After securing its third podium in four races last weekend at Hockenheim, DUWO Racing continues to hold a slim advantage at the top of the Overall GT Teams’ standings at the halfway point of the 2021 24H SERIES powered by Hankook. 

The Luxembourg team’s 3rd place at the recent Hankook 12H HOCKENHEIMRING, aided admittedly by brake issues for Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors in the closing moments, followed 2nd place finishes at both Dubai and Circuit Paul Ricard. 4th in-class at Mugello brings DUWO Racing’s total up to 69 points heading into the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO on 16-17-18 July, nine more than its nearest GT rival. Having competed at all four 24H SERIES championship events thus far in 2021, Russian teammates Andrey Mukovoz, Stanislav Sidoruk and Sergey Peregudov also hold a joint lead in the Overall GT Drivers’ standings. 

These results mean the #909 Porsche simultaneously leads the 991-class standings ahead of NKPP Racing by Bas Koeten Racing, the latter having won its category at the season-opener in Dubai and finished 2nd in-class at Hockenheim. 

Behind DUWO Racing in the overall standings, things couldn’t be closer with just three points covering 2nd, 3rd and 4th, and eight points covering seven of the top eight GT teams. 

Despite the occasional reliability hiccup, Vortex V8 secured its fourth consecutive GTX-class podium at Hockenheim, an unprecedented record for the French team. 3rd places in Mugello, Paul Ricard and Hockenheim, plus 2nd in Dubai, mean the #701 lightweight sports car has now banked 60 points, just two more than GT4 contenders PROsport Racing (#401) and ST Racing (#438). The latter started its maiden endurance racing season strongly with victory in both Dubai and the non-championship race at Abu Dhabi with its BMW M4 GT4, the Canadian team following that up with 2nd place in-class at Mugello. 

Technical maladies in both Paul Ricard and Hockenheim mean the former Overall GT Teams’ standings leader has slipped back into the pack in the championship chase, though the #438 BMW had nevertheless covered enough distance to be classified 2nd in Hockenheim. PROsport Racing meanwhile, which finished 2nd in Dubai, also faced issues in Paul Ricard and Hockenheim, but recovered to record two GT4 class wins on the bounce.

MiddleCap racing with Scuderia Praha and Reiter Engineering meanwhile are on 53 and 52 points respectively at the halfway point of the 2021 season. Though neither team competed at the season-opening Hankook 24H DUBAI, both have enjoyed an impressive run so far in 2021, Scuderia Praha having picked up three consecutive 2nd place finishes in Mugello, Paul Ricard and Hockenheim, as well as two outright pole positions. 

Reiter Engineering meanwhile took two commanding GTX-class wins in Mugello and Paul Ricard, and while both of KTM X-BOWs hit unexpected electrical problems in Hockenheim, the German team was nevertheless able to finished 2nd. These results mean MiddleCap racing with Scuderia Praha now leads the GT3-AM standings by seven points over Car Collection Motorsport, while Reiter Engineering is just eight points adrift of Vortex V8 in the GTX-class standings. 

Across in the TCE division, Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing, fresh from its second win of the season at Hockenheim, now heads the Overall TCE Teams’ standings with its #1 Volkswagen Golf GTi. Save a calamitous event in Mugello, where the Swiss team failed to get either VW on the TCR podium for the first time in its 24H SERIES career, Autorama Motorsport started its title defense off strongly with 3rd in-class at the season-opener in Dubai. 

Admittedly, the reigning TCE champion holds only a one-point advantage over CWS Engineering in the overall standings. The British team took TCX victory at the recent Hankook 12H HOCKENHEIMRING, securing its first class win in the 24H SERIES since 2018. The result was also the fourth consecutive podium for CWS Engineering, the #238 Ginetta G55 having finished 2nd three times in succession at Mugello, Paul Ricard and Hockenheim. 

The fight at the top of the Overall TCE Drivers’ standings is equally as close, with Autorama Motorsport’s Constantin Kletzer and Emil Heyerdahl currently holding a one-point advantage over CWS’ Colin White and Jean-François Brunot.

AC Motorsport meanwhile kept its title aspirations alive last time out at Hockenheim by finishing just four seconds behind the division-winning Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing. Save a luckless finish first time out in Dubai, the #188 Audi RS 3 LMS also finished 3rd at both Mugello and Paul Ricard, the latter of which the Belgian team had been leading comfortably until wheel hub issues struck with just two hours of the event remaining. 

Having failed to start at all in Mugello, and with gearbox issues forcing the car’s retirement at Hockenheim, the second Autorama Motorsport Volkswagen (#112) is now 23 points adrift of its sister entry in the standings, despite finishing 2nd at both Dubai and Paul Ricard.