The 2010-2011 season of the Masters of Endurance got underway on the first Saturday of December at the Kyoto Grand Prix circuit, inaugurating a new era in Live for Speed endurance racing. For the first time, the 600bhp GT0 class took to the tarmac in anger, setting new track records for GTRs and bringing three-class racing to the series.
The win in GT0 went to the XRR of ineX Racing, who also took pole in their maiden MoE start, effectively sweeping the weekend. Their near-perfect performance coupled with some mistakes from fellow newcomers Team ev0» in the FZR, meant they ended up two laps ahead at the 12-hour mark. The fastest lap in class went to third-place spdoRacing, with the honors claimed by Estonian driver Reno Kööts with a 2:09.88 lap. To put that mark in perspective, last year's GT1 pole lap was a 2:13.76 turned in by Hugo Luis.
Though the majority of the racing throughout the field was close and clean, the GT0 class was not without controversy in its debut weekend. The #05 car of Conquest Racing was involved in a series of incidents that led to the team being disqualified from the event and two of their drivers suspended. These actions erased a respectable 4th-place finish, leaving the team with a lot of work to do to climb back into the points race.
The reconfigured GT1 class saw an epic race-long battle between the Team Sirius and Sonicrealms Racing cars, with both teams turning in blistering times. Norbi Kiss set the best class lap for Sirius at 2:15.24, just seven hundredths quicker than Sonicrealms' Sebastian Hutchinson. Kiss's teammate Sasa Pasic led from pole, but Hutchinson took the lead soon after and held it until a drive-through penalty two hours into the race and a time out from the server left them back in third.
With just over an hour to go, Sirius appeared to the win in the bag, but tragedy struck as Pasic's internet connection gave way and a slow recovery put them a lap down to spdoRacing, who now assumed the lead after a quiet run spent largely in third place. Pasic and Hutchinson spent the last 60 minutes fighting tooth and nail for the second position, but Sirius's late pitstop for fuel assured Sonicrealms of the second step on the podium. Meanwhile, spdo's Lukas Vieten calmly drove to the class win and an early points lead.
Team Inferno dominated the GT2 race in their XRR, taking advantage of a first corner incident which left their main rivals playing catch-up. They grabbed the lead at the end of lap one and never looked back, and claimed the fastest lap in class with teamleader Marius Golombeck's 2:21.82.
They were chased all day by Sonicrealms Racing's FZR, on an aggressive tyre strategy that lead to good pace but also punctures, which left them two laps down to the winners. Polesitters RAPTOR-GAMING rounded out the GT2 podium, delivering a solid run but were unable to match their qualifying pace.
The series heads next to the fast and flowing Westhill International course for six hours of three-class madness. Stay tuned for news and broadcast info!
The win in GT0 went to the XRR of ineX Racing, who also took pole in their maiden MoE start, effectively sweeping the weekend. Their near-perfect performance coupled with some mistakes from fellow newcomers Team ev0» in the FZR, meant they ended up two laps ahead at the 12-hour mark. The fastest lap in class went to third-place spdoRacing, with the honors claimed by Estonian driver Reno Kööts with a 2:09.88 lap. To put that mark in perspective, last year's GT1 pole lap was a 2:13.76 turned in by Hugo Luis.
Though the majority of the racing throughout the field was close and clean, the GT0 class was not without controversy in its debut weekend. The #05 car of Conquest Racing was involved in a series of incidents that led to the team being disqualified from the event and two of their drivers suspended. These actions erased a respectable 4th-place finish, leaving the team with a lot of work to do to climb back into the points race.
The reconfigured GT1 class saw an epic race-long battle between the Team Sirius and Sonicrealms Racing cars, with both teams turning in blistering times. Norbi Kiss set the best class lap for Sirius at 2:15.24, just seven hundredths quicker than Sonicrealms' Sebastian Hutchinson. Kiss's teammate Sasa Pasic led from pole, but Hutchinson took the lead soon after and held it until a drive-through penalty two hours into the race and a time out from the server left them back in third.
With just over an hour to go, Sirius appeared to the win in the bag, but tragedy struck as Pasic's internet connection gave way and a slow recovery put them a lap down to spdoRacing, who now assumed the lead after a quiet run spent largely in third place. Pasic and Hutchinson spent the last 60 minutes fighting tooth and nail for the second position, but Sirius's late pitstop for fuel assured Sonicrealms of the second step on the podium. Meanwhile, spdo's Lukas Vieten calmly drove to the class win and an early points lead.
Team Inferno dominated the GT2 race in their XRR, taking advantage of a first corner incident which left their main rivals playing catch-up. They grabbed the lead at the end of lap one and never looked back, and claimed the fastest lap in class with teamleader Marius Golombeck's 2:21.82.
They were chased all day by Sonicrealms Racing's FZR, on an aggressive tyre strategy that lead to good pace but also punctures, which left them two laps down to the winners. Polesitters RAPTOR-GAMING rounded out the GT2 podium, delivering a solid run but were unable to match their qualifying pace.
The series heads next to the fast and flowing Westhill International course for six hours of three-class madness. Stay tuned for news and broadcast info!