Akkodis ASP gets GTWC Europe Endurance Cup title at Barcelona

FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe ended the Endurance Cup at Barcelona in a considerably eventful race that saw AF Corse score a 1-2 finish after a late penalty for on track winners No. 777 Al Manar Mercedes, with the No. 51 Ferrari 296 GT3 leading the double while the trio of the No. 88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo went for a cautious race to lift the title.
 
AF Corse had its Ferraris at the first rows of the grid, and the idea was to take control with both cars on top, so the No. 51 car moved fast and rough to follow the No. 71 as early as possible, with the No. 63 Iron Lynx getting the worst end of the situation and being moved out to the gravel.
 
The first pit window didn’t do any favors to AF Corse, as the No. 51 fell to second behind the No. 777 Al Manar Mercedes, while the No. 71 fell to fourth behind the No. 88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes, so it was time to recover the lost ground after multiple Safety Car periods. The Ferraris are being separated as the No. 88 was losing contact with the No. 51, and this was slowing down the No. 71 too, along with the chasing cars behind them that were led by the No. 96 Rutronik Porsche.
 
While the No. 777 kept the lead after the final pit window, AF Corse finally had the No. 51 and No. 71 back together in second and third once the No. 88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes fell to fifth, allowing clean air for the No. 96 Rutronik Porsche.
 
A long Safety Car period due to a considerable amount of oil being spilled on track left only 25 minutes of racing available, and the No. 777 was moving away immediately by making use of the traffic ahead of the AF Corse Ferraris.
 
When the No. 56 Dinamic Porsche found the barriers with 15 minutes to go, it looked like a harmless Safety car period, but after discussion with the Al Manar team principal, the race control imposed five seconds into the total time of the No. 777 due to the contact that spun the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini, so it was up Nicklas Nielsen and Antonio Fuoco if they would attack Luca Stolz.
 

Since cars kept going to the gravel until the final minute, the No. 777 Al Manar Mercedes never got the time to open the gap, so AF Corse inherited the win and topped it with a 1-2 from the No. 51 and No. 71 Ferraris, while the No. 88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes sealed the GTWC Europe title from fifth. The No. 9 Boutsen VDS Audi barely held the Gold Cup win while the Silver Cup and Bronze Cup also had quite dramatic finishes for the winners, which were the No. 58 GRT Lamborghini and the No. 188  Garage 59 McLaren, respectively.
 
After losing the GTWC America win at Sebring in the post-race inspection last week, ST Racing got Pro-Am Cup honors with the No. 38 Ferrari in quite a comfortable fashion.
 
GTWC Europe - Barcelona race results
 
The trio Boguslavskiy/Marciello/Gounon got 104 points and lifted the trophy for Akkodis ASP as the trio Yelloly/Eng/Wittmann only got 77 points. The French team also beat ROWE Racing for the Endurance Cup teams title, scoring 108 points against 85.
 
Grässer Racing and their trio of van Berlo/Schmid/Hites took everything in the Endurance Cup Silver Cup standings, while SKY Tempesta and the trio Cheever/Froggatt/Hui narrowly secured the Endurance Cup Bronze Cup trophies. Car Collection and the trio Jacoma/Leutwiller/Fontana took the titles in the Pro-Am Cup, and Winward Racing took the Gold Cup teams title while Comtoyou Racing's Nicolas Baert and Maxime Soulet took the drivers title.
 
The GTWC Europe season still has a round to go, as Zandvoort hosts the final Sprint Cup double header on 14 and 15 October.
 
PHOTOS: SRO/Twenty-One Creation/Jules Benichou