Emil Frey sweeps Zandvoort GTWC Europe weekend

Emil Frey Racing left Netherlands and the Zandvoort circuit with an incredible weekend in the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, taking both victories with the Lamborghinis No. 14 on Race 1 and with a 1-2 led by the No. 163 on Race 2.

In an unusual Silver Cup filled front row, the No. 14 Emil Frey Lamborghini took advantage over the No. 107 CMR Bentley, opening the gap to the British car while the No. 107 had also some decent room to the No. 7 Toksport Mercedes in third.

The top spots remained unchanged for the first 30 minutes, and with the Silver Cup entries monopolizing the top-4, the Pro Cup entries down the table opted for early pits during the window, with the No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes capitalizing in a combination of pit strategy and an overtake past the No. 31 WRT Audi to jump to third, having the No. 107 CMR Bentley at striking distance thanks to a brief full course yellow.

It took around fifteen minutes for Raffaele Marciello to catch Pierre-Alexandre Jean, but once the No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes got good track position, it was an easy overtake past the No. 107 CMR Bentley for second place. Unfortunately for the No. 88, the 16 second gap to the No. 14 Emil Frey Lamborghini and few minutes remaining made it impossible to fight for victory, so it settled for position while watching the Swiss squad put a Silver Cup entry at the top step of the podium while they won the Pro Cup.

The No. 77 Barwell Lambroghini completed the list of Saturday winners as it conquered the Pro-Am Cup triumph.

GTWC Europe - Zandvoort Race 1 results

The Race 2 start was AKKA-ASP versus WRT at the front row, but while the No. 88 Mercedes jumped ahead at the line, the No. 32 was caught napping and was gobbled up by the field, so the No. 54 Dinamic Porsche jumped to second place  and the No. 32 WRT Audi was totally on the defensive from the No. 163 Emil Frey Lamborghini.

Once the No. 163 completed the move to third place, it was the time for the No. 107 CMR Bentley to go to fourth in absolute NASCAR style by using the slipstream after the banked Arie Luyendyk bocht. After that, the No. 88 opened a decent gap to the second pack, formed by the No. 54 and the No. 163, while a third pack was led by the No. 107 holding the No. 32 and all those behind it. Pierre-Alexandre Jean held for as much as he could, but Dries Vanthoor had the speed to pass the Bentley and go away

Near the pit window, the price came for those who engaged into too much battling, as the No. 107 CMR Bentley and the No. 6 TokSport Mercedes found the gravel for a brief moment at different points of the circuit, leaving the door open for the No. 14 Emil Frey Lambroghini.

After the pit window the order wasn’t changed, but the huge lead period from the No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes was thrown to the bin due to an alternator issue, so the No. 163 was in the lead with the No. 32 keeping a close view from second place. Back in third, the No. 54 Dinamic Porsche also fell out with problems, promoting the Silver Cup leader, the No. 14 Emil Frey Lamborghini, to third overall.

With ten minutes to go, another car was eliminated from the fight as the No. 32 was penalized for pitlane speeding, sending it to third, with the Belgian team having to see Emil Frey conquering a 1-2 with the Lamborghinis Nos. 163 and 14, while the No. 114 car finished just behind the No. 32 in fourth. Emil Frey was so dominant in the final moments that it conquered the overall and Silver Cup wins this Sunday. The No. 20 SPS Mercedes won the Pro-Am Cup out 20th place, with the podium staying pretty close.

GTWC Europe - Zandvoort Race 2 results

The tiniest of margins separates the top two in the Sprint Cup standings, as Ricardo Feller leads with 41.5 points against 41 Charles and Dries Vanthoor, along with Feller’s team mate Alex Fontana, which is also a curious case because a Silver Cup driver is leading the overall Sprint Cup table with four races already done.

The Sprint Cup will move to Italy as it will visit the Misano World Circuit on 3 and 4 July, being the last Sprint Cup race before a break of almost a full month for the 24 Hours of Spa.

PHOTOS: SRO/Dirk Bogaerts, Patrick Hecq