WRT and Winward get wins at Brands Hatch

The short distance races in the SRO calendar were back to action as the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe saw the 2024 season of the Sprint Cup start at Brands Hatch, with the No. 32 WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Charles Weerts and Dries Vanthoor winning the first race, while the No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo of Lucas Auer and Maro Engel completed the Sunday (05) with the Race 2 win.
 
The thin line between bravery and craziness could be seen in the first race as the No. 32 WRT BMW was racing hard the No. 007 Comtoyou Aston Martin after it failed to attack the leading No. 14 Emil Frey Ferrari, while some cars deep in the field were having a closer view of the grass runoff as they were either putting a wheel wrong or being punted by other cars while fighting for positions.
 
Mattia Drudi soon noticed that his fight was to defend from Dries Vanthoor for second place, and both being entangled in their own matters benefited Ben Green as he was opening a safe gap from the battle behind him. By working the No. 007 off the ideal line, the No. 32 finally became the second placed car, chasing down the No. 14 but stagnating after a few laps.
 
While the No. 111 CSA Audi was leading the Gold Cup by using the No. 99 Tresor Audi as shield from the No. 51 Racing Team Turkey Ferrari, the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes was leading the Silver Cup with a bunch of cars right at its back wing, starting with the No. 30 WRT BMW.
 
It’s incredibly well known that WRT is top notch at pitwork, and the halfway service released the No. 32 barely ahead of the No. 14, but then the No. 007 destroyed some off track ad broads and stopped with overheat, bringing the Safety Car and offering another opportunity to Konsta Lappalainen to attack Charles Weerts.
 
With the No. 21 Comtoyou Aston Martin spinning at Paddock Hill and staying in the gravel, another full course yellow was called and was turned into a Safety Car, and with the field being released with only the final lap to go, Lappalainen couldn’t do much to avoid the win of the No. 32 WRT BMW.
 
The No. 10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes had an easier second half of racing to win the Silver Cup as it was between the Pro Cup field, while the No. 6 Engstler Audi won the Gold Cup by being covered by the No. 30 WRT BMW, which finished second in the Silver Cup.
 
GTWC Europe - Brands Hatch Race 1 results
 

The second race a drastically different front row filled with Mercedes, and Lucas Auer made sure the No. 48 Winward Mercedes had the advantage over the No. 9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes, leaving it as prey for the pack led by the No. 69  Emil Frey Ferrari.
 
The whole first stint was on a status quo as expected, apart from the No. 57 Winward Mercedes being turned around, so the pit window would play a huge part in the order for the second stint. While the No. 48 kept the lead, the No. 9 was passed by the No. 69, leaving Giacomo Altoé with open ground to hunt Maro Engel.
 
The No. 69 reduced part of the gap to the No. 48 Winward Mercedes, but it stagnated when the gap hit around 3 seconds, going down to 2.5 seconds at the finish line. The No. 25 Saintéloc Audi dominated the Gold Cup by outpacing the No. 96 Rutronik Porsche until the finish, which acted as its shield, and the No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari saw no competition in the Silver Cup.
 
GTWC Europe - Brands Hatch Race 2 results
 
Auer and Engel (No. 54) lead the standings with 27 points against the 19.5 points of Weerts and Vanthoor (No. 32) and the 19 from Green and Lappalainen (No. 14). Misano is the next host in the Sprint Cup calendar with races on 18 and 19 May.
 
PHOTOS: SRO/JEP