RACE 1
Day took a comfortable victory in the first sprint race of the weekend staged on Saturday afternoon, adding to Forsetti Racing's impressive haul of GT4WS trophies.
The Aston Martin Vantage had no problems after starting under the safety car, introduced to save time in a busy racing programme, and Day quickly gained ground and won the 30-minute race with a 14″ lead over the McLaren by Tom Lebbon (Elite Motorsport).
“It was very nice – said Day – Once I got the gap at the start, everything was very calm and I tried to be consistent and break away more. The Aston is going, we've shown good pace all week and it's getting stronger and stronger.”
The battle for second place, however, proved to be much more competitive: Joel Mesch did everything he could to take second place away from Lebbon. Schnitzelalm's green Mercedes launched attack after attack on the yellow McLaren, but Lebbon remained calm and took the checkered flag with just 0.117 seconds ahead.
The pair of CV Performance Mercedes driven by Lachlan Robinson and Charles Dawson battled for fourth place, while the latter – a Pro-Am driver – impressed for much of the race, ahead of his Pro class teammate. But a late block allowed Robinson to pass, while Dawson managed to fend off Gulliermo Aso (NM Racing) for the Class win.
RACE 2
Marcel Marchewicz beat Mikey Porter in the fight for Pole Position by just 0.002s during Saturday's second qualifying session, then converted this slight advantage into a convincing victory in Sunday morning's sprint race for the Schitzlealm Racing team.
Porter was caught by a tailwind on the opposite straight and skidded at the hairpin, allowing the Elite Motorsport McLaren – this time driven by Zac Meakin – to move into second place.
Meakin then worked hard to put pressure on Marchewicz's Mercedes for the remainder of the 30-minute race, but the McLaren lacked the top speed down the straight to allow the British driver to make a move.
Marchewicz took the checkered flag with just a 0.036 margin, but then stopped on the circuit with an electrical problem on the home lap. Porter completed the podium in Forsetti's Aston Martin Vantage.
“Marcel and I had an excellent race. I made some mistakes and he managed to close the gap. I caught up with him, but it was a little too late. I should have put a little more pressure on myself to see if I could get something, but he did a fantastic job. The car is good, we struggle a little with the torque, but everything is fine. Later in the endurance race we will try to get a third win in a row,” said Meakin .
Ivan Eketchik fought throughout the race to take fourth place overall from Alex Connor (CV Performance), and finally achieved his goal on the penultimate lap to also secure Pro-Am victory in the Wimmer Werk Porsche Cayman GT4 Motorsports.
Alex Papadopulos (NM Racing) finished sixth overall and second in Pro-Am in his Mercedes AMG GT4, while Enrico Förderer (SR Motorsport) took victory in the CT Class in his Cayman GT4 CS.
RACE 3
Elite Motorsport's hopes of securing a third consecutive endurance race win with McLaren were dashed at the first corner when Emil Gjerdrum's Mercedes-CV Performance hit the back of Lebbon's Artura.
Gjerdrum was punished with a drive-through, after Lebbon had pitted with extensive damage and a puncture to the front left. The car, covered in duct tape, returned to the track two laps late.
Meanwhile, Day (Forsetti) took the lead from Marchiewicz (Schitzelalm), while Connor in the other CV Performance Mercedes maintained third place overall.
But the race was soon interrupted first by a safety car and then by a long red flag stop, after the SR Motorsport Porsche Cayman GT4 CS driven by Wilhelm Kunhe caused heavy damage to the barrier in an accident at turn 11. Yes it was decided to carry out the driver change under the red flag regime, leaving 27 minutes for what has become to all intents and purposes a sprint race.
Mesch, who got into the green Mercedes of Schnitzelalm, seemed to have caught Porter (Forsetti) at the time of the restart with the safety car and took the lead at Turn 1, only to spin at the exit of the left corner. Porter was thus able to achieve the second victory of the season for his team, without sweating too much.
“Jamie did an amazing job to give me the car in first place and I finished it,” Porter said.
“All the team members have done a great job in this series and I can't thank them enough. It was a bit strange with the red flag and the driver change in the middle. The wind changes the braking points, but they are there succeeded and I took home 1st position.”
Everything happened behind the Vantage. While Mesch recovered from the mistake he made on the restart, on the following lap Dawson, aboard the #85 Mercedes-CV Performance, suffered serious damage to his rear suspension in an accident that ended his race.
For the second overall position there was an entertaining duel between Ekelchik with the Wimmer Werk Porsche Cayman and the East-Racing Motorsport Porsche driven by Manuel Lauck. The two were also fighting for the Pro-Am victory, with the former coming out on top despite strong pressure from his rival.
Mesch recovered well to fourth overall and second in the Pro class on the final lap overtaking the Cayman of Daniel Drexel (Razoon More Than Racing), while NM Racing's AM driver Max Huber took an excellent sixth place overall .
A further twist occurred on the final lap, when Aso (NM) clipped the hairpin, allowing Tim Neuser (SR Motorsport) to finish seventh overall and first in the CT Class.
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