CoRe Secures Championships & Podiums In Apex Racing League GT Trophy Season 12!
Season 12 of the Apex Racing League GT3 Trophy has come to a close and CoRe SimRacing can look back on a nine-round campaign that delivered class victories, a championship title, and a number of standout individual performances across all three driver categories. It was a season full of character and one that introduced a new face to the CoRe family in a solid fashion. CoRe entered Season 12 with representation across all three classes. In Pro, Carl Winkler returned in the Ford Mustang GT3, while Tom Kunath and Jan Vollmers both started the season in the Mercedes-AMG GT3, latter to switch to the Lamborghini Huracan GT3. The Pro-Am entry featured Marcus Fox and Dominik Engel in the Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), alongside Ronald Großmann and a returning Markus Blohm, a welcome sight after a long time away from simracing, both in the Acura NSX GT3. In the Am category starting in his ARL debut, David Kincius arrived as a CoRe SimRacing recruit to run in the BMW M4 GT3 Evo.
The season opened at Spa-Francorchamps with a strong collective showing. Tom finished P4 in Pro with Carl in P6, while Marcus got his Pro-Am campaign off to a flyer with a second place. Portimao followed in heat format, and CoRe remained on pace. Tom delivered a Top-5 in Pro, Jan grabbed a Top-10 in one of the heats, and Marcus was on the podium in Pro-Am for the second round in a row. Hockenheim was tougher for the Pro class, with Carl defending hard to a P6 and Tom finishing only P11 in a competitive field. Nevertheless Marcus claimed another Pro-Am podium, and David who just left CoRe’s recruiting stage, won the Am class for a second time in a row after his Portimao ARL debut performance. The Nürburgring round that followed was a bruising affair for the team, including plenty of damage taken across the grid. Tom salvaged a Top-10 in Pro to keep the points ticking over, while Ronald put in a composed drive to a Top-5 in Pro-Am.
By mid-season, the picture was becoming clearer. Laguna Seca ran in heat format and proved one of CoRe’s best collective rounds. David swept both Am class wins, Tom was on the Pro podium, and Dominik and Marcus both made the podium in Pro-Am. Brands Hatch then delivered the standout evening of the campaign. Tom won the Pro class outright, David won Am, Carl finished P5 in Pro, and Dominik and Marcus came home 4th and 5th in Pro-Am. It was the kind of result that shows the full depth of a squad firing on all cylinders. At Road Atlanta, David added another Am win and Marcus a further Pro-Am podium, while the Pro drivers banked useful Top-10 points with two rounds remaining. The final stretch however brought interesting outcomes, too. At Suzuka, Tom and David both topped their respective classes as two CoRe wins on the same evening. That left everything set up for Belle Isle, where the season reached its conclusion.
The finale at Belle Isle was not without its drama. Marcus fell victim to a lapped backmarker in what proved a chaotic Detroit street circuit race, cutting short what could have been another strong Pro-Am result. But when the dust settled, the final standings told a very satisfying story for CoRe SimRacing. David crossed the line first in Am to seal the Am championship, a crowning moment of his remarkable debut campaign for CoRe. Tom and Carl ground out a hard-fought 9th and 12th in the finale, just enough to close out the overall team championship for CoRe SimRacing One, with CoRe SimRacing Two finishing 5th in the team standings and CoRe SimRacing Three in 10th. In the driver standings, Tom ended the Pro season as vice-champion. Carl backed him up with 7th overall in Pro after a tough season for him, while Jan closed out the season in 14th, only. Marcus’s points cushion proved large enough to weather the Belle Isle misfortune and secure 2nd in the Pro-Am championship against a dominating Alex Rogers. Lastly, it is Dominik in 6th, Markus in 8th and Ronald in 10th completing CoRe’s representation in the Pro-Am category to close out another successful Apex Racing League GT campaign for CoRe SimRacing.