Saintéloc leads Audi show at Hockenheim

In the first race for the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe at Hockenheim, the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II showed its strength all the way through the three hours, with the No. 25 car from Saintéloc Racing getting the victory with Lucas Legeret, Christopher Mies and Patric Niederhauser at the wheel.

The No. 32 WRT Audi was quick to take control of the lead and go away with it, and with a crowded field too close, it was a matter of time until something happened, which was the No. 38 JOTA McLaren being veered to the left to a spectacular spin, with Rob Bell leaving the car unscathed.

A damaged car, debris to be collected and barriers to be rearranged was a work that took 30 minutes to be completed. The No. 32 continued in the first place at the restart, but the No. 71 Iron Lynx Ferrari had not only a massive drop in places, but also a race ending contact with the sister No. 51 Iron Lynx Ferrari, with the white car still being able to leave the scene.

The remainder of the hour was with the No. 32 being followed by the No. 12 Car Collection Audi, at least until the leader slowed down after overshooting at the hairpin, though a downshift problem was later revealed, making Charles Weerts having trouble to even hold a correct line in the slower corners.

The No. 2 GetSpeed Mercedes was trailing the leader for most of the second hour, but Steijn Schothorst had his hands full dealing with the No. 25 Saintéloc Audi and the Silver Cup leading No. 14 Emil Frey Lamborghini, and a mistake with 20 minutes to end the hour cost the second place for the No. 2, while behind the No. 14, another chasing pack was coming closer, with the No. 66 Attempto Audi completing a successful overtake for fourth place, and although the Silver Cup leader did recover a place into the No. 2, it kept dropping to preserve its class lead.

Thanks to the good pace displayed by Patric Niederhauser, the No. 25 Saintéloc Audi took the lead from the No. 12 Car Collection Audi, but there was another worry for Christopher Haase behind him, as the No. 66 Attempto Audi was coming closer by clocking consecutive faster sectors. Backmarkers held Haase for a quite some time, but he was allowed to breathe with a full course yellow caused by the crashed No. 11 Car Collection Audi.

The quick job to recover the car left 30 minutes of green flag available, but at full pace, Haase wasn’t secure, and after 17 minutes trying hard, Dennis Marschall took second place for the No. 66 Attempto Audi, and a problem two minutes later effectively ended the No. 12’s race. The 12 minutes left weren’t enough for Marschall to try a fight for the lead, meaning that the No. 25 Saintéloc Audi was in a secure way to victory.

GTWC Europe - Hockenheim race results

Barely ahead of the opposition, the No. 14 Emil Frey Lamborghini still kept the Silver Cup lead until the checkered flag, and the No. 7 Inception McLaren lived up to its dominant status in the Gold Cup despite a race of ups and downs in the order, while the No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari had to work until the line to beat the No. 20 SPS Mercedes for Pro-Am Cup honors, being saved by a sturdy defense from Andrea Bertolini.

The trio of the No. 88 Akkodis-ASP Mercedes will go to the Barcelona finale on 2 October with 79 points and the lead in hand, while the trio of the No. 71 Iron Lynx Ferrari will be the only challenger for the title with their 68 points, with Luca Stolz and Steijn Schothorst being the outsiders in the battle with their 49 points.

PHOTO: SRO/Jules Benichou