Stories
The Story of Sep, 2023
30 Sep 2023
Unstoppable: Chris van der Drift and Marco Giltrap win again in Shanghai
The Hankook Ventus Race provided the necessary grip in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo in Asia for the final time this year at the Shanghai Circuit. New champions Chris van der Drift and Marco Giltrap impressed again at the event in the Chinese metropolis. The New Zealand duo won both races at the 5.451-kilometre racetrack, making it eight wins from ten races.
The sixth and final round of the championship takes place in Vallelunga, Italy, from 16th to 17th November. Immediately afterwards, the same circuit will host the Super Trofeo World Finals, at which the three continental championships from Asia, Europe and North America will battle it out to find the global winners of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series.
Full replay of race 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LqMHfRbdb4
Full replay of race 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ5AQWxi4cc
Title race goes down to the wire in Vallelunga
The racetrack in Valencia was the venue for round four of this season’s Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe from 15th to 17th September. The drivers contested two exciting 50-minute races on the Hankook Ventus Race at the 3.925-kilometre circuit on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. New Zealander Brendon Leitch from the Leipert Motorsport team won race seven of the season to move to the top of the table. He then finished fourth in the second race of the weekend. A further two title contenders won Sunday’s race, in the form of Sebastian Balthasar (Germany) and Marzio Moretti (Italy) at the wheel of the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 run by Team Oregon.
Full replay of race 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui4oTE-QWfk
Full replay of race 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHplq2WZD9g
Ryan Norman wins both races in Indianapolis
Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport claimed win number ten of the season at round five of Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. However, after eight victories in a row, the winners this time were not Kyle Marcelli (Kanada) or Danny Formal (Costa Rica), but Ryan Norman. The American has picked up a few podiums over the course of the year, but had to wait until 16th September for his first win of the season. Just one day later, he took the chequered flag again. The duo of Marcelli and Formal ended both races in second place. All the drivers took advantage of the high performance level of the Hankook race tyre, the Hankook Ventus Race.
Mario Fuchs claims his second win of the season on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife
The sixth race of the Rundstrecken Challenge Nürburgring (RCN) took place in sunny conditions on 2nd September. The Hankook Ventus Race provided the 148 starters with perfect grip on the legendary Nürburgring-Nordschleife. After an exciting 15 laps, Mario Fuchs (Germany) made it back-to-back victories to claim his second win of the season. German drivers Christoph Schmitz and Marcel Unland left the Nürburgring as the new championship leaders, thanks to their victory in the H3 class. Ahead of the final two events of the season, they hold a lead of just 0.04 points over Stefan Gaukler (Germany) in second place.
Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWcrNFfGSSk
Lewe and Ullrich impress in Assen on the Hankook Ventus Race
The protagonists in the Cup and Touring Car Trophy travelled to Assen in the Netherlands for their penultimate race weekend. From 1st to 3rd September, the 4.555-kilometre circuit hosted two races with 22 competitors. Both the seventh and eighth race of the season produced lights-to-flag victories. First to triumph was Manfred Lewe (Germany) in his Seat Leon WTCC, taking full advantage of the potential of the Hankook Ventus Race to cross the finish line with a lead of 34.234 seconds. On Saturday, Germany’s Marc Ullrich celebrated his eighth success in the Cup and Touring Car Trophy. Daniel Haager (Germany) tops the table going into the season finale at the Nürburgring. He knows what it takes to win the series, having claimed the title in 2021.
Keeping a cool head: Casagrande and Abreu triumph in the heat
Round eight of this year’s Stock Car Pro Series took place in hot conditions from 15th to 17th September, with temperatures reaching around 35 degrees Celsius. The drivers were really made to sweat at the 2.278-kilometre Velopark International Circuit (Brazil). However, the Hankook Ventus Race appeared unimpressed by the extreme heat and performed to the highest level throughout the entire event. After eleven winless races, Gabriel Casagrande (Brazil) returned to the head of the field in the opening race of the weekend. Brazilian Átila Abreu repeated his victory from the previous event in Goiânia, taking victory in race two. Casagrande leads the championship with 217 points, ahead of the two former Formula 1 drivers in Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) on 196 points and Brazil’s Ricardo Zonta (194 points).
Event highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPU3G2dlw0o
Porsche wins the Hankook 24H Barcelona
This year’s edition of the Hankook 24h of Barcelona took place at Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya from 15th to 17th September. A total of 39 cars started the race in the 24H Series powered by Hankook, going head to head in eight different classes. French team IMSA LS Group Performance (Porsche 911 GT3 R) produced a perfect lap in qualifying to secure pole position. At the end of the 24 hours, it was again the French quartet of Julien Andlauer, Grégory Guilvert, Simon Tirman and Laurent Hurgon who topped the timings list. They crossed the finish line first with a lead of 1:37.635 minutes to take victory at the 4.657-kilometre circuit in Montmeló.
Mota and Pernaut take impressive lights-to-flag victory in Le Castellet
On 8th and 9th September, the Ligier JS Cup France was in Le Castellet, France, for round six of the season. A total of 27 cars started on the Hankook Ventus Race tyre at the event on the 5.822-kilometre track to the east of Marseille. After a successful qualifying for the 2M PROMOTION MAT IMMO team, the French outfit started the six-hour race from pole position. Drivers Mickaël Mota (France) and Olivier Pernaut (France) used the fine pace of the Hankook Ventus Race, held onto the lead for the entire race, and took the chequered flag as winners after 142 laps of racing. The protagonists will contest two four-hour races at the Nogaro (France) racetrack on the final weekend in September.
