mitchell who moved into contention before the final driver change and then benefitted from the team’s sister BMW serving a 20s success penalty for winning at Snetterton.

Their victory also owed much to Equipe Verschuur’s bad luck, which saw pole-sitters Finlay Hutchison and Daniel Mckay retire with front suspension failure while leading by 35s at the start of the final hour.

That handed Ben Green and Ben Tuck the lead after the duo had worked their way up from sixth on the grid. However, their advantage over team-mate Schjerpen – who fought back from 13th after the first 30 minutes – wasn’t enough to overturn the full pitstop success penalty, which dropped them to a net third at the start of the final stint.

Meanwhile, late stops for Matthew George and Callum Pointon helped Mitchell inherit a 17s lead, which he extended by a further 10s over the closing stages thanks, partly, to setting a new GT4 lap record – 2m12.263s – and, with it, claiming the Sunoco Fastest Lap Award.

Two of Tolman Motorsport’s three McLarens retired through separate incidents, but its third – shared by Jordan Albert and Lewis Proctor – was the model of consistency en route to second despite carrying a 15s success penalty. Proctor’s incredible start helped the #5 570S leap from seventh to first, which became second by the time Hutchison had recovered after a slow getaway. There they remained throughout the race despite the various strategies moving others ahead and then behind.

Further back, the battle for the last step on the podium came down to the final laps. Tuck initially held the upper hand but eventually lost out to Matt Nicoll-Jones, whose Academy Motorsport Aston Martin he shares with Will Moore remained a top-five fixture all afternoon. Nicoll-Jones looked to have settled the matter with three laps to go, but the battle had also brought Patrik Matthiesen into play, and after the Dane dispatched Tuck at the same corner one lap later, the race was on for third. The HHC driver’s subsequent move at Luffield, which included contact with the Aston Martin, set up a grandstand run to the line. And although the Ginetta crossed it first, the positions were ultimately reversed post-race.

Tuck and Green finished fifth, while Jan Jonck and Tom Wood’s retirement with just five minutes remaining helped UltraTek Racing RJN Motorsport’s Pro/Am winners Kelvin Fletcher and Martin Plowman complete the top-six. Fletcher’s performance in the opening stint against the Silver-graded drivers particularly caught the eye, while Plowman was as rapid as ever in his pursuit of sixth over the final hour.

George and his Generation AMR co-driver James Holder led the Pro/Am class until a late drive-through penalty dropped their Aston Martin behind Plowman and Fletcher, but they still finished seventh overall on a one-off GT4 outing together. George was also scheduled to drive the #44 Invictus Games Racing Jaguar before Paul Vice retired from the race early.

HHC’s second Ginetta of Will Burns and Mike Newbould, plus Team HARD’s two G55s, completed the top-10.

BGT: Farmer & Thiim Win Thier First RAC Trophy

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Mark Farmer and Nicki Thiim picked up their second victory and third podium in as many races to vault into championship contention at Silverstone after recovering from a spin and overcoming a 10s success penalty.

The Aston Martin was running second behind Ricardo Sanchez’s RJN Motorsport Nissan when Graham Davidson spun Farmer around at Maggotts in the opening stint, for which the Jetstream Motorsport driver was handed a stop/go penalty. That gave Sanchez a 16s lead before the first pitstops began after 60 minutes.

TF Sport’s decision to swap Derek Johnston with Marco Sorensen early helped the #17 Aston Martin jump ahead in the second hour, while Sanchez’s co-driver Struan Moore dropped into the clutches of the chasing pack after his seat mechanism slipped backwards, shifting his feet away from the pedals. The resulting early pitstop to rectify the issue effectively ended the pole-sitters’ hopes.

At the same time Thiim was making progress back through the field and moved into third behind Sorensen and Phil Keen when Adam Christodoulou’s Team ABBA Racing Mercedes-AMG retired with front suspension damage. Stopping later then helped the Dane inherit a lead that Farmer would retain when the second round of driver changes shook out.

However, the race was far from over thanks to the crew’s 10s success penalty for finishing third at Snetterton, which would be served at the final mandatory pitstop. Farmer pitted with exactly that advantage over Jon Minshaw, and when the Barwell Lamborghini followed TF Sport’s V12 Vantage in on the same lap it became a battle between mechanics and the stopwatch. Thiim then narrowly beat Keen off pit road and, with it, retained a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.

Instead, Keen’s attention switched to keeping Jonny Adam at bay behind. The Optimum Motorsport Aston Martin also driven by Flick Haigh started sixth but enjoyed four clean stints en route to its first podium since Oulton Park’s season opener.

Fourth should have gone to last year’s winners Rick Parfitt Jnr and Seb Morris who were reunited aboard Team Parker Racing’s Bentley as a result of Ryan Ratcliffe being taken ill with food poisoning this morning. So late was the call that Morris didn’t arrive at Silverstone until five minutes before his first stint began, by which time Parfitt Jnr had twice charged through from the back of the GT3 field after starting last – a penalty for changing drivers during the event – and then spinning mid-stint. However, the pair’s efforts were stymied by Morris’ yellow flag infringement, which resulted in a post-race two-place penalty.

