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2018 FIA GT Nations Cup
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The 2018 FIA GT Nations Cup was the first edition of the pro–am FIA GT Nations Cup Grand Touring (GT) sports car race held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain on 1 December 2018. The race was contested with GT3-spec cars entered by teams representing nations. Only Silver and Bronze-rated drivers were allowed to compete. The event promoters were the Bahrain Motorsport Federation (BMF) and the SRO Motorsports Group (SRO). For the following year the event was reformatted as the multi-discipline FIA Motorsport Games.
The duo representing Turkey Ayhancan Güven and Salih Yoluç won the main race sharing a Mercedes-AMG GT3 run by Ram Racing from pole position after scoring the fewest number of points in the two preceding qualification races. Turkey led the start of the race before being overtaken by the United Kingdom team of Chris Buncombe and Chris Froggatt. The nation was able to reclaim the lead from the United Kingdom and maintained it to win the FIA GT Nations Cup by three seconds. Denmark's pair of Johnny Larsen and Nicklas Nielsen completed the podium in third position.
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Background and entry list
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The SRO Motorsports Group (SRO) CEO Stéphane Ratel proposed the organisation of a pro–am GT3 Cup of Nations race for the global GT3 car category as a separate event from the FIA GT World Cup in Macau be held in October 2018 at the Sochi Autodrom in Russia to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; motor racing's governing body).[1][2] This followed amateur drivers being barred from competing in the race in Macau as a consequence of numerous crashes.[3] The FIA World Motor Sport Council approved the concept at a meeting in Geneva in March 2018,[4] and the FIA GT Nations Cup was organised by the SRO at the 15-turn 5.412 km (3.363 mi) Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain from 30 November to 1 December 2018,[5][6][7] the first SRO-sanctioned race in the country since the final round of the 2005 FIA GT Championship.[8] It was part of the Bahrain GT Festival that also included the GT4 International Cup and the Bahrain Classic Challenge racing series.[7] The event was scheduled to be held on a different race circuit every year but was reformatted into the multi-discipline FIA Motorsport Games in 2019.[3][9]
Drivers had to have competed in an FIA-regulated championship race based on GT3 regulations in the previous two seasons or have significant experience in Grand Touring (GT) cars to enter the race. Silver and bronze-rated drivers were allowed into the race but not gold or platinum-rated competitors.[10] Drivers had to apply through their national sporting authority before they were accepted and each car were piloted by two drivers (one Bronze entrant and a Silver competitor) holding the same passport of the country they represented.[11][12] Although teams did not have to come from the same nation as their drivers, they were allowed to enter multiple cars though only one car per country was permitted.[3][11]
The final entry list composed of 18 car teams of two drivers each was published on 9 November 2018.[13] Teams fielded GT3 cars from Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Nissan, Mercedes-AMG, McLaren and Porsche and entrants came from countries in Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America.[12][13] The race winners received a medal following the race's conclusion to be in line with other national sports events.[14] Pirelli was the race's official tyre supplier.[15] Each team received five sets of tyres for the event but were not allowed to perform tyre changes during the race unless a puncture was sustained or if it was necessary to switch to rain tyres.[14][16] All teams were required to switch drivers halfway through the main race.[17] The event was livestreamed on the FIA's website.[3]
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Practice and qualifying
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Two 80-minute practice sessions were held in the morning and afternoon of 30 November.[6][10] The first practice session was led by Argentina with a time of 2:02.835 set by driver Ezequiel Pérez Companc in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 fielded by HB Racing. He was 0.078 seconds faster than the second-placed Jim Pla for France. Positions three to five were occupied by Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom.[18] Belarus's Alexander Talkanitsa Sr caused the session to be stopped in the final minutes when he went off the circuit and sustained damage to his Ferrari at turn seven.[18][19] Germany and Russia's entries run by Rinaldi Racing did not participate in the session with their Ferrari 488 GT3s still in shipping containers because of delays clearing customs in Dubai.[16][20][21] Turkey's Ayhancan Güven was quickest in the second practice session with a lap time of 2:01.565 set 30 minutes in.[22] Denmark set the second-fastest time late in the session, ahead of France's Jean-Luc Beaubelique in third. Mexico and Belgium rounded out the top five.[23]
