WRT is known for having an impressive record in the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, and the weekend at Brands Hatch did well for Vincent Vosse and the Belgian team, as not only Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts got the Race 1 win in the No. 32 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo, but also secured the drivers and teams titles of the 2021 season.
The Race 1 start the No. 38 JOTA McLaren going in a really aggressive manner through the first corners, first passing the No. 32 WRT Audi and the beating the No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes for the lead, leaving Timur Boguslavskiy as prey for the rest of the field. With Boguslavskiy keeping the other behind him at bay, Ben Barnicoat opened the gap with the No. 38 McLaren, with a massive 8 seconds opened in nearly 10 minutes of racing.
With the Pro Cup leader going away with first place, the next lead battle was for the Silver Cup, and after lots of pressure, the No. 14 Emil Frey Lamborghini found a way past the No. 107 CMR Bentley, reaffirming its dominant position in the class with 20 minutes past the start.
With 15 seconds between the No. 38 and the No. 88, the best course of action for Boguslavskiy was to deliver the Mercedes to Raffaele Marciello as early as possible in the pit window, and the No. 6 Toksport WRT Mercedes and the No. 32 WRT Audi followed the same procedure, swapping positions thanks to WRT’s good pit work.
Opting to not get tangled behind the traffic, Barnicoat brought the No. 38 JOTA McLaren in for driver change, still leaving Ollie Wilkinson with a decent gap and clear way ahead to push, as 7 seconds separated it from the No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes, though Marciello was having constant gains over Wilkinson.
It took 18 minutes for Marciello to have Wilkinson within striking distance to allow an attack over the British driver, but despite the speed advantage at the more twisty bits, Brands Hatch’s narrow length wasn’t doing any favors for the Italian, and adding traffic and the fact that Wilkinson was being thrown off his ideal line and the No. 32 WRT Audi came to the fight with Dries Vanthoor, and with lack of room for the top three to race, the No. 88 eventually tangled into the back of the No. 38, sending Wilkinson and his McLaren to a flight and crash above the barriers, which immediately brought the yellow flag with three minutes to go.
With no time to resume the race due to barrier damage, the checkered flag was waved with the yellow flags, and with Marciello deemed guilty due to immediate contact, the race win was awarded to on track second No. 32 WRT Audi.
Onboard footage showed Giorgio Roda in the No. 93 SKY Tempesta Ferrari, who was fighting for the Silver Cup penultimate position, slowing down in front of Marciello, who turned right to avoid rear ending the No. 93 but got in the middle of an impossible three-wide, then being the trigger of the contact, with Marciello stating in the post race interview that Roda wanted to give him room at the wrong time.
GTWC Europe Brands Hatch - Race 1 results
The No. 14 Emil Frey Lamborghini kept the Silver Cup lead until the checkered flag with 1 second ahead of the No. 31 WRT Audi, and the Pro-Am Cup winner was the No. 77 Barwell Lamborghini, also by a second over the No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari.
On Race 2, the No. 88 departed from the top and kept first place, and while things were mostly peaceful, the No. 33 Rinaldi Ferrari found itself at the Paddock Hill gravel trap, while further contact sent the No. 8 RAM Racing Mercedes to the gravel near the start-finish line. With the No. 8 not moving an inch from where it stopped, a Safety Car period was called.
Five minutes passed to wave the green flag again, with the No. 88 opening some sort of a gap over the No. 6 Toksport WRT Mercedes, and with some considerable distance between most cars in front, everyone was driving in single file looking out for a mistake of those topping the pack.
With Maro Engel not being able to close down on Raffaele Marciello, the No. 6 went early to the pit stop along with the No. 32 WRT Audi, in hopes to do an undercut once the No. 88 was passed to Timur Boguslavskiy, though the plan didn’t work due to Marciello’s late push, meaning that everything would have to be settled on track.
Luca Stolz spent 10 minutes to close down on Boguslavskiy, and spent another 15 stuck behind the Russian without room to overtake, but then a final lap puncture put the No. 88 out of contention, despite the fact that Boguslavskiy carried it on to the finish line, and the No. 6 Toksport WRT Mercedes just had to cross the line to get the Race 2 win.
GTWC Europe Brands Hatch - Race 2 results
Toksport WRT also celebrated the Silver Cup win with the No. 7 Mercedes, while the Pro-Am Cup win went to the No. 77 Barwell Lamborghini, with the team completing a full class sweep at Brands Hatch.
With Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts having 103.5 points over 61 of Maro Engel and Luca Stolz, the Belgians celebrate as Sprint Cup champions, repeating the feat of 2020, and so it is for WRT in the teams championship, with 111.5 against 76.5 from Emil Frey Racing with a double header to go.
The Sprint Cup title fights for drivers and teams are open in the Silver Cup and Pro-Am Cup, and they will be decided at Valencia, on 25 and 26 September.
PHOTO: SRO/Patrick Hecq, Dirk Bogaerts
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