WRT’s time with Audi is almost over, but the Belgian squad wasn’t going to end the long time relationship without titles, clinching the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup trophy with a mature drive from Charles Weerts and Dries Vanthoor in the No. 32 WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, despite the win going to the Silver Cup No. 53 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo of Pierre Alexandre Jean and Ulysse de Pauw.
A year ago the No. 32 WRT Audi duo lost a title due to contact, so Charles Weerts kept the outside to stay out of trouble at the start, which left them room to settle for third, and while the No. 89 Akkodis-ASP Mercedes was in 17th overall, Weerts’ job was to keep the advantage safe.
A crash from the No. 54 Dinamic Porsche neutralized the race for a while, and while the No. 53 AF Corse Ferrari was going away, a queue was forming behind the No. 11 Car Collection Audi, with Simon Gachet holding the pace of the competition.
The situation inverted after the pit window, with the No. 11 closing down on the No. 53. A Safety Car due to a crashed No. 90 MadPanda Mercedes bunched everybody together, which was the moment when the No. 89 Akkodis-ASP Mercedes started charging hard from tenth place, with some extra risk taking paying dividends for ninth place.
Ahead of Raffaele Marciello’s struggles, the top-3 was kept unchanged to the finish, with the Silver Cup winning No. 53 AF Corse Ferrari taking overall honors, while the No. 11 Car Collection Audi got the Pro Cup win, and the third place overall was more than enough for the No. 32 WRT Audi to win the Sprint Cup.
GTWC Europe Valencia - Race 1 results
The Pro-Am Cup was also decided in this race, with Miguel Ramos and Dean MacDonald securing it in the No. 188 Garage 59 McLaren despite spinning and finishing fourth in class while the No. 111 JP Motorsport McLaren took the class honors on Saturday.
PHOTO: SRO/Kelvin Pecks
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