Comtoyou Racing claimed victory in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup at the Nürburgring. The #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 of Marco Sørensen, Nicki Thiim and Mattia Drudi started from pole and was in control throughout. However, with penalties coming into play, the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Maro Engel, Lucas Auer and Luca Stolz finished fourth, doing just enough to claim the Endurance Cup championship with one race weekend to go.
The three-hour race at the Nürburgring Grand Prix track got underway with Marco Sørensen converting pole position into the early lead aboard the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3. Maxime Martin started second in the #17 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3, followed by Bastian Buus in the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Opening incidents saw damaged cars
The opening lap quickly brought several incidents. The #51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 was involved in contact heading into the hairpin, while the #84 Eastalent Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 was turned around and the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 was held up in the incident.
Further up the order, Maro Engel in the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG GT3 battled Dani Juncadella in the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 side by side. The fight for sixth also involved Jordan Pepper in the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 and Alex Aka in the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3, with the three cars running closely together.
The early laps also saw Alfredo Hernández in the #177 Grupo Prom Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT3 spin. Race control then handed drive-through penalties to the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, driven by Constantin Dressler, and the #111 CSA Racing McLaren 720S GT3, with James Kell behind the wheel, for the Turn 1 incident.
The #96 Rutronik Racing Lamborghini Temerario GT3 was also forced to pit after Luca Engstler suffered a puncture. In the Gold Cup, the #10 Boutsen VDS Porsche 911 GT3 R moved into second place after Nico Menzel made a move down the inside of Benjamin Goethe in the #58 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3.
Comtoyou aim for a bigger gap
At the front, Sørensen was unable to build a significant gap. Martin and Buus remained within two seconds of the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin, keeping the fight for the lead close through the opening phase of the race.
Maxwell Lynn was spun around after contact with Thierry Vermeulen’s #60 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3, putting the #23 Team RJN McLaren 720S GT3 into trouble. Vermeulen was subsequently handed a drive-through penalty for the contact.
The #555 CSA Racing McLaren 720S GT3 also picked up a 10-second time penalty after Bobby Thompson in the #992 Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 was hit from behind by Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer.
There was more trouble for Ferrari when Dylan Medler was turned around in the #45 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3. An incident between the Rinaldi Ferrari and the #4 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 of Harry George was placed under investigation.
Bastian Buus came under pressure from Joseph Loake in the #59 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3. The Gold Cup lead also changed hands, with Nico Menzel moving ahead of Alex Aka. The first Full Course Yellow period of the race was then called for the #44 Greystone GT McLaren 720S GT3. Tommy Pintos was spun into the gravel after contact with Gabriel Rindone in the #12 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3.
The race enters its second hour
The pit window brought the first round of driver changes. Bastian Buus brought the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche into the pits as the first of the front runners, to hand over to Ricardo Feller.
The #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin also made its stop, but only after the Full Course Yellow was called, with Mattia Drudi emerging from the pits as the race leader and catching the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche out. The Aston was followed by Maximilian Götz in the #17 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3, Dean Macdonald in the #59 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3, Charles Weerts in the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 and Chris Lulham in the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing.
Behind them were Luca Stolz in the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, Thomas Drouet in the #64 Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3, Robin Knutsson in the #10 Boutsen VDS Porsche 911 GT3 R, Louis Prette in the #58 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 and Andrea Frassineti in the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3.
The Full Course Yellow was then upgraded to a Safety Car. Racing resumed shortly afterwards, with Drudi leading Götz at the restart. Guilherme Oliveira in the #5 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 went wide, dropping the car to fifth in the Silver Cup.
Incidents mount as GetSpeed loses ground
The restart was followed by another major incident. David Perel in the #45 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 and Riccardo Pera in the #97 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R crashed, bringing out the Safety Car once again. The incidents kept coming. The #12 GetSpeed Mercedes hit trouble but had already passed the pit lane entry, and could not avoid further problems over the full lap back to the garage. Götz shoved the #51 Ferrari aside, hit the #991 BMW and left the #91 Porsche with damage too.
Götz could not even reach the pit lane and had to park at the side of the track, prompting race control to activate a turn yellow to keep the race running. The new round of pit stops put the #99 Audi in the lead, though the car was yet to make its second stop. With an hour to go, the top three comprised the #99 Audi, the #998 BMW and the #87 Mercedes.
Shortly afterwards, the cameras cut to the #555 McLaren, stranded in the gravel and unable to get going. The Full Course Yellow shuffled the order again, promoting the #54 Porsche to the lead, with the #98 BMW second and the #2 Porsche third.
Penalties gift Winward Racing the title
The closing phase saw Raffaele Marciello chased by Dorian Boccolacci for the lead on the road. The pair ran at the front with only a couple of tenths between them, but neither could reach the finish without exceeding the maximum allowed stint time. Marciello brought the Rowe BMW into the pits with two minutes remaining, while Boccolacci went the distance but let the leaders pass on the final lap, knowing a penalty would follow.
On its own, that might not have lifted the #48 Winward Mann-Filter Mercedes to the fourth place it needed for the Endurance Cup title. But a late 10-second penalty for the #59 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 of Marvin Kirchöfer, running second behind Thiim, promoted Luca Stolz to fourth at the finish and sealed the championship early.
Kelvin van der Linde, Jordan Pepper and Charles Weerts held on to finish second aboard the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, with the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing of Dani Juncadella, Chris Lulham and Jules Gounon completing the podium.
Behind the newly crowned champions, Maxime Martin, Maximilian Götz and Fabian Schiller came home in fifth, having lost out in the final stint after a strong first two hours. Arjun Maini, Fabio Scherer and Thomas Drouet took sixth aboard the #64 HRT Ford Mustang GT3.
Victory in the Gold Cup went to the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 of Dylan Pereira, Andrea Frassineti and Alex Aka. The Italian-German squad was in the thick of the fighting for much of the race, and it took Pereira some more pushing and shoving to come home seventh overall for Gold Cup glory.
In the Silver Cup, race victory went to the #65 HRT Ford Racing of Niklas Kalus, Nicolas Baert and Eduardo Coseteng, but it was the second-placed #30 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Ignacio Montenegro, Matisse Lismont and Amaury Cordeel that took the championship.
In the Bronze Cup, Kiern Jewiss, Charles Dawson and Reece Barr won the race aboard the #222 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3. The #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 finished third in class, enough for Dennis Marschall and the team to score the points needed to secure the championship.
Portimão ends the season
The season is not finished yet. Before the Endurance Cup is settled for good, the Sprint Cup returns for two rounds, first at Zandvoort and then at Barcelona.
Portimão then closes the year from 16 to 18 October. Winward Racing has the Endurance Cup secured and Team WRT the Silver Cup, but several titles are still to be decided at the finale, and the two Sprint rounds in between could yet reshape the combined championship standings.
