The name is
domination. The front row of the Blancpain
GT Sprint Cup qualifying race at Brands
Hatch just swapped places and kept their places until the checkered,
with Jules Szymkowiak
and Bernd Schneider
taking overall victory with certain ease in the No. 86 HTP
Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT3.
As the green flag
was waved the former F3 driver Szymkowiak passed the ISR Audi
R8 LMS driven by Franck Perera to take the lead and started to open
the gap in favor of his HTP Mercedes AMG GT3, while Christopher Mies
was starting to threaten the Czech second-placed Audi.
Although the Brands
Hatch circuit is a bit tight, some drivers were trying their moves to
climb up the field, like Maximilian Buhk in the No. 84 HTP Mercedes
as he was stuck into two WRT Audis in 9th
place, as he wasn’t finding space Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 1 WRT
Audi.
The situation
remained the same until the pit stop window opened, where the No. 84
HTP Mercedes lost ground to the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren,
then driven by Rob Bell. The lead trio was spreading their stints as
much as they could, although neither the ISR Audi and the No. 33 WRT
Audi could pose an immediate threat. When the pit window was almost
over, Szymkowiak delivered the No. 86 car to Mercedes myth Bernd
Schneider, and with the No. 33 WRT Audi and the No. 6 Phoenix Racing
Audi going to the pits, HTP Motorsport resumed its lead.
Also, one thing to
play with in GT racing is the traffic, and this was proved by the No.
63 GRT Lamborghini
and Nicolas Pohler, as he had to deal with a lapped Porsche, only to
lose his sixth place to Dries Vanthoor in the No. 4 WRT Audi. While
the backmarkers appeared, the gap between Schneider and Stockinger
opened more and more, and with less than 10 minutes to go, 13 seconds
separated first from second.
While first and
second places seemed settled, Christopher Mies had the work to defend
the third place for his No. 33 WRT Audi from the clutches of the No.
85 HTP Mercedes with Clemens Schmid behind the wheel, but
unfortunately the nature of the track and the short time made it
impossible for Schmid to go ahead, and while that in the front,
Schneider crossed the finish line calmly with Stockinger in second.
The No. 2 WRT Audi
with Stuart Leonard and Michael Meadows took Silver Cup honors, while
Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Morgan Moulin-Traffort conquered the Pro-Am
class win with the No. 85 AKKA-ASP Mercedes. The No. 55 AF Corse
Ferrari was the only Am class entry and naturally took the class win.
PHOTO: Blancpain GT Series
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