Manthey PureRxcing clinches LMGT3 crown with a round to spare
Malykhin, Sturm and Bachler take the first ever WEC LMGT3 title as No.54 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari take maiden LMGT3 win....
Manthey PureRxcing celebrated title glory in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s LMGT3 category in the 6 Hours of Fuji today (15 September), as Aliaksandr Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler produced a determined performance in Japan to put the destiny of the coveted crown beyond reach of any of their rivals.
The Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 crew could manage no better than 14th on the grid in qualifying on Saturday, but race day would prove to be a different story, as a mixture of strong speed, savvy strategy and fortuitous timing around the safety car interventions carried the title-chasing trio into contention for the race win, with Malykhin in particular putting in a marathon two-and-a-half-hour stint.
Ultimately, the battle for victory boiled down to a crowd-pleasing three-way fight between the #92 Porsche, the #59 United Autosports McLaren of James Cottingham, Nicolas Costa and Grégoire Saucy – which survived contact from the sister car in the early stages – and the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari piloted by Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Davide Rigon.
It was Rigon who pulled off the decisive moves, overhauling Bachler and Saucy in swift succession with half-an-hour remaining to cement the maiden victory for the Ferrari 296 LMGT3 and Vista AF Corse’s first of the 2024 campaign.
Bachler held on to finish second – more than sufficient to secure the championship, with the only other crews that could still have beaten Manthey PureRxcing winding up tenth and 14th. With Saucy battling tyre wear, Maxime Martin climbed to third in the closing laps in the #46 Team WRT BMW he shared with Ahmad Al Harthy and Valentino Rossi – the MotoGP legend the architect of a stellar middle stint along the way that hauled the car up the order.
After lining up on pole position, François Heriau lost time in the opening exchanges in the second Vista AF Corse entry, with the Frenchman and team-mates Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera eventually battling back to sixth behind the Iron Dames.
The season will conclude with the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain on 31 October – 2 November.
