Iron Lynx claims breakthrough result in Le Mans Cup, as Mapelli/Hites win in GT Masters

Lamborghini finished the British GT Championship season with a sensational victory from 11^th on the grid at Donington Park, courtesy of Barwell Motorsport’s Sandy Mitchell and Shaun Balfe.

The duo in the #78 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 made the most of a well-timed Safety Car intervention at the top of the final hour to effectively get a free pit-stop and vault all the way to second place, before Lamborghini Factory Driver Mitchell pulled off a superb overtake the seize the lead.

Mitchell then kept it clean in the final 40 minutes to take the win, his and Balfe’s second of the season to cap off a successful first campaign together as a partnership.

There was joy elsewhere for Lamborghini, as Hiroshi Hamaguchi and Vincent Abril steered their #63 Iron Lynx Huracán to a first victory in the Le Mans Cup season finale at a wet Portimão in Portugal. The ADAC GT Masters season also came to a close, with Grasser Racing Team’s Marco Mapelli and Benjamin Hites taking victory in the penultimate race of the year, but ultimately missing out on the title after a first-corner incident in race two.

With the drivers’ and teams’ titles out of reach, Barwell Motorsport’s Mitchell and Balfe entered the last round of the British GT season with the pressure off their backs. The #78 Lamborghini Huracán had shown promising pace in free practice but came out of qualifying disappointment as the capricious British weather played a crucial role. Balfe was one of the first drivers to fit wet weather tyres but could only manage eighth as others improved. Mitchell topped the second session with the fastest overall time which was good enough for seventh, but a qualifying infringement meant they had to start at the back of the GT3 field in 11^th.

At the start, the #78 dropped a few positions either side of an early safety car thanks to a drivethrough penalty, with Balfe at the wheel but luck soon turned with a second safety car period which coincided perfectly with the team’s pit-stop. By the time Mitchell took over from Balfe, they were up to third place behind the McLaren of Marcus Clutton. That became second as the leading Mercedes of Jules Gounon went off-track at the final corner. Mitchell then showed terrific race craft by sliding down the inside of Clutton at the Old Hairpin with 40 minutes remaining. From then, Mitchell extended his margin in the lead and came home a comfortable victor by just over nine seconds.

Sandy Mitchell (#78 Barwell Motorsport) said: “I guess the safety car was out and when I was about to get in the car, everyone was going slowly behind the safety car which meant that we were able to jump ahead of them. Because the pit-lane was so busy, we decided to stay out a few more laps to save a bit more time and keep Shaun out in a bit cleaner air, so that made the all the difference.”

Mapelli/Hites take GT Masters victory as Iron Lynx triumph in Le Mans Cup

Grasser Racing Team’s Marco Mapelli and Benjamin Hites kept the ADAC GT Masters title fight alive until the final race of the season thanks to a superb victory from pole position at Hockenheim. HItes set the fastest time in morning qualifying on Saturday, with an effort of 1m38.489, just a tenth better than the second-place car. The Chilean driver led away from the rolling start and built a strong lead during the opening stint, only for a mistiming on the mandatory driver-change stop – with Mapelli taking over from Hites – dropping them into the clutches of the Mercedes of Elias Seppanen. The pair went side-by-side for several corners as Mapelli clung onto the lead, but the Mercedes eventually got ahead, albeit illegally. Mapelli was let back in front and the duo resumed their panel-bashing fight, with Mapelli prevailing. That kept the title fight alive heading into the last race of the season, but any chance that Mapelli and Hites had of overturning the 10-point deficit disappeared at the start of race two as the #63 machine was taken out in a first-lap crash.

Portimão hosted the final round of the Le Mans Cup season, and Lamborghini claimed its second win of the 2023 campaign, but this time with Iron Lynx who came out on top for the first time. Hiroshi Hamaguchi and Vincent Abril started the race – which begun under safety car conditions due to heavy rain – from the front row of the grid and held their nerve throughout the two-hour race to win by just over 12 seconds from the second-placed Aston Martin. The #63 had moved to the head of the field inside the final hour and, with Abril at the wheel, pulled away following a lengthy safety car intervention – and subsequent red flag – as conditions worsened.