Moore and Sanchez were also left to rue what might have been but still achieved RJN and NISMO’s best result of the season with fifth on the road and fourth in the final classification after finishing just 0.4s ahead of Johnston and Sorensen, whose 20s success penalty for winning at Snetterton took them out of podium contention. Nevertheless, the Dane’s pursuit of Moore over the final stint saw him claim a new GT3 lap record – 1m59.725s – and third-straight Sunoco Fastest Lap Award.

Barwell’s second Lamborghini driven by Sam De Haan and Jonny Cocker finished seventh after a mid-race spin during a feisty battle with Thiim, Shaun Balfe and Rob Bell’s McLaren was eighth, and Beechdean AMR’s Andrew Howard and Darren Turner ninth. ERC Sport’s Lee Mowle and Yelmer Buurman completed the points finishers in 10th.

Team Parker Racing’s 2am finish on Saturday morning, the result of removing one car’s engine to rectify an oil issue and taking the whole front end off the second Bentley, saw it named PMW Expo Team of the Weekend, while Minshaw’s fault-free run from 12th to second helped him win the Blancpain Driver of the Weekend Award.

Lundqvist Ups The Whelen Ante But Whorton-Eales struggles At Snetterton

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A bumper outing for Sunoco Whelen and 240 Challenge-eligible championships at Snetterton last weekend resulted in respective leaders Linus Lundqvist and Kyle Reid maintaining their places at the top of both standings.

Whelen: Lundqvist strengthens his lead

A combination of increasing his overall score and nearest rivals losing ground helped Linus Lundqvist consolidate his Sunoco Whelen Challenge lead at Snetterton where maximum points for a victory, pole position and fastest lap, as well as another podium, helped the BRDC British F3 Championship leader post an improved average score of 102.5.

The Swede began the weekend just one point ahead of nearest rival Phil Keen. However, a solid if unspectacular British GT3 round for the 2015 Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner has seen the gap widen to 10.1. His new overall mark of 92.4 is 6.57 more than a resurgent Nicolai Kjaergaard who increased his average by more than 13 points after claiming a British F3 win, pole, fastest lap and podium.

Radical European Masters’ Stuart Moseley remains fourth after enjoying a weekend off, while British GT3 Pro Yelmer Buurman has dropped 20 points and two places to fifth.

The biggest movers over the weekend were British GT3 Pro team-mates Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen. Race 2 victory and fastest lap helped the latter vault 14 places to seventh, one spot behind his Danish counterpart whose win, pole position, fastest lap and podium gained him 22 positions. However, their new 69.3 and 68.2 averages are still more than 30 points less than Lundqvist’s current table-topping total.

Darren Turner dropped from fifth to eighth, LMP3 Cup’s Brad Smith – who wasn’t in action –  moved up one place to ninth, and Tolman Motorsport team-mates Charlie Fagg and Michael O’Brien became British GT4 Pro’s best placed entries in joint-10th.

Elsewhere, former top-10 drivers Patrik Matthiesen, Jonny Adam and Callum Macleod slipped to 13th, 14thand 24threspectively.

240: Mini Challenge JCW aces falter

A tough weekend at Snetterton saw Mini Challenge JCW front runners Ant Whorton-Eales and Jordan Collard both lose significant ground to Sunoco 240 Challenge pace-setters Kyle Reid and Steve Burgess.

Whorton-Eales went into the weekend third overall and 10.67 points behind Reid, whose exceptional start to this year’s Mini Challenge Cooper campaign has helped him amass a 124-point average. Only a strong weekend would help his JCW counterpart maintain the pressure, but that’s exactly what Whorton-Eales didn’t achieve when a mechanical issue in Race 1 not only resulted in retirement but also 27thon Race 2’s grid. The handful of Sunoco 240 Challenge points scored for finishing seventh came as little comfort after dropping to ninth overall and 38.33 points behind Reid.

JCW championship rival Collard also endured his fair share of tribulations. An administrative error not only cost him pole position but also resulted in starting Race 1 from the back of the grid. Fastest lap in Race 2 limited the damage a little, but – just like Whorton-Eales – his overall 240 score took a sizeable hit after dropping from 91.67 to 68.

Radical Challenge driver Dominic Jackson inherited third at both Mini drivers’ expense, while F3 Cup racer Stuart Wiltshire moved ahead of three British GT Am drivers after Jon Minshaw, Kelvin Fletcher and Lee Mowle all lost ground.

Problems for others actually helped Minshaw move up three places to fifth in spite of his new, lower 79.2 average, while Fletcher also picked up a spot to lie sixth overall.

Robbie Dalgleish (Mini Challenge Cooper) and David Pattison share seventh, the latter jumping up from 22ndafter a first British GT4 victory improved his average by 16.5 points. The pair’s 77-point total is just seven less than Wiltshire’s in fourth.

