Reigning champion Scherer Sport PHX leads Herberth Motorsport at 2023 Hankook 12H MONZA mid-point

2022 GT European Trophy winner Scherer Sport PHX leads the 2023 Hankook 12H MONZA after the opening 6.5 hours, and will take tomorrow’s restart on the same lap as event polesitter Herberth Motorsport.

Solid pace from reigning GT3 Drivers’ champions Michael Doppelmayr and Elia Erhart across the opening two hours meant the Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II (#1) ran comfortably in the top six before an early pit stop and a fortuitously timed Code 60 propelled the German team to the front of the pack. A succession of quick laps thereafter from teammate – and fellow champion – Pierre Kaffer allowed Scherer Sport PHX to extend its lead. The #1 Audi R8 has led 86 of the 188 laps completed thus far around the 5.793km Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

Outright polesitter Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (#91, Daniel Allemann / Ralf Bohn / Alfred Renauer / Robert Renauer) will take tomorrow’s restart alongside Scherer Sport PHX and, crucially, on the lead lap. The Bavarian team at one stage had pulled almost a full lap clear of the field, aided in-part by mishaps for several of today’s GT3 frontrunners. But while Scherer Sport PHX benefitted from the third Code 60 of the event, Herberth, having been handed two 10-second time penalties for pitlane infringements (unusual for the 2017 Overall GT Teams’ ‘Continents’ champion), ended up losing both time and track position during the neutralization.

With Scherer Sport PHX unable to put Herberth Motorsport one lap down, however – the Bavarian team was just over one minute behind at the flag – both leaders will take tomorrow’s restart on the same lap. Herberth Motorsport will also take tomorrow’s restart with a full tank having opted to pit for fuel in the closing 10 minutes.

“It’s fantastic, and my thanks to the whole crew and my teammates. They have done an amazing job and it was a pleasure to drive the Audi today,” Pierre Kaffer explained to radiolemans.com’s Lewis McGlade. “We’re halfway through now, but tomorrow is another important race. For us, it has been two difficult races so far” – collisions hindered the team at both the Hankook 24H DUBAI and the Hankook 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS – “and we’re very pleased that everything has run smoothly so far. We’ve put a lot of effort into finding a setup that is good for the tyres. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”

The BMW Italia Ceccato Racing BMW M4 GT3 (#15, Leonardo Sanchez Secundino / Atila Abreu / William Thomas Freire) is currently 3rd overall on its 24H SERIES debut. An electric opening stint from Freire saw the Italian team launch from 4th on the grid to 2nd heading into the first corner, and into the overall lead at the start of lap two, a position the field’s only BMW M4 GT3 held for 24 laps. Pitting late during the first Code 60 however proved costly as the BMW was still being refueled when the race went back to green. Rapid pace from then on, which included the race’s overall fastest lap – a 1m 49.426s – means BMW Italia Ceccato Racing remains in podium contention, just one lap behind the leaders.

Hankook 12H MUGELLO winner HAAS RT (#21, Max Hofer / Mathieu Detry / Miika Panu) has already recovered to 4th after a difficult start. The Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II was harrying the then-leading Herberth Motorsport Porsche before a precautionary tyre change just 10 minutes in dropped the Antiguan team out of the top 20. Haas RT has since served a 90-second time penalty for exceeding the maximum refueling amount, and, like Herberth, also pitted for fuel ahead of the overnight intervention, but still finished ‘part one’ of the event just 9.5 seconds behind BMW Italia Ceccato Racing.

E2P Racing (#90, Javier Morcillo / Pablo Burguera / Antonio Sainero) is enjoying its most impressive run so far this season with its Porsche 991 GT3 R. The reigning 991 Teams’ ‘Europe’ champion, having opted to extend its opening stint, led outright for nine laps and currently rounds out the top five after a consistent run.

A charging closing stint from Charles Espenlaub means reigning GT Continents Trophy winner CP Racing (#85, Charles Putman / Charles Espenlaub / Joe Foster / Shane Lewis) will line up for tomorrow’s restart in 6th. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 had been running 2nd overall in the early going only for a front-left puncture to drop the American team back down the field.

Ironically, a puncture had already dropped CP Racing’s nearest GT3-AM Teams’ championship rival – the Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II (#34, Dr. Johannes Kirchhoff / Elmar Grimm / Max Edelhoff) – out of 2nd place earlier in the race, though significant brake problems caused by the damage means the 2009 24H DUBAI winner has yet to return to the track.

Like Haas RT, Kessel Racing (#8, Alessandro Cutrera / Marco Talarico / Marco Frezza / David Fumanelli / L.M.D.V.), which has entered the new Ferrari 296 GT3 for its 24H SERIES debut this weekend, was also handed a 90-second time penalty for exceeding the maximum refueling amount, but is still running 7th overall after a steady run.

