GT3 / 26 June 2023

JAS Development Driver Axel Gnos scores first win in NSX GT3 Evo 22

A maiden GT race victory for JAS Motorsport Development Driver Axel Gnos was the highlight of a good weekend for NSX GT3 Evo 22 customer teams in Europe and North America.

 

Italian GT Championship

Gnos and Nova Race co-driver Matteo Greco had to wait for the fourth race of the 'Sprint Championship' season on Sunday morning to stake their claim for the Pro-am title.

Starting second in class, Gnos pitted as the mandatory driver-change window opened in an attempt to gain the undercut on several rivals by benefiting from the extra performance of fresh tyres.

Once aboard Greco did just this, emerging in front once all the cars had pitted and winning Pro-Am in second overall; a result that puts them just one point off the series lead.

The result was a just reward for the pair; Greco having been shoved off the circuit on the opening lap of Race One while fighting for the lead, going through the gravel and falling to the back of the entire pack. They finished fifth.

Team-mates Luca Magnoni and Andrea Bodellini finished second in Am in each race; teenager Bodellini enjoying an entertaining fight for the class win in Race One before a late safety car ended the battle and prevented him from going for victory.

The duo sit second in the class points as Magnoni seeks a third Am title in as many years.

 

IMSA

Gradient Racing recorded their best result since the Daytona season-opener in January with a fighting fifth place finish in GTD at the Six Hours of Watkins Glen.

The Texas team's trio of Sheena Monk, Marc Miller and Katherine Legge started 16th in class after suffering over-boosting issues in qualifying, but fought back well and spent the second half of the race inside the top six. Monk and Legge are now sixth in the points.

Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR Andretti Autosport returned to IMSA for the first time since Kyle Marcelli took GTD pole position at Sebring in March.

There was no repeat for Marcelli, Danny Formal and Ashton Harrison, who started 19th, leapt up to fourth at the opening round of pitstops but then had to fight back after penalty for a violation of pitlane procedure.

The trio finished eighth after a strong recovery drive of their own and will next appear in IMSA at the season-ending Petit Le Mans race.

All four cars were competing as part of the NSX GT3 Customer Racing Programme; a global collaborative project with JAS Motorsport responsible for assembly of all cars.

Honda Performance Development (HPD) and M-TEC handle sales and technical support in North America and Japan respectively, with JAS responsible for these areas across the rest of the world.