Alessio Rovera and Vincent Abril shared victory in the opening GT World Challenge Powered by AWS Sprint Cup race at Brands Hatch this afternoon (Sunday) 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.
GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup, Brands Hatch, Race 1
- Rovera/Abril, Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3
- Kirchhofer/Goethe, Garage 59, McLaren 720s GT3 EVO, +0.658s
- Vermeulen/Lulham, Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3, +1.466s
- Green/Lappalainen, Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3, +1.976s
- Leclerc/Neubauer, AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors, Ferrari 296 GT3, +2.566s
- Auer/Engel, Winward Racing, Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, +3.837s
- Weerts/Van Der Linde, Team WRT, BMW M4 GT3 EVO, +5.013s
- Smalley/Prette, Garage 59, McLaren 720S GT3 EVO, +7.007s
- Muller/Niederhauser, Rutronik Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), +8.097s
- Hartog/Pieris, Rutronik Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), +26.244s
Click here for full results and timing from this weekend's event.