A brace of wins in Monza: Langeveld triumphs in both races
Round four of this season’s TCR Italy took place from 15th to 17th September, with 40 touring cars taking to the track on Hankook tyres. Spectators at the Royal Park in Monza witnessed a spectacular race weekend with two thrilling races. The seventh race of the season saw Estonian driver Ruben Volt start from pole position. As the race progressed, however, he was unable to stop Franco Girolami (Argentina) from taking the lead. Two penalties handed to Girolami and Volt after the race then resulted in Dutchman Niels Langeveld being declared the winner. Junui Park started race two from pole, but fell back to fifth after the first chicane. Among the beneficiaries of the eventful start was Langeveld, who climbed into second place. After some thrilling duels and great battles, he overtook team-mate Paolo Rocca (Italy) and celebrated his second success of the weekend. Following his two wins in Monza, the Dutchman now leads the championship with 267 points. Next up for TCR Italy is the circuit in Vallelunga, to the north of Rome, from 13th to 15th October.
Full replay of race 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ns8GJoPx00&t=2824s
Full replay of race 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emq13d0Ps6A&t=1262s
Fans were treated to exciting racing in Zandvoort, courtesy of the BMW M2 CS Racing Cup powered by Hankook
The drivers in the BMW M2 CS Racing Cup powered by Hankook travelled to Zandvoort from 15th to 17th September for round four of the season. Fans at the circuit in the Dutch dunes enjoyed even more action than usual, as the Cup cars contested no fewer than three races. Pole-sitters Senna van Soelen and Leyton Fourie (both Netherlands) were unstoppable on their way to victory in the opening race. The Dutch pairing of Sen Roodenburg and Gianni van de Craats ensured their name went down in the winners list after triumphing in race eight of the season. Leyton Fourie started by himself in the bonus race, which he won ahead of Kelvin Snoeks (Netherlands) and Roodenburg, who also started alone in their cars. The next event takes place from 13th to 15th October at the ‘Ardennes Rollercoaster’ in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.
Tomas de Backer enjoys a successful weekend in Zandvoort
From 15th to 17th September, the battle for the title in the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup powered by Hankook, between Tomas de Backer (Belgium) and Alan Czyz (Poland), entered its fifth round. The venue for this event was the 4.259-kilometre circuit in Zandvoort on the Dutch North Sea coast. De Backer made the best use of the Hankook Ventus Race and set the fastest lap time in qualifying. The rest of the field were then unable to pass him in the two races, and the Belgian went on to take the chequered flag on both occasions. The fans can now look forward to the remaining two events in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Dekker and van Riet win in the Mazda MX-5 Cup in Zandvoort
Circuit Zandvoort, located roughly 40 kilometres west of the Dutch capital Amsterdam, was the venue for round four of this year’s Mazda MX-5 Cup. The opening race of the weekend saw Dutchman Marcel Dekker take full advantage of the high grip level provided by the Hankook race tyre, as he stormed to victory from eleventh on the grid. Race two was won by pole-sitter Lorenzo van Riet (Netherlands). With two events remaining, Sam Jongejan (Netherlands) leads the championship with 123 points, ahead of van Riet (111) and Laszlo van Houwelingen (96) of the Netherlands.
Nael extends his lead with two wins in Jerez – Cárdenas claims his first win of the season
Round four of the Spanish Formula 4 Championship took place from 23rd to 24th September at the 4.423-kilometre circuit in Jerez. Frenchman Theophile Nael from the Saintéloc Racing team won race ten of the season. In doing so, he was able to call up on the strong performance of the Hankook Ventus Race. Peruvian Andrés Cárdenas took victory in race two – his first win of the season. Nael was again first across the finish line in the twelfth race of the season and extended his lead at the top of the table in the process. Estoril in Portugal is the venue for the next round of the junior championship.
Full replay of race 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm75eQghGvk
Full replay of race 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDKMjzJzkTc
Full replay of race 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mug-PxStDQw
Wins in Jerez for Braschi and Ogaard
The Eurocup-3 is renowned as an international school for young Formula drivers, and the series contested races nine and ten of the season on 22nd and 23rd September. Every one of the talented youngsters started on the premium Hankook Ventus Race tyre. Italian Francesco Braschi and Denmark’s Sebastian Ogaard won the two races at the circuit in Jerez, Spain. Frenchman Esteban Masson still leads the overall standings with 151 points, ahead of Ogaard on 144. The talent factory now travels to Estoril, Valencia and Barcelona for this season’s remaining events.
Full replay of race 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5EJzPo8xwM
Full replay of race 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSfLK5r_tLM
Right down to the wire: Elias Adestam is the inaugural champion of the NXT Gen Cup
Linus Granfors (Sweden) travelled to the finale of this season’s NXT Gen Cup at Mantorp Park (22nd to 23rd September) with a 16-point lead over Elias Adestam (Sweden).
Granfors started the eleventh race of the season from pole position. The battle at the head of the field saw Adestam overtake the championship leader to move into the lead, before going on to take victory. A technical issue brought the final race of the season to a premature end for Granfors after just a few metres. Adestam took full advantage, battling his way to the all-important fourth place with great resolve and the perfect grip provided by the Hankook Ventus TD. The 16-year-old ended the season just three points clear of Granfors to claim the inaugural title in the NXT Gen Cup.
Full replay of race 1 Mantorp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FOatoZdU4Y
Full replay of race 2 Mantorp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYOpjOzPvNQ