The first six hours of GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup had WRT executing their usual masterclass, but instead of pitwork miracles at Paul Ricard, the No. 32 BMW M4 GT3 Evo of Kelvin van der Linde, Ugo de Wilde and Charles Weerts made their comeback on pace alone, in special in the final hours of the race.
With sunlight still available in between the clouds, the No. 48 Winward Mercedes led the way in the race start, and while things got stable in this high paced game, Maro Engel wouldn’t be allowed to breathe as the No. 63 GRT Lamborghini and the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren were on the chase, while the No. 17 GetSpeed Mercedes was catching up after dropping off the leading pace for a while.
What followed then was a monster of a charge from Dean MacDonald in the No. 58, passing the No. 63 for second place, and pressed hard Engel until the pit window. MacDonald stood in the No. 58 for a second stint, now having to take on the No. 96 Rutronik Porsche, which MacDonald dispatched quickly, and the No. 22 CLRT Porsche, which he passed with help of the traffic to take the overall lead.
While MacDonald ended his stint and passed the No. 58 to Louis Prette, the McLaren didn’t stay in the lead for long, losing it to the No. 96 in third hour while the No. 32 WRT BMW jumped to third overall. Eventually, as the night fell, Charles Weerts pushed hard and the No. 32 took second place from the No. 58.
Things were going well for the No. 58 as it was running in fourth overall, but when Adam Smalley was leaving the pits with two hours to go, the car stopped totally, tumbling down the order while the No. 111 CSA McLaren took the Gold Cup lead. Further ahead, the No. 32 capitalized in the fast lap sequences from the previous two hours and took the lead from the No. 96.
The No. 32 WRT BMW remained in control during the final hour, and even the neutralizations that occurred weren’t able to hinder its performance, winning with 4 seconds to the No. 96 Rutronik Porsche.
GTWC Europe - Paul Ricard 1000 results
The No. 111 CSA McLaren won in the Gold Cup while the No. 33 Verstappen.com Aston Martin surprised with a runner-up finish in the class. The No. 992 Paradine BMW won in the Silver Cup with the No. 24 Steller Corvette on its tail, while the No. 74 Kessel Ferrari deprived Paradine Competition of a double celebration by winning in the Bronze Cup.
The next Endurance Cup round will be held at Monza on 1 June, but the GTWC Europe returns to action with the first round of the Sprint Cup at Brands Hatch on 3 and 4 May.
PHOTO: SRO/JEP
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