Whorton-Eales and British GT4 Am Nick Jones complete the top-10, while Mowle dropped to 12thbehind Adam Balon.

Official Whelen Standings 21st May 2018

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Standings Drivers Name Team Series Average Points
1 Linus Lundqvist Double R Racing British F3 100.00
2 Phil Keen Barwell Motorsport British GT3 99.00
3 Yelmer Buurman ERC Sport British GT3 95.33
4 Stuart Moseley Radical Works Team Radical Masters SR8 85.08
5 Darren Turner Beechdean AMR British GT3 75.17
6 Patrik Matthiesen HHC Motorsport British GT4 72.60
7 Nicolai Kjaergaard Carlin Motorsport British F3 72.50
8 Jonny Adam Optimum Motorsport British GT3 67.83
9 Callum Macleod Team Parker Racing British GT3 64.17
10 Brad Smith Mectech Motorsport LMP3 Cup 63.125
11 Callum Pointon HHC Mptorsport British GT4 59.40
12 Michael O’Brien Tolman Motorsort British GT4 57.75
13 Charlie Fagg Tolman Motorsort British GT4 57.75
14 Ben Barnicoat Track-Club British GT4 53.17
15 Theodor Olsen RAW Motorsport Radical Masters SR8 52.58
16 Scott Malvern Team Parker Racing British GT4 51.33
17 Morten Dons Radical Works Team Radical Masters SR8 50.33
18 Kush Maini Lanan Racing British F3 50.00
19 Colin Noble Ecurie Ecosse/Nielsen Racing LMP3 Cup 49.75
20 Jack Mitchell Century Motorsport British GT4 49.50
21 Marco Sorensen TF Sport British GT3 49.50
22 Louis Hamilton-Smith RAW Motorsport Radical Masters SR8 47.24
23 Krishnaraaj Mahadik Double R Racing British F3 45.00
24 Martin Plowman UltraTek Racing Team RjN British GT4 44.00
25 Jonathan Kennard Valour Radical Masters SR8 38.75
26 Will Burns HHC Mptorsport British GT4 38.50
27 Joe Osborne Tolman Motorsport British GT4 36.67
28 Nicki Thiim TF Sport British GT3 36.67
29 Patrick Kujala Barwell Motorsport British GT3 33.00
30 Sun Yue Yang Carlin Motorsport British F3 31.25
31 Manuel Maldonado Fortec Motorsports British F3 31.25
32 Maxime Martin Jetstream Motorsport British GT3 31.17
33 Jesse Antilla UltraTek Racing Team RjN British GT4 31.17
34 Mike Robinson Balfe Motorsport British GT4 25.67
35 Billy Monger Carlin Motorsport British F3 25.00
36 Will Moore Academy Motorsport British GT4 24.75
37 Matt Nicoll-Jones Academy Motorsport British GT4 24.75
38 Jamie Chadwick Douglas Motorsport British F3 23.75
39 Jordan Albert Tolman Motorsort British GT4 23.10
40 Lewis Proctor Tolman Motorsort British GT4 23.10
41 Ben Tuck Century Motorsport British GT4 23.10
42 Ben Green Century Motorsport British GT4 23.10
43 Jamie Spence 360 Racing LMP3 Cup 22.75
44 Jack Butel Speedworks Motorsport LMP3 Cup 22.25
45 Jonny Cocker Barwell Motorsport British GT3 22.00
46 Clement Novalak Carlin Motorsport British F3 21.25
47 Finlay Hutchinson Equipe Verschuur British GT4 15.58
48 Daniel McKay Equipe Verschuur British GT4 15.58
49 Tom Wood Academy Motorsport British GT4 11.55
50 Jan Janck Academy Motorsport British GT4 11.55
51 Tristan Charpentier Fortec Motorsports British F3 11.25
52 Michael Broadhurst Fox Motorsport British GT4 11.00
53 Rob Bell Balfe Motorsport British GT3 9.17
54 Devan Modell RJN Motorsport British GT3 8.98
55 Sasakorn Chaimongkol Hillspeed British F3 7.50
56 Ryan Ratcliffe Team Parker Racing British GT3 7.33
57 Struan Moore RJN Motorsport British GT3 1.65
58 Ben Hurst Hillspeed British F3 1.25
59 Chia Wing Hoong Chris Dittmann Racing British F3 1.25
60 Pavan Ravishankar Double R Racing British F3 0.00
61 Arvin Esmaeili Douglas Motorsport British F3 0.00
62 Callum Hawkins-Row Team Hard Racing British GT4 0.00
63 Matthew George Invictus Games Racing British GT4 0.00
64 Sennan Fielding Stellar Motorsport British GT4 0.00
65 Alex Quin Stellar Motorsport British GT4 0.00
66 Dean Mcdonald Steller Performance British GT4 0.00
67 Benjamin Wallace Team Hard Racing British GT4 0.00
68 Alex Schjerpen Century Motorsport British GT4                –