GT3 / 01 November 2021

Title success for NSX GT3 Evo and JAS Driver Development Programme

JAS Motorsport Development Driver Erwin Zanotti and his Nova Race co-driver Luca Magnoni scored the first title success of 2021 for the NSX GT3 Evo as they became Italian GT Endurance Am Champions at Monza.

Italian GT Championship

Zanotti and Magnoni - less than a year after Nova Race's first event with the NSX GT3 Evo - secured the crown with a second straight win and third podium finish of the season in a race that finished in hugely-challenging circumstances.

The pair qualified on pole position in the class and led the opening 30 minutes of the three-hour encounter until Magnoni was passed by his chief title rival.

Knowing that second place would be good enough for the crown, he did not panic and reached the first mandatory pitstop within three seconds of the lead.

A slick stop by the Nova Race crew meant that Zanotti emerged at the wheel with a one-second advantage, and a sterling stint meant that an hour later he was more than 70 seconds clear when he handed back to Magnoni.

The Nova Race co-founder maintained the advantage on a dry track and continued to do so after pitting for wet tyres with 20 minutes left when a shower hit Monza and made driving conditions tricky.

The title was the 16th global crown for the JAS Motorsport-built NSX GT3 Evo, which debuted in 2019.

Fellow JAS Development Driver Jacopo Guidetti, who shared victory with Zanotti and Magnoni at Vallelunga in September, finished third in the Drivers’ standings.

Thailand Super Series

For the first time in two years, a round of Thailand’s premier race series was held at Buriram. Vattana Motorsport entered an NSX GT3 Evo in the Supercar Trophy for the first time with drivers Chonsawat Asavahame and Pitsanu Sirimongkolkasem seventh in practice.

Owing to the inexperience of the team, who were supported on-site and remotely by JAS technical staff, they opted to withdraw the car ahead of qualifying and focus on a testing programme instead.

Both 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.