Triumph and heartbreak for Herberth Motorsport at Hankook 12H MUGELLO

Herberth Motorsport has signed off the 2020 24H SERIES powered by Hankook season with its third outright win of the year at the Hankook 12H MUGELLO, but was denied a 1-2 finish with less than an hour of the race left to run.

The number 91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (Ralf Bohn / Daniel Allemann / Robert Renauer) led the field away for the second part of the 2020 Hankook 12H MUGELLO earlier this morning, and even had to fend off its sister entry (number 92, Robert Renauer / Alfred Renauer / Max Edelhof / Vincent Kolb) during a frenetic opening few laps before eventually pulling ahead. Throughout the afternoon, the gap between 1st and 2nd was regularly under 60 seconds.

All hope of a 1-2 finish was lost though when the number 92 Herberth Porsche suffered gearbox failure with barely an hour left to run, the resultant oil leak leading to only the third Code 60 caution period of the event. That left the number 91 Herberth Motorsport free to collect a hard-earned victory at the 2020 Hankook 12H MUGELLO. The Bavarian team completed 334 laps of the 5.245km Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello en-route to the chequered flag.

The CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo (number 85, Charles Putman / Charles Espenlaub / Joe Foster / Shane Lewis) took a well-earned 2nd overall after a faultless run, equalling its best finish in the 24H SERIES to-date. The American team took its first outright series pole position yesterday, and even took the restart on the same lap as the two Herberth Motorsport cars.

Despite a couple of brief offs at turn nine, the MP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo (number 58, Thomas Gostner / David Gostner / Corinna Gostner / Manuela Gostner) secured its first outright podium finish in the 24H SERIES with 3rd place on home turf in Italy.

Though unable to make the finish, the number 92 Herbert Motorsport Porsche had still completed enough laps to be classified 5th overall in the GT division.

What had been an incredibly tight fight for GT4 honours throughout the Hankook 12H MUGELLO ultimately went to the Team Avia Sorg Rennsport BMW M4 GT4 (number 451, Björn Simon / José Manuel de los Milagros Viñegla / Sergio Paulet Diaz / Philippe Valenza). A succession of unscheduled pit stops in the final hour ended up dropping the PROsport Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (number 401, Nico Verdonck / Rodrigue Gillion / Carrie Schreiner) four laps adrift, but the German team still came home 2nd in-class.

The results secure Team Avia Sorg Rennsport the Overall GT Teams’ championship in the 24H SERIES Continents, while PROsport Racing scored enough points to put the Overall GT Teams’ title in the 24H SERIES Europe out of reach.

The Speed Lover Porsche 991-II Cup (number 978, Eric Mouez / Olivier Dons / Jürgen van Hover) took 991 class victory, just ahead of the EBIMOTORS Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS MR (number 473, Alessandro Cutrera / L.M.D.V. / Marco Talarico / Marco Frezza). The Italian team made an impressive return to the 24H SERIES after a two-year absence with 3rd in-class in GT4.

The RD Signs racing team Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo (number 720, Audrius Butkevicius / Egidijus Gutaravicius / Arturs Batraks / Martynas Griska) rounded off a tough weekend in Mugello with 9th place in the GT division on its series debut.

The 24H SERIES powered by Hankook will return with a nine-race calendar in 2021, starting with the Hankook 24H DUBAI on 14-15-16 January. One week later, the non-championship Hankook 6H ABU DHABI is scheduled to take place at the Yas Marina Circuit on 22-23 January. Further details regarding the 24H SERIES and the 2021 season, which will once again be fully supported by Hankook Tires.