IGTC – Tristan Vautier titled, Audi and Land winners in California

Raffaele marciello held the rope for a long time to pocket victory and the Intercontinental GT Challenge title at Laguna Seca this Sunday, but the end of the race did not go in favor of the Italian, devoting his teammate for most of the season, Tristan Vautier.

Aligned with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 n°175 – SunEnergy1 with Maro Engel and Maxi Buhk, when Marciello was supported by Lewis Williamson and Maxi Götz on the n°43 – Strakka Racing, Vautier, tied with Marciello in the championship before the race, partly benefited the setbacks of the Transalpine in the last part of the race to secure the Drivers' crown.

Leader during the first two thirds of the eight-hour event, Marciello and his teammates lost big due to a poor strategic choice by Strakka Racing before Marciello was a little too offensive in his comeback by going off-track in a fight with Alex Riberas (No. 8 Audi R3 LMS GT17 – Team WRT).

Enough to waste precious time for the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT43 which will not be able to catch up. A puncture, following further contact with the #17 at the end of the race, coupled with a drive-through for the incident, put an end to the last hopes of the title.

The final victory, however, went to Audi Sport, thanks to the No. 8 R3 LMS GT29 – Team Land of Christopher Haase – Christopher Mies – Kelvin van der Linde who won ahead of the No. 19 – Team WRT of Winkelhock – D .Vanthoor – Frijns.

Starting from pole, the No. 29 had nevertheless lost time at the start of the race, in particular due to a penalty for overtaking under the yellow flag. But patiently and with a good strategy, Team Land closed the gap, and the R8 LMS GT3 double offers the Manufacturers' title to the brand with the rings.

Frédéric Makowiecki, Romain Dumas and Dirk Werner place their Porsche 911 GT3 R n°911 – Wright Motorsports at the foot of the podium. In addition to the title for Vautier, Mercedes also won in Pro-Am with the No. 42 – Strakka Racing de Leventis – Fraga – Fumanelli.

Kenny Habul, lined up in the second Mercedes-AMG GT3 n°75 of SunEnergy1, won the Bronze title in IGTC.

In GT4, victory at Laguna Seca also went to Audi with the No. 8 R4 LMS GT626 – Rearden Racing of Kozarov – Faulkner – Roberts.

Race ranking

Discover the report of the 8 Hours of Laguna Seca, in issue 2189 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.