WRT wins GTWC Europe opener at Imola

What happened some weeks ago in the FANATEC GT World Challenge Australia was repeated in the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe, as the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II was the dominant car of the Sunday (03) afternoon, as shown by the No. 32 car from WRT, with Charles Weerts, Kelvin van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor keeping a three hour lead with brief hiccups at Imola.

It was an all Audi front row at the start with the No. 32 from WRT and the No. 25 from Sainteloc, and while the No. 32 was secure in front, the No. 25 had to go in safeguard mode against the No. 88 Akkodis-ASP Mercedes, avoiding the loss of the second position.

The No. 83 Iron Dames Ferrari and the No. 112 JP Motorsport McLaren were the first knockouts of the afternoon, crashing at different spots at the end of Lap 1, which brought a Safety Car that lasted nearly 10 minutes. Things were staying the same until Charles Weerts found the gravel, allowing the No. 25 to go past and get first place.

The first stint saw no changes in the top pack, but then the first pit stop round flipped the table, as the No. 32 WRT Audi retook the lead on the usual top notch pitwork, while the No. 88 Akkodis-ASP Mercedes lost third place to the No. 95 Beechdean Aston Martin. It would be an all-out battle for second if the No. 25 Sainteloc Audi hasn’t made a deep trip to the gravel that sent it to 14th in the order, leaving the No. 95 and the No. 88 on the chase for the No. 32.

With multiple cars stopping on track with 80 minutes to go, a lenghty Safety Car period took place, and coupled with another brief period due to crash damage in the No. 87 Akkodis-ASP Mercedes, the total under yellow flag was of nearly 40 minutes, with a bunch of them consumed in the pitlane for the final pit window. In between the mess, the No. 95 fell down the order, leaving then a personal battle between WRT and Akkodis-ASP for the final hour.

Jules Gounon tried as much as he could, but the No. 88 couldn’t gain enough to attack the No. 32 WRT Audi, which just had to keep the pace up to receive the checkered flag.

GTWC Europe - Imola race results

The No. 30 WRT Audi celebrated the Silver Cup win from 14th overall while the No. 911 Herberth Porsche was the last class winner in the overall top 20, winning the new to 2022 Gold Cup with a thin margin to the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari. The No. 20 SPS Mercedes was the Pro-Am Cup winner by beating valiant races from AF Corse and Garage 59.

PHOTO: SRO/Jules Benichou