A dominant performance on Sunday (10) from the No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes of Raffaele Marciello, Jules Gounon and Felipe Fraga at the Barcelona finale of the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe wasn’t enough to bring a big smile to Jerome Policand and his team, as newcomer team Iron Lynx crowned its debut season with the drivers title for 24 Hours of Spa winners Alessandro Pier Guidi, Côme Ledogar and Nicklas Nielsen.
The No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes had the advantage of the pole position, and in a track that doesn’t favor overtaking that much like Barcelona, having the upper hand was meaningful. The first hour was smooth sailing for Raffaele Marciello, so much that even the pit window didn’t change a thing, and with the No. 22 GPX Martini Porsche actually on the defensive in second place, Felipe Fraga’s position was as comfortable as it gets.
The No. 63 FFF Lamborghini had lost the pole for a technical infringement, and while everything was indeed fine in the first hour as it was sitting in third, a contact with the No. 488 Rinaldi Ferrari hurt its progress as a drive through penalty was issued.
When it appeared that the No. 22 would consolidate the second place, they were issued a driver though penalty for refueling while the car wasn’t on the air jacks, effectively handing the place to the No. 4 HRT Mercedes, but once the final hour came, Maro Engel was caught in surprise by Matteo Cairoli in the No. 54 Dinamic Porsche, which quickly took second place.
The late Safety Car period could have put the No. 54 on the run for a win, but being actually engaged in defending the second place from the coming pack kept the No. 88 at ease until the checkered flag.
AKKA-ASP also celebrated a race win in the Silver Cup with the No. 87 Mercedes as the No. 7 TokSport Mercedes fell back and opened the door for a fight between AKKA-ASP and WRT. Pro-Am Cup honors went to Mercedes too, as the No. 20 SPS Automotive entry prevailed over a strong No. 77 Barwell Lamborghini, while the best Invitational entry was the No. 82 BMW M4 GT3.
The Endurance Cup champions were the following:
Pro Cup Teams: WRT
Pro Cup Drivers: Alessandro Pier Guidi/Côme Ledogar/Nicklas Nielsen (No. 52 Iron Lynx Ferrari)
Pro-Am Cup Teams and Drivers: SKY Tempesta Racing and Chris Froggatt
Silver Cup Teams and Drivers: Emil Frey Racing and Rolf Ineichen/Ricardo Feller/Alex Fontana
The overall GTWC Europe was also decided:
Pro Cup: WRT and Dries Vanthoor/Charles Weerts
Pro-Am Cup: Barwell Motorsport and Miguel Ramos/Henrique Chaves
Silver Cup: Emil Frey Racing and Alex Fontana
PHOTO: SRO/Dirk Bogaerts
Comments
Post a Comment
Do you have an opinion? Feel free to comment.