Marciello gets GTWC Europe title as WRT wins final Sprint Cup race

In a Race 2 at Valencia that had one of the most thrilling finishes of the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe season, the No. 32 WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Charles Weerts and Dries Vanthoor ended the Sprint Cup with a win to crown the previously lifted title, while Akkodis-ASP saw glory on track escape between their fingers but ended with the overall series title for Raffaele Marciello.

Raffaele Marciello’s job in the No. 89 Akkodis-ASP Mercedes was only one in the pouring rain, getting away with the lead and let the field set their differences by themselves. The No. 25 Saintéloc Audi was busier defending from the No. 32 WRT Audi than pushing to close down to the No. 89, which allowed Marciello to keep stretching the gap.

The top contenders extended their run for as maximum as possible, with them coming to the pits in the final seconds of the window, with only the No. 32 WRT Audi passing to second as the only change that stood out, but the slicks gamble on a damp track didn’t work well, meaning that the No. 25 Saintéloc Audi and the No. 11 Car Collection Audi were going ahead.

The lack of standing water ate the rain tires of the No. 89, and the No. 25 Saintéloc Audi consumed the 25 seconds of advantage that separated the two cars, which left Timur Boguslavskiy with the only choice of setting a moving barrier in front of Aurelien Panis, which only lasted until the middle of the final lap, when the No. 32 WRT Audi joined the fight, and Boguslavskiy couldn’t hold two attacking cars at the same time, which allowed Charles Weerts to go ahead and win with the No. 32, while Panis passed Boguslavskiy at the line for second.

GTWC Europe - Valencia Race 2 results

Despite the late and bitter loss on track, Raffaele Marciello still had enough cushion to be crowned GT World Challenge Europe champion with the third place scored. The No. 90 MadPanda Mercedes won the Silver Cup, and the No. 111 JP Motorsport McLaren completed the Pro-Am Cup sweep with another win.

Some class titles in GT World Challenge Europe and in the Endurance Cup are still up for grabs, and everything will be decided at Barcelona on 2 October with the final three hours of racing in the 2022 season.

PHOTO: SRO/Kelvin Pecks, Jules Benichou