GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

Matt Campbell enjoyed a weekend of redemption at the 2021 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup after winning the Circuit Paul Ricard 1000 km. 

Racing alongside prominent Kiwi Earl Bamber and Frenchman Mathieu Jaminet in the GPX Martini Racing prepared Porsche 911 GT3 R, the trio enjoyed a successful race, having retired from the opening round of the championship earlier this year. 

Starting from 10th outright, each driver produced brilliant stints behind the wheel and slowly worked their way towards the front until they snatched the lead towards the end of the endurance race.

After more than four and half hours, the 911 GT3 R squad eventually crossed the line just five seconds ahead of Dries Vanthoor, Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts in the Team WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3, while polesitters Mirko Bortolotti, Marco Mapelli, Andrea Caldarelli settled for third place having led the field for the majority of the race. 

West Australian Jordan Love also featured in the race, however he had a completely different outing to his Australian counterpart – first hitting debris during his qualifying lap before being collected in another driver’s accident early in the race.

Despite his SPS automotive performance team getting the Mercedes-AMG GT3 back out for teammates Miklas Born and Yannick Mettler to finish the race, a puncture forced them out early.

The next round of the 2021 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup is the famous 25 Hours of Spa on 29 July.

NTT IndyCar Series

Love wasn’t the only Aussie to suffer a less than perfect weekend behind the wheel as Will Power’s tough fortnight in the NTT IndyCar Series came to end on Monday morning with a disappointing finish.

It all started last weekend when he surprisingly failed to qualify automatically for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 and was forced to try make it into the event through the last chance qualifying session.

While he just managed to squeeze into the iconic race on the back row, Power then put his best foot forward and worked his way up the field to get himself on track for a top five finish.

However on his final stop, the Queenslander had issues his brakes, which ultimately saw him drop all the way back to cross the finish line in 30th and last of all the finishers.

It was a forgettable weekend for the 2018 Indy 500 winner, who dropped out of the series’ top 10 as a result.

Three-time Repco Supercars Champion Scott McLaughlin also had a tough race, but still managed a memorable debut – finishing the race in P20 after starting three places higher.

Both drivers have two weeks off before the next round with the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix taking place on 12-13 June.

Formula Regional European Championship

After a tough start to the 2021 Formula Regional European Championship, Tommy Smith enjoyed his best race result of the season.

Taking place at Circuit Paul Ricard as a support category to the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, Smith didn’t get off to the best of starts – finishing the first of two races in P25, however the Victorian bounced back in the second race and showed lots of pace.

With 30-drivers sharing the track, Smith made up six positions to finish P17 and inside the top 20 for the first time this year.

Showing plenty of improvement after a difficult weekend at Monaco earlier this month, the fourth round of season also saw Smith finish both races for just the second time this year.

The Formula Regional European Championship now heads to the Circuit Zandvoort in Netherlands for round five on 18-19 June.