GTWC Europe titles decided as Winward wins 6h of Jeddah

Winward Racing had its No. 48 Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo in contention for most of the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe titles at disposal at the 6 Hours of Jeddah, and with the race win in Saudi soil, Lucas Auer and Maro Engel were able to secure the overall titles with the help of Daniel Morad, though the Endurance Cup titles went all to AF Corse.
 
There was titles in both Endurance Cup and in the full GTWC Europe table to be decided, but the Sprint Cup title suffered a shake up as an appeal from WRT due to inconsistent Safety Car procedures nullified the Race 1 results of the Sprint Cup weekend at Barcelona, still giving the drivers title to Lucas Auer and Maro Engel but giving the teams title to WRT.
 
The double file start and the first few corners that are more technical could pose trouble, and pretty much like the Baku World Challenge, multiple cars simply ignored the first chicane simply because there was no space to make it at a modest pace, and the rest would depend of being safe while settling for a position until the whole field goes into single file. While the front runners had no problems to settle into a position while led by the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari, the middle and the back of the field where still rubbing panels, with some cases of cars being forced to the wall in order to protect a position, as well the occasional bump and run.
 
Being a high speed circuit, Jeddah Corniche certainly hits in the Achilles’ heel of the Pirelli P ZERO DHF, with the high load that the second half of the track can be put on the tires potentializing the risk of punctures, and the No. 22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche being the first victim in the right rear corner, which luckilly just caused a local yellow. The No. 85 Imperiale Lamborghini was the proof that the walls aren’t that inviting, while the No. 998 ROWE BMW suffered the standard tire failure in the right rear too.
 
The No. 46 WRT BMW led a neutralized second hour but faced problems to hold the No. 163 GRT Lamborghini behind, and Jordan Pepper passed to first more by showing his intentions to Valentino Rossi than on pure pace, though the South African simply disappeared in front as the night fell.
 
The third hour benefited the No. 48 Winward Mercedes as Lucas Auer took over the lead after the pit stops while the No. 99 Attempto Audi lost the second position to the No. 163, leaving Alex Aka with the mirrors full of No. 32 WRT BMW while Charles Weerts was using all tricks of the book to force Aka to leave the door open, making the move after three laps stuck.
 

Despite the best efforts from Franck Perera, the No. 163 never reached the No. 48 Winward Mercedes, so it was a question of managing the nearly 10 seconds of advantage until the finish line to score the victory.
 
6 Hours of Jeddah - Race results
 
While the Pro Cup cars protected well the overall top 10, the Silver Cup winning No. 26 Sainteloc Audi wasn’t that far behind, finishing in 13th. The Bronze Cup was won by the No. 97 Rutronik Porsche and the Gold Cup winning No. 25 Sainteloc Audi came right behind it, with all class winners being within the overall top 20 of the 47 cars that started the race.
 
Lucas Auer and Maro Engel (No. 48) ended the season with 155 points in the full GTWC Europe standings, conquering the title by barely beating Charles Weerts and Dries Vanthoor (No. 32), who scored 152.5 points. Things were inverted in the teams championship, with WRT beating Winward by scoring 181.5 points against 167.5.
 
Gilles Magnus and Paul Evrard (No. 25) secured the Gold Cup title way before Jeddah and Sainteloc Racing was the best team in the class. Cesar Gazeau and Aurelien Panis (No. 10) lifted the Silver Cup title while Boutsen VDS celebrated the class win, and in the Bronze Cup, Jonathan Hui and Eddie Cheever III (No. 93) lifted the drivers title but Rutronik Racing beaten Sky Tempesta for the teams title.
 

The A’s of AF Corse, Alessio Rovera and Alessandro Pier Guidi, got the Endurance Cup title with 71 points over the 63 of Jordan Pepper, Marco Mapelli and Franck Perera (No. 163), and AF Corse also got the Endurance Cup teams title with 77 points of the 70 from WRT and 68 from both Attempto Racing and GRT.
 
Evrard, Magnus and Jim Pla helped Sainteloc Racing to sweep the entire Endurance Cup Gold Cup collection of titles, while in the Endurance Cup Silver Cup, Colin Caresani, Daan Arrow and Tanart Sathienthirakul (No. 57) were the champions despite missing the Jeddah finale, with Winard Racing also being the best team.
 
Hui, Cheever and Chris Froggatt helped in Sky Tempesta’s full sweep of the Endurance Cup Bronze Cup, conquering both drivers and teams titles.
 
This is surprisingly the first GTWC Europe title for Auer and Engel, exactly when WRT broke the teams title sequence that Mercedes had thanks to Akkodis ASP, with WRT scoring its fifth teams title in the full series.
 
Pier Guidi conquered his third Endurance Cup drivers title while Rovera lifted it for the first time, and AF Corse became the teams champion only for the second time since the Endurance Cup was introduced in 2011, breaking the drought that lasted since 2020.
 
PHOTOS: SRO/JEP