HIGH CLASS RACING TAKES CROWN IN THE 9H KYALAMI RALLY PRO-AM CATEGORY

The Danish squad High Class Racing led 70-year-old GT2 champion and gentleman racer Mark Patterson and teammates Michael Markussen and Thierry Vermeulen to victory in the Pro-Am category last weekend in the Kyalami race in South Africa. The Motul-backed team was not only taking the victory in their race class, but Audi Sport also won the constructor’s championships title. Two victories in one!

The trio from High Class Racing came in sixth, 11 laps behind the winning Mercedes, resulting in triumph in the Pro-Am category. Their nearest competitor, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the American SunEnergy 1 Racing, finished seventh behind them, seven laps behind Vermeulen and co. 

Vermeulen is the son of Raymond Vermeulen, Max Verstappen’s manager, and faced his first experience in GT3 after winning the 2020 GT4 Benelux title. However, it wasn’t his debut in endurance racing as Vermeulen finished in second place in the 2022 Dubai 24h in 992-Pro class last month. 

Vermeulen commented: "What an adventure the past few days have been. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who contributed to make this possible, especially High Class Racing and WRT. I'm a little disappointed with my last stint, but I've learned a lot from this experience and can't wait to find out what the future holds." 

The weekend at Kyalami was plagued by rain and high winds. Qualifying and superpole literally fell through as a result. A total of 13 cars participated in the event: eight cars from the Intercontinental GT Challenge, four local GT3s and one GT4. The race in Kyalami was actually supposed to take place in December but had to be rescheduled due to COVID-19. 

Audi Sport was already the best manufacturer in the only global GT3 racing series, and now the company has left four other sportscar brands behind by winning the title at Kyalami. The European R8 racing program, from which this winning car was rented, is fully backed by Motul products. All cars are being lubricated by Motul 300V 5W40, using the Motul RBF660 brake fluid and the full workshop range: EZ Lube, brake cleaner, parts cleaner and Motul’s Car Care range.