This Sunday (30) was a day to remember for Mercedes and AKKA-ASP, as their No. 88 car won the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup finale at Barcelona and secured all Blancpain GT Series titles at large as the winner on track, the No. 4 Black Falcon Mercedes, was disqualified after the race.
The start had the No. 4 Black Falcon Mercedes keeping the lead while the No. 76 R-Motorsport Aston Martin went to second thanks to a bold jump. Another car coming strong was the No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes, charging from behind to fifth place.
The No. 4 Black Falcon Mercedes had the race in control during the first hour as the rest of the top contenders were stuck behind the No. 76 R-Motorsport Aston Martin, but without a need to rush, neither the No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes nor the No. 1 WRT Audi went for the attack.
The first pit window didn’t change the lead as the No. 4 comfortably got back leading, while the No. 76 R-Motorsport Aston Martin took the place of the No. 76 while the No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes was still in third, pretty much settling for the titles in this position as no immediate threats were around.
By the last hour the No. 4 and the No. 88 were locking the top two positions and the overall titles at large, things just got more in their favor as the No. 1 WRT Audi got passed by the No. 72 SMP Ferrari, going down to fourth, and a drive through penalty in the final 30 minutes for the No. 1 pretty settled the titles for Mercedes. With a good restart after the last Safety Car period, the No. 4 Black Falcon Mercedes just opened the gap to the No. 88 AKKA-ASP car to then cruise to the victory.
UPDATE:
Due to a tape found in the No. 4 Mercedes’ air inlet tract, it got disqualified and lost the race win and both Endurance Cup titles to Raffaele Marciello and AKKA-ASP, though the result remains provisional for the moment.
The No. 54 Emil Frey Jaguar was the only car of the Swiss team that completed the race, finishing fourth overall and winning the Silver Cup. Daiko Lazarus won the Pro-Am Cup with the No. 27 Lamborghini, and the No. 77 Barwell Lamborghini won the Am Cup.
Alex Fontana, Mikael Grenier and Adrian Zaugg (No. 54 Emil Frey Jaguar) won the Silver Cup title in the Endurance Cup while Nico Bastian and Jack Manchester won the class title in the GT Series.
Nyls Stievenart, Markus Winkelhock and Sainteloc Racing conquered the Pro-Am Cup Drivers and Teams titles in the GT Series, and Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin and AF Corse won the Endurance Cup titles in the class.
The Am Cup titles in both the Endurance Cup and the GT Series were conquered by Barwell Motorsport, Adrian Amstutz and Leo Machitski.
PHOTO: AKKA-ASP
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