It was a Sunday
morning to celebrate in the WRT
garage, as Robin Frijns
and Enzo Ide
won with ease while mistakes took their Blancpain GT Sprint Cup title
opponents out, almost sealing the deal for Ide.
Green flag was out
and we saw early that Barcelona’s Turn 1 isn’t that suited to the
Blancpain GT
chaos, with two cars going off the track at least. The No. 33 WRT
Audi took
the lead from third, leaving the No. 86 HTP Mercedes
and the rest of the field behind. The No. 4 WRT Audi ended in the
gravel, bringing a brief local yellow flag.
Robin Frijns was
managing to not only lead the race, but also to disappear in front of
the opponents, clocking one fastest lap after another, opening a safe
gap between the No. 33 WRT Audi and the No. 86 HTP Mercedes, which
would be a great for Enzo Ide’s championship bid.
If things appeared
to be bad for the second placed No. 86 car, the No. 84 HTP Mercedes
had a tough deal with traffic as Maximilian
Buhk was lying in seventh place.
With 35 minutes to
go two championship hopefuls received drive-through penalties as the
Sprint Cup contender No. 86 HTP Mercedes and the Blancpain GT
contender No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren
cut the first corner in the initial lap. In the mid time the No. 26
Sainteloc Audi found an inconvenient place in the gravel, which
brought a yellow flag at the Turn 5 area. After the penalties and the
pit window, HTP Motorsport had the worst case scenario in their
hands, with Ide in the lead while the cars No. 84 and 86 were in 8th
and 12th
respectively, which would a points difference of at least 25 points
in the Sprint Cup drivers standings.
With the No. 63 GRT
Lamborghini in second and the No. 74 ISR Audi in third but miles away
the lead, the mission in this Qualifying Race was practically in the
hands of Enzo Ide. The No. 84 could have shortened a bit the
championship gap, but the spin of the third placed No. 74 ISR Audi
wasn’t that much of a help, with the car finishing in seventh while
Enzo Ide cruised to victory in the No. 33 WRT Audi, with the No. 1
WRT Audi coming home second, and the No. 63 GRT Lamborghini
completing the podium.
After the race, the
No. 1 WRT Audi received a 30-second penalty for causing a collision,
throwing the car to 13th
in the final results and promoting the No. 63 car to second and the
No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes to third. The No. 5 Phoenix Audi won in the
Silver Cup, while AKKA-ASP with the No. 87 Mercedes and AF Corse with
the No. 55 Ferrari won the Pro-Am and Am classes.
Enzo Ide leads the
Blancpain GT Sprint Cup with 87 points against 79 of an absent
Christopher Mies and 63 from Dominik Baumann and Maximilian Buhk. The
overall Blancpain GT leaders are now Dominik
Baumann and Maximilian Buhk with 130
points while Rob Bell
comes right behind with 124 points.
PHOTO: Audi Sport
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