The Elite driver in his McLaren Artura made the decisive and controversial move at the last corner to snatch victory in the final round held in Catalonia.
Day and his teammate Mikey Porter had already won the driver and team titles for Forsetti Motorsport in Race 1 Sprint, held on Saturday afternoon in the rain.
But it was the incredible battle between the black-green Aston Martin and the yellow McLaren in the one-hour endurance race that left a lasting impression.
RACE 1
Zac Meakin overcame adverse weather conditions on Saturday afternoon to deliver Elite their first sprint race victory of the season, while Porter collected the points needed to confirm the Forsetti duo as 2024 Champions.
The GT4s managed to complete a free practice session early on Saturday morning, before persistent rain prevented the other categories from taking to the track continuously.
In the afternoon, the starting grid was formed based on Free Practice times for what turned out to be the only full-distance race of the day, with Elite's McLaren Artura starting from pole position.
Due to the rain, the field had to wait until the sixth lap before being able to start and when the Safety Car returned to the pits, it was immediately called back into action. Meakin had been ahead of Max Kronberg (W&S Motorsport, PRO/AM leader) and Ivan Ekelchik (Wimmer Werk Motorsport) for the entire first lap of the race, when Marcel Marchewicz threw himself into the inside of Daniel Drexel's Porsche, which went wide at curve 5.
When Drexel lifted his foot on exit, he lost control of the Cayman and it slammed nose-first into the wall outside, sustaining serious damage.
Once the car was removed, there was only time for three full laps of the race. Once again Meakin made an excellent restart and secured the win ahead of the excellent PRO-AM winner, Kronberg.
Ekelchik ran wide at Turn 7 on the first lap after the restart and lost a couple of positions, allowing Marchewicz to take the final step of the podium. Porter recovered to fourth from sixth on the grid to clinch the title.
“I expected the safety car to come on on lap two, so I prepared everything,” Meakin said.
“To my great surprise it remained on the track. Once the race started I managed to restart, then unfortunately the accident occurred and another safety car. But I managed to replicate the restart, go away and it was comfortable The conditions were slippery, but not too much. You could run. I would like it to rain more tomorrow, but I don't think it will be like that, unfortunately.”
Porter said he didn't feel too much pressure and did what he had to do to secure the title: “I just had to make sure I didn't make any mistakes or make any mistakes. Most of the race was behind the safety car, so I I'm limited to staying on track and making sure I finish the race.”
SR Motorsport's Enrico Förderer placed seventh overall and first in the Cayman Trophy Class, while Max Huber (Mercedes-NM Racing) won the battle against his teammate Alberto De Martin for the AM title by finishing eighth overall.
RACE 2
Lebbon dashed Elite's hopes of achieving a one-two in the sprint race on a sunny Sunday morning. Despite the much improved conditions, the track remained damp at the start and this put the Englishman in difficulty, who skidded immediately at turn 1 starting from pole.
This triggered a fantastic comeback from the McLaren driver.
Lebbon's mistake left the lead to Josef Knopp in the W&S Motorsport Porsche Cayman. Meanwhile, the other Cayman driver, Raphael Rennhofer, was sent into a spin by Day, who had only started fifth on the grid.
Knopp immediately found himself under pressure from Joel Mesch in the Schnitzelalm Mercedes, who made a nice move around the outside of Turn 5 on lap six to take the lead.
Day soon moved into second place, passing the Cayman at Turn 9 on the next lap. But contact with Rennhofer resulted in the Aston Martin driver receiving a drive-through penalty. Day managed to pass Mesch for the lead before being punished on lap 11.
Meanwhile, Lebbon charged away, dropping to 10th place on the first lap. Once Day pitted, he moved up to second and quickly closed on Mesch. As the 30-minute race entered its final stages, Mercedes and McLaren were level, but Lebbon ran out of time and opportunities to take what would have been a sensational comeback victory.
“I was definitely nervous in the last laps – said Mesch – I said that the McLaren would have a crazy pace and so it was. It was very close, I wouldn't have made it one more lap. But here I am, the victory!”
“What more could I want? The first braking zone was really slippery, and that's when the McLaren went off the road and so did the Porsche behind me. It was a big mess. I was a bit surprised when I saw McLaren come back at me.”
Lebbon regretted his mistake at the first corner: “But I recovered up to 2nd place and almost won. In the end it went well. We definitely had an advantage on the pace, having reached it. We could have taken the lead at the end, but they were finished the turns”.
Knopp missed out on the podium when Emil Gjerdrum (Mercedes-CV Performance) caused him to spin at Turn 1. The latter was given a drive-through penalty, which he did not serve and which resulted in a penalty of a time that dropped him from third place in the standings to ninth.
NM Racing's Max Huber then inherited the overall podium and AM class win over fourth-placed Day, who recovered from the penalty and overtook Alex Papadopulous (NM) in the closing stages.
Knopp moved up to fifth place to take the Pro-Am class win, while Rennhofer made up for his first corner mistake to finish 6th.
RACE 3
Lebbon and Day gave life to the duel of the season by giving their best in the grand finale.
Porter led the hour-long endurance race from the start, while Meakin dropped from pole position to fourth at the start, before quickly regaining a position in Rennhofer's Porsche Cayman at Turn 7.
The race ran in a familiar pattern, with Porter's black Aston Martin leading the way followed by Marchewicz's Merdedes and Meakin's McLaren in a toy train. On lap nine, Meakin pulled away from Marchewicz at Turn 4 and chased Porter, who pitted five laps later, passing Forsetti's car to Day.
Meakin covered two more laps before passing the baton to Lebbon, who finished ahead of Day, who however was already on hot tires and took the lead back at turn 5. And here the real duel began.
Lap after lap, the two cars went head-to-head, with McLaren closing in on the Aston and Lebbon seeking an advantage. He couldn't find it, but he came close on several occasions.
Over the course of lap 20, the pair took turns two and three side-by-side, with Day somehow getting through the inside of turn 4 to maintain the lead. The two avoided contact, putting on a show of fast, skillful and ultimately correct driving.
They then found themselves lapping Dennis Bohn's Porsche Cayman GT4 CS, which hindered Day from turns 10 to 13. Lebbon had his chance and led the attack inside the penultimate turn, but with all four wheels off the circuit to rejoin ahead of Day. Wisely, he soon handed the lead back to avoid a penalty.
The battle continued, with Lebbon setting up his final attempt, which was repeated at Turn 13 on the final lap. The McLaren picked up speed through the corner, with all four wheels again breaking track limits on the inside. But then, apparently, Day also defended himself, and perhaps that's why the final result remained unchanged.
Lebbon had the better exit and dived around the inside of the final corner, coming out on top and taking a victory to remember.
“I had lost hope a bit, because he had taken a bit of a gap while the tires ran out – said Lebbon – I thought I had an opportunity, I might as well take it, and it worked. In the end it was nice to win. I overtook him once but had to give him the position back because it was a questionable move, but it's nice to cross the finish line first.”
“I was shaking like a wet dog – said a smiling Meakin, who had nervously watched the race from the pitlane – In the end I thought they had won, I turned around and suddenly I heard shouts. Then Tom went by first”.
Behind the two, Ekelchik/Rennhofer beat Marchewicz/Mesch in the fight for the last place on the podium, but the duo from Schnitzelalm beat their Elite rivals to take second place in the championship.
Kronberg and Knopp secured victory in the Pro-Am class, while Charles Dawson and Gjerdrum emerged at the end of an entertaining race-long duel with CV Performance teammates Michael Makes/Alex Connor.
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