Two 20-minute qualifying sessions were held in the afternoon.[6][21] All Bronze-rated drivers set lap times in the first session to set the starting order for the first qualifying race. Each squad's Silver-rated driver recorded lap times in the second session to determine the starting grid for the second qualifying race.[10][21] The first session was a duel between Belgium and the United Kingdom.[24] Mike den Tandt took pole position for the first qualifying event for Belgium with a lap time of 2:01.397.[25] Chris Buncombe qualified the United Kingdom squad 0.353 seconds down in second position and Argentina's José Manuel Balbiani secured third in the session's final minutes. Turkey's Salih Yoluç set a lap late in the session to qualify fourth. Yoluç demoted Thailand's Piti Bhirombhakdi to fifth. Positions six to ten were occupied by Belarus, Sweden, Italy, Hong Kong and Mexico.[25][26] The final starting positions were taken by Denmark, Germany. France, Russia, Australia, China, Malaysia and Japan.[27] The second session was led by Charles Weerts in his maiden GT race with a 2:00.136 lap to complete a qualifying sweep for Belgium.[24][25] Denmark's Nicklas Nielsen qualified in second, ahead of Güven of Turkey, France's Pla and Italy's Matteo Cressoni in the following three places. The United Kingdom, Argentina, China, Germany and Sweden completed the top ten.[25] The grid was completed by Russia, Belarus, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Mexico and Japan.[28] Each of the 18 cars partook in the two qualifying sessions.[29]
Pole positions in each qualifying session are denoted in bold.
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Qualifying races
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There were two one-hour qualifying races to set the starting order for the main race through a points-scoring system.[6][31] Each entry, including all retirements, tallied points based on its finishing position. The winner of each qualifying race earned one point and the second-place finisher received two points. The points total from both qualifying races were combined to set the starting order for the main race, with pole position being awarded to the entry with the fewest points scored. Should two cars have earned the same number of points, then the car that set the fastest race lap from either qualifying race would be ahead of the other. Cars that did not start one or two qualifying races were required to start at the rear of the grid.[31]
The first qualifying race commenced at 19:30 local time on 30 November.[6] At the first corner, Thailand's Bhirombhakdi braked late and collided with the United Kingdom car of Buncombe, who spun around. With Buncombe facing in the opposite direction, he was hit by Sweden's Alexander West and Denmark's Johnny Laursen. The Denmark car was forced to retire with front-end damage and the safety car was deployed.[32][33] The safety car was on track for ten minutes before racing resumed.[34] Belgium's Den Tandt pulled away from the rest of the field while the Thailand team was issued a drive through penalty and dropped to the rear of the field. Buncombe slalomed through the field to move the United Kingdom entry from 17th to fourth position on a new set of tyres the car started the race on during his stint.[32] Argentina's Manuel Balbiani moved forward slightly and crashed into the rear of the Hong Kong entry while attempting to exit his car because the car was still active and in first gear.[32][35] Yoluç moved the Turkey car to third after passing the Hong Kong and Mexico entries before being relieved by Güven during the pit stop phase. The Mexico team had a slow pit stop and dropped out of the top ten places. The United Kingdom's Chris Froggatt fell behind Güven and hit the Turkey entry at the first corner in an attempt at an overtaking manoevure while leaving the pit lane. Güven was now in second for Turkey and pulled away from Froggatt, who was passed for third by Italy's Cressoni with two minutes left.[32][33] Weerts took over the Belgium entry from Den Tandt and maintained the car's lead for the remainder of the race to win after leading every lap.[33][34] Turkey finished 24.855 seconds behind in second and the podium was completed by Italy in third. The United Kingdom, France, Argentina, Russia, Germany, Hong Kong, Belarus, Sweden, China, Australia, Malaysia, Mexico, Japan and Thailand were the final classified finishers.[36]
