Land Motorsport secured an unexpected GT3-AM class victory at this past weekend’s Hankook 12H MISANO, despite losing more than half an hour in the pits to an overheating engine and an early on-track collision. 

After qualifying 11th overall (6th in GT3-AM), the Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II comfortably ran 5th in-class and on the cusp of the overall top 10 for the opening third of the 12-hour race at Misano. This, despite a collision with Haas RT’s own Audi R8 just over 90 minutes into the race: while attempting to regain a lap after the team’s first pit stop, a late-braking Elmar Grimm inadvertently tipped Haas’ Theo Koundouris into a spin at turn four. This sent the Antiguan team to the pits for repairs to its front left corner, and though Land Motorsport was summarily handed a 10-second penalty for the incident, the #34 Audi was able to continue.

Shortly before the fifth hour however, scorching conditions at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli – which, ironically, would later play to Land Motorsport’s favour – caused the #34 Audi’s engine temperature to spike. 35 minutes were spent in the pitbox as the R8’s V10 cooled down.  

By half-distance, and though still 5th in GT3-AM, Land Motorsport had dropped to 17th overall, 22 laps behind the overall class leader. 

Rising temperatures and high attrition would, however, make a significant impact on the GT3 frontrunners as the Hankook 12H MISANO neared its conclusion. 

With just two hours left to run, a collision for then-race leader Herberth Motorsport, a spin and car-to-car contact in the refueling area for E2P Racing, and terminal suspension issues (among other issues) for PTT by Schnitzelalm Racing had brought the Land Motorsport Audi back into the overall top 10, and, remarkably, up on to the GT3-AM podium. 

Terminal engine issues for Haas RT, which had worked its way back up to 7th after its own recovery drive, meant Land Motorsport had moved up to 8th overall and 2nd in GT3-AM heading into the final hour. Brutal misfortune for long-time GT3-AM leader Hofor Racing meanwhile, which retired with just 40 minutes remaining when the Mercedes-AMG GT3 suffered a suspected gearbox oil leak, elevated Land Motorsport move into the GT3-AM lead heading into the closing stages. Despite its earlier issues, and following a clean run thereafter, Land Motorsport came through to collect an unexpected class victory – its first since last year’s Hankook 24H BARCELONA – and finish 6th overall. 

Though he acknowledged the good fortune that eventually came Land Motorsport’s way, team owner Christian Land was still full of praise for Grimm, teammates Stefan Wieninger and Dr. Johannes Kirchhoff, and the stellar pit work he believes proved crucial to his team’s victory in Italy. 

“The [24H SERIES] s ran in Misano for the first time,” Land explained in an official statement. “Obviously, there was little previous experience to fall back on, so we focused on letting our drivers get to know the circuit as well as possible. We were able to improve steadily from the test and practice sessions through to qualifying, and in the race itself we were initially able to follow our programme.

“After losing valuable ground, Johannes, Elmar and Stefan launched an impressive fightback and their constantly fast pace, along with the crew’s untiring work, were ultimately the key to the class win. 

“No team in the [GT3] AM class gained as many positions as Land-Motorsport.”

Alongside the class win, Land Motorsport and Dr. Johannes Kirchhoff, had more to celebrate in Misano. The German driver contested his 50th race with CREVENTIC in Misano, more than 12 years on from his 24H SERIES debut at the Hankook 12H DUBAI in 2012.

“This is a big surprise!” Dr Kirchoff explained to radiolemans.com’s Diana Binks when presented with a celebratory poster and cake! “We love this series because we go to a lot of nice places, there’s a lot of driving time, a lot of training time, and it’s a fair competition. The judges are strong and the rules are strong, but that’s what we like. The only thing we [the drivers] have to do is drive fast enough: sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn’t! But overall, I think [CREVENTIC] has a very nice race series. Thank you very much for this surprise!”

Dr Kirchoff joins Lionel Amrouche, Charles Putman and Charles Espenlaub, Alfred and Robert Renauer, Daniel Allemann, Ralf Bohn, Joe Foster, and Gijs Bessem and Harry Hilders in the exclusive club of drivers that have now started 50 or more 24H SERIES races. 

Fresh from its Hankook 12H MISANO class win, Land Motorsport has now moved up to 4th in the GT3-AM Teams’ standings – ironically between Hofor Racing and Haas RT – and has also registered at least one entry for the 24H SERIES European season finale at the Hankook 24H BARCELONA on 13-14-15 September.