Allen tastes victory in mixed weekend for Aussies abroad

Monday 25 September, 2023
Photo: Algarve Pro Racing
Victorian James Allen has had another taste of European success over the weekend after taking his second victory of the season in the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.  

The European Le Mans Series took to the world-famous Belgian circuit for the fourth round of its season, where Allen, alongside teammates Kyffin Simpson and Alex Lynn, took their second victory of the season.  

The trio stayed clear of danger in a race that saw five safety cars and a further three full course yellows, virtually leading from start to finish with Allen putting in a fantastic middle stint to set up another fantastic result.  

The win also sees the Algarve Racing trio hold a 17-point lead in the overall championship with two rounds remaining.  

230925_allenspaPhoto: Algarve Pro Racing

There were also another three other Australian entries taking part at the popular Belgian circuit last weekend, with Scott Andrews, Andres Latorre Canon and Fraser Ross all featuring in the Le Mans Cup.

It was a great weekend for Ross, who was the best of the three but was unable to break the top 10, having to settle for 11th after starting all the way back in 27th.  

A further five places back was Latorre Canon, who started one place ahead of Ross but was unable to make up as much ground, finishing 16th.  

It wasn’t a weekend to remember for Andrews, who didn’t make it past the first lap in the United Autosports Ligier-Nissan before having to retire the car. 

Much like the Le Mans Cup, there were also three Aussies were action during the final round of Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS, with the most recent Sandown 500 winner, Broc Feeney amassing the best results.

Feeney was paired up alongside usual Triple Eight Race Engineering compatriot, Prince Jefri Ibrahim and narrowly missed out on a top 10 finish in both weekend's races at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia with 11th.  

Meanwhile, a little further back in the field was the category’s only Australian duo, Andrew Macpherson and William Ben Porter – finishing a weekend-best 18th in Race 1 before dropping to 24th in the final outing.  

230925_portsmacphersongtPhoto: AMAC Motorsport

Returning to Europe, Harri Jones suffered a troubled weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, leaving the Austrian circuit with a ninth place and a DNF.  

While a ninth place outright finish wasn’t the result the Queenslander would have hoped for, he still managed to walk away with silverware as he crossed the line second in the rookie class.  

Unfortunately, no result was to come in the second and final race of the weekend after Jones was forced to retire the car after accumulating damage in an incident at no fault of his own.  

The heartbreak was shared across the paddock at the Red Bull Ring, with Bart Horsten narrowly missing out on BMW M2 Cup glory after heading into the weekend as a serious title threat.  

An impressive recovery to finish fourth place in the opening race was dampened after a late loss of position all but ruled out his title aspirations in race two, having to settle for 11th.  

Meanwhile, another young Aussie, Robbie McAfee was having troubles of his own after a controversial penalty dropped him from an impressive eighth down the order to 13th.

Despite the unfortunate result, McAfee would finish the season on a high note after working his way back up to fourth place for the second and final race of the weekend.

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