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The second qualifying race began at 13:15 local time on 1 December.[6] Turkey's Güven took the lead from the pole-sitting Belgium entry of Weerts at the first corner after the latter made a slow start. Weerts lost more positions on the drive into turn one and then lost control of his car in the turn and dropped to the rear of the field.[37][38] Güven was involved in a battle for the race lead with France's Pla in the first half of the race and also with Denmark's Larsen. The Belgium entry sustained a right-rear puncture in the second half of the race. This ended the team's challenge to gain positions and the safety car was deployed for ten minutes to clear debris from the circuit.[37][39] Den Tandt was required to make a pit stop to replace the puncture and fell one lap behind the race leader.[38] Just following the restart, Jean-Luc Beaubelique lost control of the France entry and dropped out of the top ten.[37] This promoted Germany's Alexander Mattschull to second and he maintained the position until Buncombe's United Kingdom entry overtook him with an aggressive pass late in the race.[38][39] The Italian Ferrari was the race's only retirement following a spin that burnt out the clutch.[37] Yoluç had relieved Güven and maintained Turkey's lead to win the second qualifying race.[39] The United Kingdom were 1.943 seconds behind in second and Germany completed the podium in third. Russia, Mexico, Denmark, Thailand, Belarus, China, Australia, Sweden, France, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Belgium, Japan and Italy were the final classified finishers.[40]
After the qualifying races, the grid for the main race lined up as Turkey on pole position, followed by the United Kingdom, Argentina, Germany, Russia, Belgium, France, Mexico, Italy, China. Sweden, Australia, Hong Kong, Belarus, Denmark, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan.[41]
Qualifying race 1 classification
Qualifying race 2 classification
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Main race
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The main race commenced at 19:30 local time on 30 November.[6] Yoluç maintained the race lead for Turkey going into the first corner.[43] Belgium's Den Tandy was separated by the entries representing Mexico (Ricardo Pérez de Lara) and Russia (Renat Salikhov) on the drive to the first corner and collided with both of them.[43][44] The Belgian Audi went through grass before stopping in the gravel trap.[45] Australia's Stephen Grove collided with the rear of Alexander Talkanitsa Sr's Belarus entry in turn one, sending Takanitsa into the outside trackside barriers.[43][46] Both cars were forced to retire from the race.[45] Further around the lap, the Argentina car of Manuel Balbiani was spun following a collision with France's Beaubelique. Other teams that retired on the first lap were Germany and Sweden's West.[43][45] This meant the safety car was deployed before the first lap was completed.[45] Six laps and 15 minutes passed by under safety car conditions as the circuit was cleared of the stricken vehicles.[43][47]
When the race resumed, Turkey's Yoluç held the lead from the United Kingdom's Froggatt until Froggatt made minor contact with the Turkey car and overtook Yoluç for the position at turn seven.[45][46] Salikhov then overtook Turkey's Yoluç to take second for Russia and was involved in a battle for the position with Yoluç. Froggatt pulled away from the rest of the field and led for the United Kingdom by more than ten seconds by the time of the pit stop phase while Russia was holding off Turkey and Hong Kong.[43][46] The pit stop cycle did not change the race order at first as Buncombe maintained the race lead but his advantage over Güven was reduced because the United Kingdom's car was unbalanced that meant he was unable to extract the same pace as he was able to do in the two qualifying races.[46][48] Güven passed the Russia entry for second and then closed up and overtook Buncombe with 12 minutes remaining to reclaim the race lead for Turkey after a duel. Güven maintained the race lead for the rest of the main to claim the FIA GT Nations Cup for Turkey.[45][46] The United Kingdom finished 3.311 seconds behind in second.[48] Denmark's Johnny Laursen avoided the first lap incidents and Nielsen overtaking Hong Kong into turn one and then Russia's Denis Bulatov in the final minutes secured Denmark third place.[45][46] Russia, China, Italy, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Argentina, Japan and Mexico were the final finishing nations.[49] France retired after completing 19 laps following driver Beaubelique serving a drive-through penalty for the earlier collision with the Argentine entry.[43][47]
Main race classification
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