After late-race drama, it was the #1 Imperiale Lamborghini of Thomas Biagi and Giovanni Venturini that took victory in the first International GT Open race of the weekend at the Hungaroring.
For Biagi and Venturini, victory also secured them the lead in the overall championship. With 54 points, they now sit three clear of Frommenwiler and Costa in the Emil Frey Lexus heading into Sunday.
The pole-sitting #488 Spirit of Race Ferrari, started by Mikkel Mac, retained the lead in the early stages of the race. Mac built a lead of eight seconds over Lance D. Arnold (#20 SPS Mercedes) during his stint. Mac handed over to experienced co-driver Miguel Ramos in the middle of the 14 minute pit window, and the Portuguese driver retained the advantage for much of the stint.
The battle for second was fought between Valentin Pierburg, who had taken over the SPS Mercedes, and defending overall champion Thomas Biagi. His teammate Giovanni Venturini was third for the entirety of his stint, leaving Biagi in prime position for an attack on Pierburg in the second phase of the race.
With less than six minutes to go, the complexion of the race changed dramatically as Miguel Ramos tangled with the #25 FF Corse Ferrari of Johnny Mowlem at Turn 12. Both Ferraris were sent into a spin, and Ramos dropped to third.
This briefly gave Pierburg the lead, however, the German competitor went wide at turn one just seconds after Ramos’ drama, handing Biagi the lead.
Biagi quickly disappeared into the distance, and took the first victory of the year for he and Giovanni Venturini in the #1 Imperale Lamborghini. Pierburg took the PRO-AM victory and second overall, while Ramos narrowly held off Philipp Frommenwiler in the #54 Emil Frey Lexus. The overall top five was completed by Lourenço Beirão da Veiga in the #51 Teo Martin BMW.
Thomas Jäger (#19 Lechner Mercedes) took eighth overall and second in PRO-AM, while Michael Benham (#24 Garage 59 McLaren) narrowly fended off Shaun Balfe’s similar 650S GT3 to complete the class podium.
The #74 MS Racing Mercedes of Martin Konrad and Alexander Hrachowina took AM class honours and 14th overall.
Qualifying for tomorrow’s race will take place at 09:10 local time, with the 60 minute encounter kicking off at 14:15.
Photo courtesy of GT Open