The runaway leader in 992 during the early stages, the Neuhofer Rennsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (#985, Felix Neuhofer / Markus Neuhofer / Martin Ragginger / Paul Kasper) holds the category top spot heading into tomorrow’s restart. Impressively, 992 Teams’ standings leader Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors (#955, Fabrizio Broggi / Sergiu Nicolae / Sabino de Castro) has worked its way up to 2nd in-class during the opening 6.5 hours, despite starting at the back after a heavy shunt knocked the Romanian-Italian team out of yesterday’s qualifying session.

Reigning 992 Teams ‘Europe’ champion Red Ant Racing (#903, Ayrton Redant / Arnold Neveling / Kai Rillaerts) currently rounds out the 992-class podium as well as the overall top 10, despite serving a 140-second time penalty for a refueling infringement.

The RPM Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (#907, Tracy Krohn / Niclas Jönsson / Philip Hamprecht) is the highest-placed 992-AM runner as well as 4th overall in the 992 class, even though the German team suffered a left-rear puncture early on. RPM’s nearest 992-AM rival EST 1 Racing (#981, Alex Reimann / Jori Ala-Jyrä) brought out the third of this afternoon’s four Code 60 caution periods when the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup beached itself in the gravel at Lesmo but is still 6th overall in 992 behind the returning Rabdan Motorsport (#977, Saif Alameri / Christopher Zöchling / Anthony Leighs).

992 polesitter TORO Racing by HRT Performance (#930, Adam Christodoulou / Eric Zang / Xinzhe Xie / Luo Kai Luo) endured a torrid start to the Hankook 12H MONZA, and has dropped back to 7th in-class following four rear-left punctures and a problem with the driver’s safety net. Series debutant Q1 Trackracing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (#950, Rubens Barrichello / Eduardo Menossi / Marcos Vinicius Neves), for which 11-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner Rubens Barrichello is also making his maiden 24H SERIES start this weekend, has also had problems. The #950 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup suffered a rear left puncture and lost time repairing rear bodywork damage, but the Belgian team and its all-Brazilian driver line-up is still running 8th in-class.

HRT Performance (#967, Amedeo Pampanini / Stefano Monaco / Nicolas Stürzinger) meanwhile has already retired from the Hankook 12H MONZA after electrical problems ground the Porsche to a halt on lap 23.

The Red Camel-Jordans.nl Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (#909, Ivo Breukers / Rik Breukers / Luc Breukers) was on course to lead 992 heading into the overnight intervention, but was involved in a collision with Vortex V8 (#701, Lionel Amrouche / Philippe Bonnel / Gilles Courtois) at Variante Rettifilo less than an hour from the end. Luc Breukers and Lionel Amrouche emerged unscathed. The Porsche has yet to return to the track, and the Vortex 1.0 has been handed a 60-second time penalty for causing the collision.

The Vortex incident means 9und11 Racing (#719, Georg Goder / Ralf Oehme / Martin Schlüter / Leonard Oehme) now leads the GTX class, despite the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup MR starting on the back row of the GT grid, and requiring significant repairs to its engine after spare parts were flown in overnight from the team’s base in Germany.

GTX polesitter, and GTX Teams’ standings leader, RD Signs – Siauliai racing team (#720, Audrius Butkevicius / Nicola Michelon / Paulius Paskevicius) lost time very early on with a left-rear puncture as well as a loss of power during its final pit stop of the day. The Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo however is set to take tomorrow’s restart 2nd in-class.

After a commanding run, the Atlas BX Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 (#403, Steven Cho / Roelof Bruins / Jongkyum Kim / Taekeun Yang / Donggi Noh) currently leads GT4, five laps clear of the BMW M4 GT4 of reigning GT4 Teams’ champion Team ACP – Tangerine Associates (#421, Steve Weber / Ken Goldberg / Catesby Jones). Nearest championship rival, and GT4 Teams’ standings leader, Buggyra Racing (#416, Aliyyah Koloc / David Vršecký / Adam Lacko) had been running comfortably 2nd in-class but has since dropped back after a problematic brake change for the Mercedes-AMG GT4.

The Holmgaard Motorsport CUPRA Leon Competición TCR (#102, Magnus Holmgaard / Jonas Holmgaard / Roy Edland / Martin Vedel Mortensen) continues to lead TCR. The Danish team has been at the sharp end of CREVENTIC’s one-off ‘GTTC’ division for much of the afternoon, and crossed the line less than two minutes behind the Atlas BX Motorsports Mercedes.

Following the event’s traditional overnight intervention, the 2023 Hankook 12H MONZA will restart tomorrow – Sunday 11 June – at 10.30 hrs local time, and will run for 5.5 uninterrupted hours until the chequered flag is flown at 16.00 hrs. The action will be live with commentary from radiolemans.com on the official 24H SERIES YouTube channel. Regular updates will also be published on Twitter (@24HSeries), Facebook (24H Series) and Instagram (24H Series). Further information can be found at www.24hseries.com.