Tresor and Akkodis ASP get Hockenheim wins in GTWC Europe

Audi had the dominant car during the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe weekend at Hockenheim, but the R8 LMS GT3 Evo II could only convert it into a win on Saturday with the No. 40 Tresor entry, while the No. 88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes commanded the Sunday, keeping the leading position in the standings.
 
The No. 60 VSR Lamborghini defended the top position and Jordan Pepper would be relieved to not let Ricardo Feller have his way in the No. 40 Tresor Audi, as the crowded start behind them made some victims in the search for space, as it took two laps of cars being spun at the hairpin and a damaged No. 87 Akkodis ASP Mercedes on the road to call the Safety Car.
 
Pepper had Feller all over his back wing for the whole stint, while Dennis Marschall was doing an incredible job to put the No. 66 Tresor Audi into third overall despite being a Bronze Cup entry. With Feller eventually passing Pepper with 33 minutes to go, they would allow Marschall to have a closer view of the lead battle until the pit window starts.
 
With the leader doing early pit stops, the No. 66 could enjoy some clean air as Marschall was trying to give the best position before going to the driver change. Albert Costa was doing the same job in the No. 69 Emil Frey Ferrari, and the wave of Bronze Cup cars left to the final minute of the window to do their service.
 
Comtoyou Racing outsmarted the competition in the pit stops, and this placed the No. 12 Audi in a slightly comfortable lead while forcing the No. 40 to get into chase mode, in which Mattia Drudi was succeeding by making little gains over the laps.
 
Drudi had a clearly more aggressive line than Nicolas Baert, so the No. 40 was quick to move once it appeared behind the No. 12. Once with the lead, Drudi wasn`t threatened, so the No. 40 Tresor Audi had a clear way to the win with the No. 12 Comtoyou Audi resignated to second, and behind them the No. 69 Emil Frey Ferrari  completed the podium as Timothy Vermeulen barged his way on the final corner to outpace the No. 32 WRT BMW, completing a big charge from outside the top-5.
 
Post race the No. 69 was penalized and the No. 32 was reinstated in third as the stewards didn’t like the contact in the final corner.
 
GTWC Europe - Hockenheim Race 1 results
 
Despite having the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Audi glued during the whole race, the No. 30 WRT BMW won the Gold Cup by a mere half of a second, while the No. 77 HRT Mercedes and more comfortable Silver Cup win. Although the expected drop was far greater than normal, the No. 66 Tresor Audi still had the command of the Bronze Cup, but with a only a mere 0.4 seconds to the No. 91 Herberth Porsche.
 

The No. 40 Tresor Audi had the front in Race 2 while side by side with the No. 25 Sainteloc Audi, but Raffaele Marciello in the No. 88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes was set into spoiling the Audi party and snuck into second place before the Safety Car was called half of a lap later as crashed cars were on the road before the stadium section.
 
Marciello wasn’t fond of staying behind Mattia Drudi, so the No. 88 munched the No. 40 right at the restart, and the Audi had it worse as it was penalized with extra 5 seconds in the pit stop for a jump start. WRT was right behind the top cars and acted quick by bringing them at the start of the pit window, but things went backwards and the No. 11 Comtoyou Audi and the No. 25 Sainteloc Audi took second and third place, respectively.
 
Timur Boguslavskiy’s race was to keep the No. 88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes out of the radar of the No. 11 Comtoyou Audi, and while an erratic gearbox may have worried him, he stood with seven seconds ahead until the checkered flag.
 
GTWC Europe - Hockenheim Race 2 results
 
The No. 9 Boutsen VDS Audi cruised to the Gold Cup win with no opposition around, while in the Silver Cup the No. 99 Tresor Audi barely stood ahead of the No. 77 HRT Mercedes. The Bronze Cup was won by the No. 79 HRT Mercedes as the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Audi separated the close top-3 of the class.
 
The Marciello/Boguslavskiy duo still keeps the Sprint Cup lead with 63.5 points against the 54 of the Drudi/Feller pairing, while the Vanthoor/Weerts appear in third with 46 points, with the next double header being set for 16 and 17 September at Valencia.
 
PHOTOS: SRO/Jules Benichou, Patrick Hecq