The GT World Challenge entertained the crowds at Brands Hatch over the bank holiday weekend.
With two races on the Sunday it meant the fans were treated some excellent racing, and that was evident from the moment the lights went out and the cars flew down to Paddock Hill bend.
Alessio Rovera and Vincent Abril shared victory in the opening GT World Challenge Powered by AWS Sprint Cup race after producing a well executed drive at the wheel of their Ferrari 296 GT3.
Rovera started from the outside row in the AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors entry but it was the pole-sitting Emil Frey Ferrari of Thierry Vermeulen which made the best start, holding the inside into Paddock Hill Bend. Rovera initially lost ground to Marvin Kirchhofer in one of the Garage 59 McLarens too, slipping down to third.
During the early laps, Vermeulen scorched away into what looked like a very difficult to overturn lead. Kirchofer kept firing in strong lap times too, but he wasn’t able to do enough to force a genuine on-track overtaking opportunity.
The leading group then largely held station throughout the opening half of the encounter before Vermeulen headed for the pit lane almost as soon as the mid-race driver change window. He was followed by Kirchhofer whilst Rovera made the most of the clean air in front to extend his stint slightly longer.
This proved to be the key phase of the race as Vermeulen’s lead cushion was wiped out almost in full during the pit stops. A slower stop for the leading Ferrari meant that second driver Chris Lulham came returned to the track with Kirchhofer’s co-driver Benjamin Goethe firmly on his tail.
Whilst this unfolded Rovera dived to the pits just a lap later to hand over to Vincent Abril. A combination of smart pit stop work and good pace on a clear track allowed Abril to emerge directly in front of both Lulham and Goethe to change the race picture.
Lulham made an immediate attempt to regain the lead as the group drove up to Druids, but Abril defended hard and refused to cede ground. Goethe then opportunistically used this to pass Lulham on the run down to Graham Hill Bend.
From there the race settled into a hard charging, yet watchful, encounter throughout which the leading group of eight cars were never separated by more than a handful of seconds. But opportunities for clear cup overtaking moves at the front were scarce.
Goethe pressured Abril right to the chequered flag but was unable to do anything about the leading Ferrari and settled for second across the line, less than a second behind. A few tenths further back down the road, Lulham rounded out the podium at the head of a small pack of three Ferraris with the Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen car fourth ahead of Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer’s entry.
Sixth on the road was the rapid Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 od Sven Muller and Patric Niederhauser, but the car was issued with a five-second penalty for a pit lane speeding infringement. So whilst Niederhauser crossed the line sixth, the final position in the results went to Maro Engel in the Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG he shares with Lucas Auer.
Charles Weerts and Kelvin Van Der Linde’s Team WRT BMW slotted into seventh ahead of the Adam Smalley and Louis Prette shared McLaren with Muller and Niederhauser eventually taking ninth following the application of their penalty. Loek Hartog and Eshan Pieris in the second Rutronik Porsche completed the top-10.
Then in race two there was a familiar pair of victors with Maro Engel and Lucas Auer claiming victory for a second year in succession, with a commanding display in the final GT World Challenge Powered by AWS race of the weekend.
Engel held the lead from the rolling start as the second Sprint Cup encounter of the day got underway in the Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG. Fellow front row starter Chris Lulham came under more immediate pressure in his Ferrari from the rapid Lamborghini of Sandy Mitchell. Whilst Lulham was able to fend off his rival, this allowed Engel to pull out a few early car lengths in his yellow machine ahead.
From there, Engel continued to lead in the early stages despite a strong showing from Lulham who remained firmly within the leader’s mirrors. A high-paced opening stint then carried on until Baptiste Moulin took a trip into the gravel trap at Sheene, causing race control to order a full course yellow. The full safety car then emerged, bunching the field right up, before full speed racing resumed at around half distance.
Competitors weren’t able to pit until completing a racing lap, but Engel dived for the pit lane, immediately followed by Lulham at the earliest opportunity. Rapid work from the Winward mechanics meant that Auer returned to the track promptly after switching in for Engel, but a much slower stop for Lulham saw co-driver Thierry Vermeulen end up further down the order.
The big winner from the pit window was the BMW of Charles Weerts, taking over from Kelvin Van Der Linde, which ended up in second after a quick Team WRT pit stop. The Mitchell Lamborghini was another to lose time, dropping to seventh with Hugo Cook now at the wheel.
Another full course yellow, followed swiftly by a safety car, followed immediately following the pit stops in order for trackside marshals to retrieve the stranded Porsche of Eshan Pieris. At this point, Auer led from Weerts with Ben Green in the first of the Emil Frey Ferraris occupying the last of the podium positions. Seven Muller’s Porsche was fourth ahead of Arthur Leclerc’s Ferrari with Marvin Kirchhofer up to sixth ahead of Cook. Vermeulen’s Ferrari was down in 12th by this stage, such was the amount of time lost during the pit lane.
From there, Auer managed the race comfortably to drive home to first ahead of Weerts. But it was all change just behind. Green entered what turned out to be the penultimate lap in third, but was struggling to keep those behind at bay. A wide moment whilst out on the Grand Prix circuit allowed Muller to slip past in the Porsche he shares with Patric Niederhauser, whilst Arhtur Leclerc was able nip by and claim fourth on the road for himself and Thomas Neubauer.
Green struggled over to what initially seemed to be fifth for him and Konsta Lappalainen, but the fourth and fifth placed Ferraris were soon handed post-race penalties for infringements. This dropped Green down to 10th whilst Leclerc ended up classified all the way down in 25th.
This resulted in Marvin Kirchhofer and Benjamin Goethe inheriting fourth in their McLaren ahead of Cook and Mitchell. Sixth overall went to AL Faisal Al Zubair and Jens Klingmann with Mateo Villagomez and Henrique Chavez in seventh grabbed the best result of the weekend for an Aston Martin.
Following the post-race penalties further up, race one winners Alessio Rovera and Vincent Abril eventually claimed eighth, whilst Lulham and Vermeulen wound up ninth after their promising showing earlier on.
Images courtesy of Andrew Soul