Team WRT doubled up with their #32 BMW M4 GT3 of Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts in Misano on Sunday after starting from second, as a decisive pit stop swung the race in their favour against Jules Gounon amd Dani Juncadella, who started their #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes‑AMG GT3 from first.
After a successful weekend, Vam der Linde and Weerts see themselves moving to first place in the overall standings in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup championship.
Gounon hangs on after opening fight
Jules Gounon took the start from pole position at Misano in the #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes‑AMG GT3, leading the field away on Sunday in the second sprint race of the GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS. He kept the lead after fighting off the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 with Kelvin van der Linde behind the wheel, who had a great start from second.
Unlike yesterday, the race got off to a great start, with the only incident involving the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 of Bastian Buus hitting the inside and spinning round the #92 Rutronik Racing Lamborghini Temerario GT3 of Patrick Niederhauser. The Porsche left with slight front damage and was given a ten‑second drive‑through penalty.
Matchpoint in the pitlane
The fight went on for several laps with the #32 Team WRT in second and the #46 Team WRT in third, with Max Hesse behind the wheel, chasing down the Mercedes of Jules Gounon. But he kept his head cool and held on.
With stops approaching, the still‑leading Mercedes went into the pits together with the #32 BMW close behind him. The Belgian team showed their strength during the fast tyre change and got back into the lead with Charles Weerts, overtaking the Verstappen Racing car and never looked back ever since that moment, grabbing their second win of this weekend.
Gold wins from second; Silver takes pole‑to‑flag victory; Bronze on the charge
After starting from second in the Gold Cup, Alex Aka and Dylan Pereira took home the victory in Gold Cup in the #99 Tresor Attempto Audi R8 LMS GT3. The Audi squad finished in eighthoverall just ahead of Gold Cup rivals Thomas Fleming and Louis Prette aboard the #58 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3.
In Silver Cup Aurelien Panis and Anthony Bartone took pole to flag victory in the #6 Getspeed Team Bartone Bros Mercedes-AMG GT3 and in Bronze Class it was Marvin Dienst and Rinat Salikhov who fought their way up to take home the victory in the #87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Top 10 Overall
- Charles Weerts / Kelvin van der Linde – #32 Team WRT – BMW M4 GT3 – 1:33.580 (Pro Cup)
- Daniel Juncadella / Jules Gounon – #3 Verstappen Racing – Mercedes‑AMG GT3 – +2.977 (Pro Cup)
- Lucas Auer / Maro Engel – #48 Winward Racing – Mercedes‑AMG GT3 – +14.049 (Pro Cup)
- Valentino Rossi / Max Hesse – #46 WRT – BMW M4 GT3 – +15.450 (Pro Cup)
- Thierry Vermeulen / Ben Green – #69 Emil Frey Racing – Ferrari 296 GT3 – +23.206 (Pro Cup)
- Thomas Neubauer / Arthur Leclerc – #50 AF Corse – Ferrari 296 GT3 – +27.653 (Pro Cup)
- Dean Macdonald / Marvin Kirchhöfer – #59 Garage 59 – McLaren 720S GT3 – +29.017 (Pro Cup)
- Dylan Pereira / Alex Aka – #99 Tresor Attempto Racing – Audi R8 LMS GT3 – +33.976 (Gold Cup)
- Thomas Fleming / Louis Prette – #58 Garage 59 – McLaren 720S GT3 – +35.515 (Gold Cup)
- Amaury Cordeel / Jordan Pepper – #31 WRT – BMW M4 GT3 – +41.079 (Pro Cup)
Sprint Cup heads to Magny-Cours
The GT World Challenge Europe now heads to France for the next round of the Sprint Cup, where Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours hosts the third round of the championship from 31 July to 2 August.
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