Team WRT wins Race 1 of the GT World Challenge Europe-Sprint Cup at Magny-Cours thanks to the excellent performance of the reigning champions, Charles Weerts / Dries Vanthoor.
The crew of the Audi R8 LMS # 32 managed to take command of operations after the whirlwind of pit stops, as Weerts at the start had slipped third, but regained the place of honor before handing over the wheel to his colleague.
Vanthoor then managed to climb over the Audi # 11 of Tresor by Car Collection in the hands of Christopher Haase – who had inherited it from poleman Simon Gachet – and to run away, passing victorious under the checkered flag.
Haase, on the other hand, was overtaken by the indisposed Raffaele Marciello, who with the Mercedes-AMG # 89 of Akkodis-ASP stood out as usual in a furious stint, recovering seconds after seconds to the sound of fast laps, after his comrade Timur Boguslavskiy had started the race in the Top5.
‘Lello’ tried the final assault on the Audi-WRT, but had to settle for the second step of the absolute and PRO podium, with Gachet-Haase competing.
Behind them are three other Audis: # 25 by Patric Niederhauser / Aurélien Panis (Saintéloc Junior Team) is fourth, while fifth is # 12 by Mattia Drudi / Luca Ghiotto (Tresor by Car Collection), authors of a good recovery from the center of the group with a good pace from both Italian riders.
With the sixth final place, the R8 # 26 of Gilles Magnus / Nicolas Baert gives the Saintéloc Junior Team the triumph in the Silver Cup Class, keeping behind the other two rival cars in the category that we find in seventh and eighth overall.
These are the AF Corse Ferrari 488 # 53 in the hands of Ulysse De Pauw / Pierre-Alexandre Jean and the Mercedes # 87 of Akkodis ASP driven by Casper Stevenson / Thomas Drouet; the latter has something to complain about a skid on lap 21, with Stevenson losing control of his car and some positions when he found himself in front of Ghiotto, just out of the pits.
The Audi # 33 of Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer / Christopher Mies (Team WRT) and the Mercedes # 88 of Maximilian Götz / Jim Pla (Akkodis ASP), sixth and seventh PRO respectively, complete the absolute Top10.
Eleventh is Thomas Neubauer / Benjamin Goethe in the Audi # 30 of Team WRT – fourth Silver – followed by the Porsche 911 GT3-R # 54 of Christian Engelhart / Adrien De Leener (Dinamic Motorsport), while the other 911 of the Italian team (# 56 ) slips back due to a spin by Giorgio Roda in the early stages of the race.
A double from McLaren arrives in the PRO-AM Class: the 720 S # 188 of Garage 59 imposes itself with the duo Miguel Ramos / Dean Macdonald in front of the # 111 shared by Patryk Krupinski / Christian Klien (JP Motorsport), who had to defend themselves in the final from the attacks of the AF Corse Ferrari driven by Cédric Sbirrazzuoli / Hugo Delacour (# 21).
Down from the category podium remains the 488 # 52 of their teammates Andrea Bertolini / Louis Machiels.
Valentino Rossi / Frédéric Vervisch’s race ends with a small comeback from 22nd to 15th overall (10th PRO). The ‘Doctor’ started cautiously behind the wheel of Team WRT’s # 46 Audi, then showed off with an unceremonious overtaking against Krupinski, with contact at the ‘Lycée’ corner that made McLaren go wide (on the which the commissioners have flown over).
After passing Ramos too, the Italian then handed over the wheel to his Belgian teammate, who got behind a couple of other rivals, but now too far from the positions that counted to get back on top.
Sunday’s program includes Qualifying 2 at 9; 35 and Race 2 at 15; 00.
Pos | # | Class | Pilots | Team | Car | Turns | Detachment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 32 | Pro Cup | Charles Weerts, Dries Vanthoor | WRT team | Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 | 37 | |
2 | 89 | Pro Cup | Timur Boguslavskiy, Raffaele Marciello | AKKODIS ASP Team | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 37 | 3.138 |
3 | 11 | Pro Cup | Simon Gachet, Christopher Haase | Tresor by Car Collection | Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 | 37 | 8,924 |
4 | 25 | Pro Cup | Aurelien Panis, Patric Niederhauser | Sainteloc Junior Team | Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 | 37 | 13,685 |
5 | 12 | Pro Cup | Mattia Drudi, Luca Ghiotto | Tresor by Car Collection | Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 | 37 | 23,702 |
6 | 26 | Silver Cup | Gilles Magnus, Nicolas Baert | Sainteloc Junior Team | Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 | 37 | 32,390 |
7 | 53 | Silver Cup | Pierre Alexandre Jean, Ulysse De Pauw | AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GT3 | 37 | 32.979 |
8 | 87 | Silver Cup | Thomas Drouet, Casper Stevenson | AKKODIS ASP Team | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 37 | 33,828 |
9 | 33 | Pro Cup | Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer, Christopher Mies | WRT team | Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 | 37 | 34,249 |
10 | 88 | Pro Cup | Jim Pla, Maxi Götz | AKKODIS ASP Team | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 37 | 35,869 |
11 | 30 | Silver Cup | Benjamin Goethe, Thomas Neubauer | WRT team | Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 | 37 | 38,480 |
12 | 54 | Pro Cup | Adrien De Leener, Christian Engelhart | Dinamic Motorsport | Porsche 911 GT3-R (991.II) | 37 | 43,595 |
13 | 66 | Pro Cup | Pieter Schothorst, Dennis Marschall | Attempto Racing | Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 | 37 | 44,619 |
14 | 99 | Silver Cup | Nicolas Schöll, Alex Aka | Attempto Racing | Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 | 37 | 51,835 |
15 | 46 | Pro Cup | Valentino Rossi, Frederic Vervisch | WRT team | Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 | 37 | 53.407 |
16 | 159 | Silver Cup | Vargas Manuel Maldonado, Ethan Simioni | Garage 59 | McLaren 720S GT3 | 37 | 58,389 |
17 | 86 | Silver Cup | Petru Razvan Umbrarescu, Igor Walilko | AKKODIS ASP Team | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 37 | 1: 00.844 |
18 | 188 | Pro-Am Cup | Miguel Ramos, Dean Macdonald | Garage 59 | McLaren 720S GT3 | 37 | 1: 10.174 |
19 | 93 | Silver Cup | Eddie Cheever, Chris Froggatt | SKY – Storm Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 37 | 1: 17.274 |
20 | 56 | Pro Cup | Giorgio Roda, Klaus Bachler | Dinamic Motorsport | Porsche 911 GT3-R (991.II) | 37 | 1: 17.762 |
21 | 111 | Pro-Am Cup | Patryk Krupinski, Christian Klien | JP Motorsport | McLaren 720S GT3 | 37 | 1: 21.716 |
22 | 21 | Pro-Am Cup | Hugo Delacour, Cedric Sbirrazzuoli | AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GT3 | 37 | 1: 23.340 |
23 | 52 | Pro-Am Cup | Louis Machiels, Andrea Bertolini | AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GT3 | 37 | 1: 36.278 |
24 | 18 | Silver Cup | Gerhard Tweraser, Isaac Tutumlu | GSM NOVAMARINE | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo | 36 | 27,248 |
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