A top ten finish in the second of two FIA GT3 European Championship races at Paul Ricard in the South of France gave Niki Lanik the lead of the Porsche Manufacturers Cup.  The 22-year-old Austrian, who lives in Ashurst Wood in Sussex, was handed the car by Finland’s Mikael Forsten in 14th and drove a determined race to finish the 60-minute encounter in a creditable 9th overall.

The weekend got off to a poor start with Niki only getting eleven laps in the car on the unfamiliar Paul Ricard circuit during free practice on Friday due to technical problems.    He then qualified the car 14th out of 30 cars for the first of the two 60-minute races on Saturday afternoon.  A short rain storm on part of the circuit caused the race to be stopped on lap 2 after several cars crashed heavily, with Lanik classified as 14th in the final results but scoring one more than his Porsche Cup rival David Ashburn.  In the second race Mikhael Forsten drove the first part of the race handing the car over on lap 12 in 14th place.  Lanik then drove well to move up the order to finish 9th overall to secure the lead in the Porsche Manufacturers Cup with two races remaining. (more…)