After Misano, it was time to host the second GT World Challenge Europe double header of the season with a night race and a morning race, with track position mattering the most for the No. 3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo of Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon as they won unopposed under the Saturday night lights, while strategy to put the No. 80 Lionspeed GP Porsche of Ricardo Feller and Bastian Buus on top in the second race.
Two Mercedes were leading the field when the Race 1 started, and with Magny-Cours a more flowing initial sector, Jules Gounon wasn’t at risk of getting wiped out, leading the race from the pole position with the No. 3 Verstappen Mercedes. Lucas Auer tried a jump to the lead, but Gounon saw his intention and boxed the No. 48 Winward Mercedes with the help of the No. 222 2Seas Mercedes.
Since Magny-Cours doesn’t offer much variation outside the ideal line, the Mercedes top 4 remained for the whole first stint, with the No. 3 on the way to open almost 10 seconds to the No. 222 before the mandatory stops. The No. 3 went for the stop in the middle of the window, with other Pro Cup and Gold Cup cars joining right after, allowing some clean air for the Bronze Cup entries to maximize the first stint track time.
With 24 minutes to go, the Bronze Cup entries went to the pits and the pit cycle was complete, with the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari being the car leading the chase to the No. 3, but a full course yellow consumed some of the available time as the No. 26 Sainteloc Audi was rammed out of the way, which also damaged the No. 84 Eastalent Audi. There were 11 minutes to go when the green flag was waved again, but it wasn’t being of any help for Arthur Leclerc as Nicki Thiim was all over him with the No. 7 Comtoyou Aston Martin.
With Leclerc too focused on the defense, Daniel Juncadella has clear way to bring the No. 3 Verstappen Mercedes back home with an emphatic victory at the French evening. The No. 10 Boutsen VDS Porsche had the command of the Gold Cup and stood within the overall top 10, while the No. 222 2Seas Mercedes fell just outside the top 10 but won the Bronze Cup. The Silver Cup saw no surprises too, as the No. 30 WRT BMW had the spot with some cushion during the whole race.
GTWC Europe - Magny-Cours Race 1 results
.jpg)
Sunday morning, Comtoyou is leading, this is how the Race 2 begins. Nicki Thiim wouldn’t have it easy, though, as Marvin Kirchhöfer was making sure his No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren was close until the No. 7 Comtoyou Aston Martin was penalized for a jump start.
The penalty didn’t impede Thiim from leading the whole first stint, helped by the narrow circuit, two full course yellow periods and a red flag, caused when the No. 87 Winward Mercedes bumped the No. 74 Kessel Ferrari off track, and with the broken car at full speed, it basically cleared the gravel trap straight to a heavy impact in the barriers.
Nearly 40 minutes later, the red flag was finally lifted, and after a Safety Car lap, the green flag was waved again, moving straight to the pit window. After the pit cycle, the No. 80 Lionspeed GP Porsche emerged as the leader, with the team working well and the penalties for the opposition.
While the No. 30 WRT BMW could afford to fight for the overall lead with the No. 80, risking the Silver Cup lead would be a mistake, plus, Matisse Lismont wasn’t really closing down on Bastian Buus, so the rest of the race had the No. 80 Lionspeed GP Porsche being chased by the No. 30 WRT BMW, but not engaging in battle as the pace was too similar until the finish line. The No. 111 CSA McLaren nearly found a way into the overall top 5 with the sixth place while winning the Gold Cup with authority, while a heavy side contact didn’t stop the No. 991 Paradine BMW from winning the Bronze Cup.
GTWC Europe - Magny-Cours Race 2 results
Despite the lacklustre weekend in France, the duo van der Linde/Weerts (No. 32) keeps the Sprint Cup lead with 49.5 points, while the Race 2 winners Feller/Buus (No. 80) appear in second with 47, followed by Daniel Juncadella (No. 3) with 44.5, Leclerc/Neubauer (No. 50) with 41, and Engel/Auer only in fifth with 40 points.
The GTWC Europe calendar moves to the Endurance Cup, as the Nürburgring GP-Strecke will host the next round on 30 August, with the Sprint Cup returning only at Zandvoort on 19 and 20 September.
PHOTOS: SRO/JEP
Comments
Post a Comment
Do you have an opinion? Feel free to comment.