Race 2 of the GT Sprint of the Ultimate Cup at Mugello was won by Emmanuel Collard with an excellent performance at the wheel of his Renault RS 01.
The Frenchman starts from Pole Position with Morihain’s Corvette next to him, Aramis’ 488 GT3 is absent as he did not take part in qualifying due to illness, third and fourth place for the two Ferraris of Monteiro and Walker.
Rolling start and the Corvette gets off to a better start, putting Collard second, but immediately on the exhausts; a few meters and, in fact, the French Champion is back in the lead.
Behind, the battle immediately opens up for Vandewoestyne, while Collard flies with 1’57”543.
A dramatic turn of events with Collard returning to the pits, then diving back onto the track leaving the fastest lap to Morihain and his C7 with 1’54”401.
Collard puts a good push on the RS 01 and recovers positions, with leader Morihain extending his lead over Monteiro’s Ferrari to three seconds.
Collard without “brakes” continues his comeback, remembering that he will be back at Mugello at the end of the month for the ELMS appointment.
Corvette C7.R
Photo by: Stefano Reali
Light contact between Collard and Lacore’s Ferrari, while Avellaneda’s Porsche pits with a puncture and takes a two-minute penalty for using the “raccordino” to rejoin.
Fastest lap for Collard with 1’53”436, then 1’49”074. Dramatic turn of events on lap six, Drive Through for Collard for an incorrect formation lap, the Frenchman immediately comes back to serve the penalty and gets back in the hunt.
Debard leads the Porsches, while Lacore gets on the exhausts of Walker who tries to contain his opponent.
Fastest lap by Collard with 1’47”445 with Lacore who pulls away violently at San Donato and passes Walker.
Collard beats Monteiro and returns to second on lap 11. Three-way battle between Bourguignon’s Porsche, Hernandez’s Lamborghini and César Vandewoestyne’s Porsche.
Collard arrives on Morihain’s exhausts and takes the lead again with three minutes to go. The Frenchman flies and in one pass he gains a four-second advantage.
Hernandez takes advantage of the top speed of his Lamborghini and moves up to eleventh, taking seventh place overall and first in his class.
Scorched earth for Collard at the start of the last lap with over ten seconds of advantage, he goes on to win the race ahead of the excellent Morihain, first in class, and the Ferrari of Monteiro, first in class.
Race 3 is scheduled to start at 13:25, with live streaming on Motorsport.com.
The podium of Race 2 GTS
Photo by: Stefano Reali
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