24H Series: Jubilation in the Autorama team
TWO MORE TITLE WINNERS The 2019 24H Series came to an end with the 24 Hours of COTA USA on the GP circuit in Austin. Drama reigned for the two Swiss TCR touring car teams. Some were unlucky, but the others were laughing. TOPCAR sport from Uetendorf was at the intercontinental final round of the 24H Series at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) with its Cupra [...]
Some were unlucky, but others laughed. TOPCAR sport from Uetendorf was the faster and better-placed team for a long time with its Cupra TCR at the intercontinental final round of the 24H Series at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). But in the end, Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing was all smiles.
Having already been set back by an electrical failure in the first part of the 24-hour race on Saturday, Fabian Danz, Ronny Jost and their Finnish partners Antti Buri and Kari Laaksonen set out on a merciless chase in the remaining 13 hours on Sunday. While the Dutch Cupra of Red Carmel seemed virtually uncatchable, victory or at least second or third place was in the cards again as a result.
This would have given Danz enough points to secure the drivers' title in the 24H TCE Series of the Continents after the European classification. Only those drivers who competed in the 24 Hours of Dubai in January and the 24 Hours of Portimão or Barcelona in the summer are counted for the title.
The highlight: Danz scored full points with Autorama in Dubai and with TOPCAR in Barcelona. That was the deal at the beginning of the season. This time, however, he was in the "wrong" car. Two hours before the end, the Bernese team, strategically supported by Bas Koeten Racing, had to retire with drive damage. Although still classified in 5th place, the points from Austin were no longer enough for Fabian Danz to win the title twice.
Double stitched, holds better
But another Swiss team rejoiced. Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing fielded two Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR cars, as it did in Spain at the end of August. Yannick Mettler and Jérôme Ogay (with whom Danz won in Dubai) were used on both cars to double their chances of winning the drivers' title.
The one car with Constantin Kletzer, Roberto Ferri and Alberto Vescovi as additional drivers moved up to third place after the Swiss competitors retired, meaning that the newcomers to this series finished all seven races on the podium, including four times as class winners. As a reward, after the European title they also won the intercontinental team title. And as icing on the cake, Mettler and Ogay also took the top spot in the TCE Drivers' Championship at the expense of Fabian Danz at the last moment.
Luck in misfortune
The biggest of the minor problems was a ride by Kletzer into the tire piles shortly after the start on Sunday morning because the Golf suddenly stopped decelerating. Thanks to the robustness of the car and the quick repair, only a few laps were lost.
The second Golf, on which Lukas Desserich, Stefan Tanner and Christoph Ulrich, three other Swiss, came in sixth. At one point, they stood for around two hours because a defective injection valve had to be replaced.
Allemann second, Rogivue fastest
A final success was also achieved by Daniel Allemann, who drove to second place overall with the East German team from Herberth Motorsport. In Saturday's eleven hours, the Porsche was at the top of the classification for a total of 82 laps and started from third position at 8 a.m. on Sunday. However, nothing could be done against Black Falcon's Mercedes-AMG GT3, which remained in front after the re-start until the finish.
Nikolaj Rogivue experienced a personal highlight. Driving a Ferrari 488 GT3 from HB Racing, the Zurich native turned the fastest lap of the entire race on Sunday morning. Shortly afterwards, the team retired after some problems had already thrown them out of the decision the day before.
24H COTA USA 2019 Overall Classification
