Alex Buncombe, Katsumasa Chiyo and Wolfgang Reip have taken out the pro driver’s championship in the Blancpain Endurance Series after finishing third at the Nurburgring.
The title adds to Nissan’s GT4 European title and the Blancpain Endurance PRO-AM crown.
The overall win was taken out by Shane van Gisbergen, Rob Bell and Kevin Estre in the #58 Von Ryan Racing McLaren.
Runner-up was Andy Meyrick, Guy Smith and Steven Kane in the Bentley which saw them finish a close second in the championship.
Buncombe crossed the line at the end of the three-hour race not knowing if he had done enough to win the title.
“I thought that I had to keep the Bentley behind me so I didn’t know we had won the title,” Buncombe said.
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“It feels unbelievable to win. I’ve worked very hard over the years with Nissan and RJN to get to this point and I have to say that it’s probably the best day of my life (apart from the day my son was born!).
Earlier this year Buncombe had to relinquish his drive in the Bathurst 12 Hour which was taken by Chiyo, Reip and the Brit’s replacement Florian Strauss.
“It was definitely the hardest stint of my life,” Buncombe continued.
“It was full pressure from the word go.
“It was tough to keep the Bentley behind for all of that time and then I had to do the same with the #1 Audi. That was as close as it gets and I couldn’t be happier with the result.”
United Sportscar Championship
Scott Pruett and Joey Hand scored a dominant win in the Lone Star Le Mans round at Austin, Texas.
It was former IndyCar driver Pruett’s 60th career victory in top level North American sports car competition.
The veteran driver did a perfect job to lead the opening stint in the #1 Ganassi Ford-powered Riley to help realise his first victory at the Circuit of the Americas.
Hand crossed the finish line with a 16.9s margin over Ricky Taylor, who combined with brother Jordan in the #10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP.
Wayne Taylor Racing gambled on a two-tyre stop late in the race that briefly put Ricky Taylor in the lead, but Hand needed only four laps to chase him down.
Prototype points leader Richard Westbrook finished third, holding off Ozz Negri in a hectic battle that went all the way to the checkered flag.
FIA World Rallycross Championship
Petter Solberg continued his blistering form in the FIA World Rallycross Championship by winning the inaugural Barcelona round.
Solberg continues to lead the points in his quest to win back-to-back titles, however Timmy Hansen has reduced the gap to 35 points after a maximum points haul in the Intermediate Classification.
Johan Kristoffersson (Team Volkswagen) was second while Hansen completed the podium.
“The whole weekend we have been fighting so hard, my mechanics have been flat out trying lots of different set-ups on the car so it’s fantastic to be able to be on the podium again,” Solberg said.
“The Peugeots were so fast again this weekend and we had some troubles in heat three when I got caught in dust and clipped a bale.
“I started on the second row in the semi-final and was happy to get second but I wasn’t totally pleased with the car so we made some more set-up changes for the final.
“I had a really good start from the second row and managed to get ahead.
I made a small mistake on the gravel, it was really slippery, but I saw the guys behind me also lost some time so I just kept going and managed to keep ahead.”
Davy Jeanney had a strong outing in the second Peugeot-Hansen and finished fourth overall.
Jeanney and Hansen’s third and fourth place position sees Team Peugeot-Hansen extend its lead over Ford Olsbergs MSE in the Teams’ Championship by 77 points.
Barcelona RX also marked the penultimate round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship where Team Volkswagen Sweden’s Ole-Christian Veiby took the overall victory, while Alexander Hvaal finished runner-up in his Citroen DS3.
Round 11 of the FIA World Rallycross Championship is scheduled for Istanbul, Turkey in two weeks.
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