HubAuto Corsa Ferrari won 2019 8 Hours of California at Laguna Seca with Nick Foster putting up the final stint while Tim Slade and Miguel Molina putting a brilliant performance throughout the race, beating GruppeM Mercedes AMG GT3 of Raffaele Marciello, Maxi Goetz and Maxi Buhk.
After starting from pole, Mario Farnbacher was overtook quickly by KCMG Nissan GT-R GT3 of Alex Buncombe after making a good start. The KCMG Nissan led the field in first hour while Farbacher was overtook by Molina in 488 GT3, taking the overall lead from KCMG after Buncombe pitted.
The Nissan however, had a very lengthy pitstop, losing a lot of time and giving the lead to Ferrari but as Ferrari pitted shortly after and endured a long pistop as well, the #911 trio of Sven Mueller, Mathieu Jaminet and Romain Dumas took the lead.
The Bathurst winning Porsche, now known at the race as Wright Motorsports looked good in contention for the win but almost halfway through the race, came into pits in what seemed to be empty fuel tank but ultimately retired due to gearbox issue.
That wasn't the only car retired, as #107 Bentley retired early after a difficult weekend and changing the engine before the race while retiring due to mechanical issues.
After the DNF, the BMW Schnitzer of Chaz Mostert, Augusto Farfus and Martin Tomczyk was promoted to lead but Tomczyk made a huge mistake, slightly bumping the rear of #29 Land Motorsport Audi at corkscrew, getting penalised and losing the contention.
The Nissan also had a difficult day after brilliant start, as further issues and then penalty for track limits dropped the car down the order.
In GT4 class, PF Racing had a strong lead from it's rivals as Jade Buford, Chad McCumbee and James Pesek led most of the race.
The lone GT Cup entry of ARC Bratislava ran into problems early in the race, spending a lot of time in the pits but recovering shortly after.
In the end, after a lap which saw Nick Foster running wide through corkscrew and at the final corner, the #27 HubAuto Corsa Ferrari won the race from Mercedes and Porsche by 12 seconds lead, securing first win in a global series for HubAuto Corsa squad after success in Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia.
The trio of Rafaelle Marciello, Maxi Buhk and Maxi Goetz now leads the Intercontinental GT Challenge standings after a second place result, with next round to be part of Blancpain GT Endurance Series' crown jewel race, the 24 Hours of Spa in July.
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