Simmons Shines in Lister Podium Sweep at Sepang

Shane Sparks and Owen Carvill led home a Lister swept Podium at Sepang International Circuit which saw GP Racing take the top two positions; joining them on the podium would be the Globex Scorpio pair of Nikolas Hirvonen and David Simmons.

The pair of factory Lister cars would maintain control in the torrential conditions after the first round of pit stops and would be joined by the Scorpio Lister in the final stint of the race. David Simmons, after taking over driving duties in the first round of pit stops, would pass twelve cars on track, ending up fourth on the road before the second pit stop for his Lister Storm. The American would pass the Scuderia Vittore Ferrari of Natalia Valenti with five minutes remaining to secure the podium lock-out for the British manufacture. This would be Globex Scorpio Racing’s best finish in the GT-R WC and is the teams best result since a second place for Sylvain Fabron at the AutoReject Super Touring event at Magny-Cours earlier in the year.

Behind the top four would be the pair of Solvalou Lamborghinis, with Enrico Molinaro holding off team leader Stefan Kuntz for the duration of the final stint of the race.  The German would attempt the overtake on the Italian numerous times during the last 35 minutes of the race but would fail to complete the pass, leaving a crucial point on the table in the Driver’s Championship.  Their five-six finish would earn pair a total of thirteen points for the Manufacture’s Championship behind Ferrari’s gain of fourteen and Lister’s gain of nineteen with them finishing one-two.

Finishing second in the Independent’s Class would be Championship leaders Asim Adhikari and Marlin Hortin; scoring an additional nine points for the season, leaving them with an easy task in China to wrap up the Independent’s Championship title for the 2017 season, even with their main competition for the title, Joel Melrose and Tommy Douglas, finishing fourth in class and fourteenth overall. Finishing third in the Independent’s Class would be the Onyx Saleen after coming to blows with the Scuderia Belgio Ferrari early in the race at the final turn after both were caught out by a car ahead slowing up early in the torrential conditions.

The Pole-Sitting Pagani Zonda GR of Frank Zimmer and Mike Stern would suffer a Gearbox failure late in the race after dropping out of the lead pack through their pit strategy. They would end up battling for the final points paying position with both Union Saver Corvettes, the second Rosenforth Zonda and the Rafael Modena/James Davies Maserati MC12 before fourth gear would fail with ten minutes remaining in the race. Ricardo Llosa and Jordan McKenna would score that final point for finishing tenth overall, adding another marker in their title defense.

Race Results – After 56 Laps

Fastest Lap – Car 91 (Gobex Scorpio Lister – Hirvonen/Simmons) – 2:02.612

Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race – David Simmons: What a display after taking the helm of the Scorpio Lister: Sixteenth to Third in two stints of work.

Reject of The Race – Dawn Granger and Aramis Santon: The slowest the Euromotor Listers have ever been, a stark contrast compared to the rest in the Lister camp.