Grässer Racing scores a flawless victory at Nürburgring

SRO went back to the Nürburgring to use only the GP-Strecke for the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, and with some kilometers less of race track and only three hours of racing, Grässer Racing executed their plan without a hitch, and despite constant threats from the competition, the No. 163 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 of Franck Perera, Marco Mapelli and Jordan Pepper was in control of the situation all the time.
 
Porsches were in the front row, but it was another Porsche that delayed procedures as the No. 91 Herbeth entry stopped further down the track, and the No. 21 Comtoyou Aston Martin had a blown tire to deal with. When the green flag was waved, the No. 96 Rutronik Porsche was able to stay in the lead despite an ambitious maneuver from the No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari, while the rest of the field was finding space between a myriad of cars facing the wrong way.
 
The No. 96 was the next in the flat tire list, which opened the way for the No. 163 GRT Lamborghini to jump to first place while having the No. 48 Winward Mercedes in its pursuit. The gap remained close during the whole first hour as their paces were pretty similar, so Winward’s hopes relied in an undercut, which didn’t happen in the first pit window.
 
While the Pro Cup had no changes in the top, the Gold Cup saw the No. 77 HRT Mercedes saw its long standing lead to the No. 25 Saintéloc Audi, which made the German team opt for an earlier entry for the second pit stop, and after the window, the No. 777 Al Manar Mercedes joined the battle and jumped to second in class. Grässer Racing inverted the strategy with Winward in the second window despite being in the lead, and this kept the scenario as it was, with the No. 48 still in pursuit of the No. 163.
 
It was in the final stint that the No. 163 GRT Lamborghini decided the race in their favor, as Daniel Morad’s issues with the growing traffic allowed a massive opening for Franck Perera to stretch the gap that was below 2 seconds, and with seven seconds behind, 8 minutes to deal with it and a pressing No. 22 CLRT Porsche hot at the back wing of the No. 48 Winward Mercedes, Morad stood on the defensive as the winner was more than decided, although the Canadian couldn’t keep second place with Laurin Heinrich giving him no room to breathe.
 
GTWC Europe - Nürburgring Race results
 
Just inside the overall top-15, the No. 25 Saintéloc Audi secured Gold Cup honors with the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes behind it conquering the Silver Cup. The No. 97 Rutronik Porsche also had no opposition to win the Bronze Cup from just outside the top-20 overall positions.
 
The trio Thiim/Sorensen/Drudi (No. 7) keeps the Endurance Cup lead thanks to their 24 Hours of Spa win, as they have 54 points against the 39 of the trio Haase/Feller/Aka (No. 99) and 38 from Perera/Mapelli/Pepper (No. 163). The Endurance Cup takes a pause of one month and returns at a renovated Monza on 22 September, but the Sprint Cup squads return to action in August as the Magny-Cours round will be in three weeks time on 24 and 25.
 
PHOTO: SRO/JEP