Enzo Ide was forced to defend from Tristain Vautier’s AKKA ASP Mercedes en route to a Qualifying Race victory for himself and teammate Chris Mies in the #33 WRT Audi. The pair finished within a second of each other after the pole-sitting AMG GT3 of Vautier and Felix Rosenqvist which lost the lead at after the round of stops.
“I am delighted!” Exclaimed Mies after the race. “It was quite hot in the car and Tristan [Vautier] got very close to me. But I did what I could. I had some trouble with the heat but managed to stay in front, so that was really good. I think we won the race again thanks to our pit-stop crew and the team because we came in running second and went back out in first. So thanks a lot to them; they made us win the race again today.”
The result was win number three for the #33 WRT R8 this season, and was enough to hand Mies and Ide the Sprint Cup points lead.
Early in the race, Rosenqvist pushed hard to create a gap from pole ahead of Mies, but was eventually chased down before the halfway mark, with Laurens Vanthoor’s #1 WRT Audi third after getting by Dominik Baumann’s Team HTP Mercedes.
When the teams were all back in sync, with the second drivers in, Enzo Ide held the lead thanks to quick pit work, with Vautier sitting close behind while being reeled in by Frederic Vervisch in the #1 R8. It turned into a three-way scrap for the lead in the end, though the three drivers failed to make anything stick, and instead allowed Maxi Buhk into the fray after taking over from Baumann.
Jules Szymkowiak and Bernd Schneider’s HTP Mercedes came home just over three seconds back in fifth after the making a move on Mike Parisy and Christopher Haase’s Sainteloc Racing Audi, which completed finished last of the points scoring runners.
It was a tough race for Garage 59’s Rob Bell and Alvaro Parente, who led the Drivers Champions heading into the race. The pair ended up on the outside looking in points-wise, and finished a lowly 17th in the #58 McLaren 650S GT3.
Pro-Am was once again won by Michal Broniszewski and Giacomo Piccini’s Kessel Racing Ferrari, after the #87 AKKA ASP Mercedes led the class but retired with mechanical issues.
Rino Mastronardi and Claudio Sdanewitsch to a lead that would ultimately become victory for the AF Corse team, while Nicolaj Møller Madsen and Alessio Picariello converted Silver Cup pole position into victory after finishing ninth overall.
