HTP Motorsport took an important
step for their title bid in the Blancpain GT Sprint
Cup as the No. 84 Mercedes of Maximilian Buhk
and Franck Perera inherited the win in the Qualifying
Race at Nürburgring due to a late penalty for the No. 19 GRT
Lamborghini, which held the top on track during most of the race.
Once the green flag flew things went
really well for WRT as the No. 5 Audi was still in the
lead, the No. 63 GRT Lamborghini spun and the No. 84
HTP Mercedes would have to face heavy traffic to get into the top. To
add more help to their championship bid, the yellow flag was called
due to contact between the No. 58 Strakka McLaren and the No. 75 ISR
Audi, with both cars beached in the gravel. With only four minutes of
racing the Safety Car was already on track.
Story of the start of the race was the
Pro-Am Cup leader, the No. 333 Rinaldi Ferrari, as the
car was in third overall, with Daniel Keilwitz showing his skills
honed in ADAC GT Masters at the circuit and giving the frontrunners a
run for their money.
The restart could mean a turnaround in
WRT's fortunes as the No. 84 HTP Mercedes was already in fourth
following the damage in the No. 59 Strakka McLaren and an off for the
No. 90 AKKA-ASP Mercedes. The pace didn't come after that, so
Maximilian Buhk was stuck in fourth place.
Pit window would be decisive, so WRT
opted to bring the cars in different moments while HTP has chosen to
do it as early as possible. The leading car came right after the
halfway point and the clean job preserved their position in front of
the No. 84, but the lucky man in the moment was Ezequiel Perez
Companc, who had nothing with the title fight and was leading in the
No. 19 GRT Lamborghini. Outside the top-3 was the No. 333 Rinaldi
Ferrari in fourth, and the excellent run was ruined by a penalty for
pitlane speeding, making things a bit more even in the Pro-Am Cup.
The final part of the race was about
the No. 5 chasing closely the No. 19 while the No. 84 was just
waiting for a gap, with the No. 8 M-SPORT Bentley joining the party,
overtaking the No. 84 with 10 minutes to go. The major turnaround
came a minute later when the No. 8 passed the No. 5, and unable to
defend himself, Marcel Fässler just watched Franck Perera power to
third in the home straight. A failed attempt for the Bentley saw it
lose second and third place again as the No. 84 was then putting
pressure in the No. 19 with 5 minutes to go.
The attack from the No. 8 Bentley in
the final lap split the front pack in two, with the No. 19 GRT
Lamborghini winning and the No. 84 HTP Mercedes managing the second
place with the No. 5 WRT Audi completing the podium, but moments
later the victory was stripped from the No. 19 as it received a 1
second penalty for cutting the chicane when chased by the Bentley.
Already the Silver Cup champion, the
No. 85 HTP Mercedes scored another class win, while the penalty
didn't affect Rinaldi Racing's Pro-Am Cup win with the No. 333
Ferrari.
Perera and Buhk now have 68 points
against 61 of Vanthoor and Fässler, and behind them are Mirko
Bortolotti with Christian Engelhardt and Robin Frijns with Stuart
Leonard with 57 points, with Will Stevens and Markus Winkelhock in
sixth with 56 points.
PHOTO: Mercedes AMG Customer Racing
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