TCR / 23 September 2024
JAS Development Driver Levente Losonczy takes first TCR Italy win
JAS Motorsport Development Driver Levente Losonczy took a critical maiden TCR Italy victory at Vallelunga on a weekend where JAS Motorsport-built cars competed for victories on three continents.
TCR Italy
It was Losonczy - already a two-time winner in TCR Europe - making the headlines at the twisty track near Rome. Running in the top three all race, he moved up to second when the long-time leader slowed in the closing stages.
The ALM Motorsport driver finished there too, but was later promoted to victory when the on-the-road winner was given a time penalty for hitting Losonczy as he overtook him earlier on. The Hungarian was fifth in Race One.
Team-mate Ruben Volt was third and fourth; results that keep him second in the overall championship and maintained his advantage in the Under-25s standings. ALM are now just one point away from the lead of the Teams' Championship.
Paolo Rocca, who qualified second in the other ALM car, was on course for a podium in Race One when he slowed on the last lap with a technical issue. He was eliminated early in Race Two by another car.
Luciano Martinez took a career-best sixth spot for MM Motorsport in Race Two; the Argentinian also winning the Rookie category. Team-mate Jacopo Cimenes - third-best Rookie in both races - is one of two title contenders with a round to go.
Marco Pellegrini qualified a season's-best fourth in the Masters division and finished third in class in Race Two.
TCR Eastern Europe
A penultimate-lap puncture denied Giacomo Ghermandi a fairytale win in the season's final race at the Salzburgring after the Italian had battled his way to the front and built a convincing advantage aboard his MM Motorsport Civic.
Twenty-four hours earlier he had started last, climbed to fifth before a mid-race red flag, and then finished third on the road only to be promoted to second when Rene Kircher was penalised 10s post-race for a false start.
Kircher secured third in the race and added fourth the following day aboard his Mertel Motorsport Civic. His team-mate Jorden Dolischka was twice second in the Junior Trophy while Davit Kajaia crashed heavily in Race One and did not get out on Sunday.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
Montreal Motorsport Group's Dai Yoshihara stormed to the Civic Type R TCR's fifth TCR class pole position of the year - the most of any model in the series.
Unfortunately, he and co-driver Karl Wittmer were unable to capitalise on it when a turbo-pipe issue led to them spending three laps in the pits.
Once rectified, the duo recovered to eighth place, which was one spot behind HART's Chad Gilsinger and Tyler Chambers - the pair racing the latest FL5 Civic for the first time. Racers Edge Motorsports' Daniel Wu and Tazio Ottis retired early.
IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship
Sheena Monk turned in one of her best-ever qualifying performances to put Gradient Racing's NSX GT3 Evo 22 10th on the GTD grid for the Indy 6 Hour at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Unfortunately, an electrical issue on the car cost more than 15 laps in the pits in the first hour but Monk, Stevan McAleer and 'endurance' co-driver Tatiana Calderon persevered and climbed to 16th in class by the chequered flag.
Super GT
A rained-out qualifying session at Sugo forced practice times to be relied upon to set the grid and kept Team UPGARAGE pair Takashi Kobayashi and Syun Koide back in 16th spot on the grid.
A number of early strategy calls - aimed at vaulting them up the order - failed to pay off as the safety car was twice scrambled at an inconvenient moment. Falling as low as 23rd, the pair recovered to take 16th in wet conditions.
