WRT and Akkodis-ASP conquer Zandvoort wins in GTWC Europe

Leaders in evidence again in the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe as WRT and Akkodis-ASP get the wins of the Zandvoort Sprint Cup weekend with the favorites for the title, with the No. 32 of Charles Weerts and Dries Vanthoor conquering the Saturday while the No. 89 of Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy was the ruler of Sunday.

The No. 32 WRT Audi led the way in the Race 1 start while the rest of the field was all over the place, weaving all around to find a position to settle, and in a tight track like Zandvoort, this would send at least a car to the gravel, being the No. 159 Garage 59 McLaren in this case.

WIth pretty much one record line to follow, Charles Weerts kept the No. 32 in front for his whole stint while the No. 53 AF Corse Ferrari kept the Silver Cup lead and the second place overall away from the No. 88 Akkodis-ASP Mercedes, which used the pit window to make the overtake.

A full course yellow and the Safety Car had to be called with 25 minutes to go to get the stranded No. 188 Garage 59 McLaren, but despite the best efforts, Jim Pla in the No. 88 was unable to close down on the dominant No. 32 WRT Audi.

GTWC Europe Zandvoort - Race 1 results

The 53 AF Corse Ferrari kept its dominant position and only fell to fourth overall, still maintaining its Silver Cup win, and the team also did a Pro-Am Cup 1-2 with the Nos. 21 and 52 Ferraris.

For the second race, the No. 89 Akkodis-ASP Mercedes passed from the Saturday hard charger to the Sunday polesitter, and Raffaele Marciello was on a mission to open the gap not only to the No. 112 JP McLaren but also to the No. 32 WRT Audi that is the current title rival. The Swiss was being helped by the fact the No. 112 was basically too busy to attack with the No. 32 and the No. 66 Attempto Audi coming hot behind its back wing.

WRT’s hopes were where they ace, which is pitwork, and this was enough to jump to second start chasing the No. 89, with Weerts closing rapidly on Timur Boguslavskiy. Weerts tried to challenge Boguslavskiy once he closed down, but there was simply no place to overtake the No. 89 Akkodis-ASP Mercedes, which took the checkered flag first.

GTWC Europe Zandvoort - Race 2 results

The No. 99 Attempto Audi was the Silver Cup winner by being in the more favorable place over the No. 53 AF Corse Ferrari, while the No. 188 Garage 59 McLaren got the Pro-Am Cup win.

The mid-table result of the No. 89 on Saturday didn’t affect much the title hopes for Akkodis-ASP, as the duo of the No. 32 WRT Audi leads with 74.5 points while Boguslavskiy and Marciello have 74, with the Sprint Cup returning after the 24 Hours of Spa, as Misano hosts the next double header on 2 and 3 July.

PHOTOS: SRO/Patrick Hecq