Charles Weerts and Dries Vanthoor give BMW M Motorsport and Team WRT their first success of the season in the opening race of the 2024 GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup.
At Brands Hatch, where the beautiful sun shines incredibly, the Belgian duo did nothing wrong, confirming themselves as the classic ‘racing animal’ crew at the wheel of the M4 #32.
At the start, Ben Green had done very well in maintaining the lead starting from Pole Position and resisting the assaults of the Aston Martin #7 of a tough Mattia Drudi in trying to stay in contention for the podium with a decidedly slower Vantage, pursued by the BMW # 32 by Vanthoor.
Between turns 3-4 there was a collision between Giacomo Altoè’s Ferrari #69 and Tom Gamble’s McLaren #159, with the Garage 59 driver losing many positions (14th on the first lap) going into the grass and Emil’s Venetian Frey Racing who subsequently received a 5″ penalty for the episode.
Behind, Patric Niederhauser’s Porsche was also the protagonist of a raid on the lawn, while Boutsen VDS’s Mercedes #9 did not start, with Maximilian Gotz forced to return to the pits due to technical problems.
In the first part of the race the only emotion came from Vanthoor on lap 7, managing to cross the line very well out of the last corner, gaining the momentum to overtake Drudi and chasing Green.
#14 Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3: Konsta Lappalainen, Ben Green
Photo by: SRO
Once the pit stop window was open, Team WRT’s usual masterpiece allowed Weerts to exit in front of the Ferrari that Green handed over to Konsta Lappalainen, but twice the race was neutralized by the entry of the Safety Car.
The first when Nicolas Baert ended up very wide after the ‘Sheene’ curve, hitting a polystyrene billboard which got stuck in the air intake of his Aston Martin #7; the Comtoyou Racing rider had to park at ‘Druids’ with temperatures rising and the reunited group put on great battles with overtaking in the middle of the group on the restart on lap 30, with 15′ on the clock to deal with.
The second neutralization occurred on lap 36 when the other Comtoyou driver, Matisse Lismont, got stuck in the Aston #21 at ‘Paddock Hill’, with a new restart decreed to cover just one lap (also thanks to the slowdown of Weerts for run the seconds before crossing the finish line).
The positions never changed again and Weerts/Vanthoor triumphed ahead of the Ferrari #14 of Lappalainen/Green, giving the 296 and Emil Frey Racing the first podium of the season.
Auer/Engel, on the other hand, did well to make up ground to take third place with the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes, despite the German having lost time due to an excursion into the dirt in turn 1 during the first part of the race.
#48 Winward Racing, Merdeces AMG GT3: Maro Engel, Lucas Auer
Photo by: SRO
Great comeback also for the McLaren #159 of Gamble/Goethe, with the latter unleashed to finish fourth, followed by the Mercedes #10 of Gazeau/Panis, who gave an overall Top5 to Boutsen VDS and success in the Silver Cup Class.
Another car capable of getting back on top in the final was the Audi #6 of Team Engstler with Hofer/Engstler on top, winners of the Gold Cup Class, beating the R8 #111 of CSA Racing which with Legeret/Gachet had been leading the category right from the start, crossing the finish line in eighth place overall at the end.
In front of it was the BMW #30 of Team WRT, second in the Silver Cup with De Haan/Williams, while the podium in this category went to the Ferrari #71 of AF Corse driven by the lively Fleming/Donno, ninth overall.
A 5″ penalty imposed on the Audi #99 of Tresor Attempto Racing for speeding in the pit lane drops Aka/Feller to tenth place overall; among other things, the Swiss had been involved in a collision on lap 35 with the twin R8 of his colleague Lorenzo Ferrari, sending the #88 into the grass and out of the Top10.
Eleventh after the penalty was the Ferrari #69 of Altoè/Vermeulen, followed by the Ferrari #52 of AF Corse of the Machiels/Hudspeth duo, fourth in Silver.
The BMW #46 of Valentino Rossi and Maxime Martin also received a 5″ punishment for excessive speed in the pit lane; the ‘Doctor’ had been around 14th in the first part, then handed over the wheel to the Belgian who he also managed to reach fifth place with determination, which then became 15th under the checkered flag.
Finally, Magnus/Evrard completes the Gold Cup podium with the Audi #25 of Saintéloc, taking advantage of the penalty imposed on the Ferrari #51 of Yoluç/Eastwood (AF Corse) which finds itself fourth in the group, after having also been in the Top10 general in the first part with the Brit at the wheel.
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