Gorini and Tamburini head LP Racing one-two in opener
Leonardo Gorini and Carlo Tamburini extended their Fanatec GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli points lead with victory in race one at Spa-Francorchamps, heading a one-two finish for LP Racing.
The two Maserati GT2 crews worked their way to the front early on in an intense opening contest in Belgium, confirming a third win of the term for Gorini and Tamburini 12 months after the new car was first unveiled at the same location.
They were chased home by team-mate Philippe Prette, who finished just 2.8s back to confirm both a one-two for the Italian squad and his third Am class spoils of the year.
A frenetic race was turned on its head in the latter stages. Razoon – More Than Racing’s Simon Birch put in a spirited charge to climb from sixth to the final podium step with Thomas Andersen, holding off the similar KTM X-BOW GT2 of Martin Koch and Reinhard Kofler (Team MZR).
Pole-sitter Alexandre Leroy kept his TFT Racing Maserati in podium contention for much of the 50-minute race, but fell to fifth in his battle with Pro drivers late on. Despite a first-corner skirmish for Eric De Doncker, he and Motorsport 98 partner Loris Hezemans fought back in style to round out the top six in their Mercedes-AMG GT2.
Local driver Leroy started from pole position for the first time in his rookie Fanatec GT2 campaign and held the lead into La Source during a congested first lap. Further back, De Doncker was tagged into a half-spin after contact in a four-car squeeze, which also forced Stefano Costantini and Alfio Andrea Spina to retire with damage to the #88 LP Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2.
Up front it took until the run to Fagnes for Gorini to dive past Leroy and take the race lead, leaving the latter in combat with his Am class rival Prette for second. The Italian made his move stick on Leroy two laps later, diving up the inside under braking for the Bus Stop chicane.
Further back, Gilles Vannelet was on the move in the #87 Akkodis Mercedes-AMG entry. The Frenchman evaded the opening lap dramas to climb from 14th into the top six, before powering past the #89 KTM of RTR Projects debutant Petr Lisa.
That theme continued as the Mercedes-AMG driver swept past Koch’s KTM into fourth on the Kemmel Straight. He repeated the move on Leroy shortly afterwards before catching and passing the #2 Maserati of Prette in the same manner to hand the car over to Jean-Luc Beaubelique in second spot.
Gorini handed the lead #1 Maserati over to Tamburini with a slender advantage, but Beaubelique soon faded with an issue that dropped him out of contention. Despite a minor off-track excursion at Les Combes late on, Tamburini held on under pressure to lead home Prette and seal a hard-earned one-two finish for LP Racing.
The battle for the final podium place raged behind, Birch making the decisive move on a fading Beaubelique at Fagnes to match his and Andersen’s best result of the campaign in third. Kofler’s KTM followed by into fourth, with Leroy rounding out the top five in the #24 Maserati.
Hezemans climbed aboard the Motorsport 98 car vacated by De Doncker and charged his way through the pack to sixth, disposing of the hobbled Beaubelique, who salvaged seventh ahead of the similar #888 Mercedes-AMG of NM Racing’s Stéphane Perrin and Jörg Viebahn.
Both Ginetta and Lamborghini enjoyed top-10 finishes on their GT2 debuts. Lawrence Tomlinson elevated the Team CMR G56 GTX to an impressive ninth, ahead of Alfredo Hernandez Ortega, who rounded out the top 10 in the BDR Compétition by Grupo Prom Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2.
The second 50-minute Fanatec GT2 race takes place on Saturday morning from 9:20, acting as a prelude to the flagship CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa centenary later in the day. Catch all of the action live via the GT World YouTube channel.
Team MZR and Akkodis ASP clinch class victories in thriller
Reinhard Kofler and Martin Koch charged to a commanding second victory of 2024 for Team MZR in a thrilling second race.
The #812 KTM X-BOW duo bided their time in a frenetic opening stint, before Koch took control of the race with a decisive pass on Eric de Doncker’s Motorsport 98 Mercedes-AMG. The Team MZR crew went on to clinch the outright win and the Pro-Am lead after a difficult race for LP Racing’s #1 Maserati GT2.
Second place went to Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Gilles Vannelet after an almighty charge from 11th on the grid, which was enough for the Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG GT2 pairing to claim the Am class spoils.
KTM completed the rest of the Pro-Am podium with Simon Birch and Thomas Andersen finishing second in class for Razoon – More Than Racing ahead of the X-BOW GT2 of RTR Projects, following an impressive debut weekend for Petr Lisa and team-mate Matej Homola.
In the battle to round out the Am class top three, the Akkodis ASP of Pascal Gibon and Christophe Bourret got the better of TFT Racing’s Alexandre Leroy in an entertaining duel between the respective Mercedes-AMG and Maserati crews.
Race 2 was action-packed from the start. Pierre Kaffer led the field away from pole position after a record-setting lap on Friday, but was soon under pressure from the charging KTM of Birch. A great run put the #80 machine alongside Kaffer into Les Combes, but the latter rebuffed the efforts of his rival.
Behind them, Loris Hezemans carved his way past Carlo Tamburini’s #1 Maserati on the Kemmel Straight for third. The Dutch driver swiftly completed a move on Birch for second and set off after Kaffer, the top two arriving for their driver changes just four seconds apart.
Local driver De Doncker took control of the #98 Mercedes-AMG and immediately grabbed the race lead on his out-lap from Michael Doppelmayr, sweeping by the #18 LP Racing Audi heading into the Bus Stop.
Kofler meanwhile survived a clash with Tamburini to put Team MZR up to second spot after their stop, which soon became the race lead when Martin Koch scythed his way past Doppelmayr and De Doncker in quick succession at the final chicane. These would prove to be decisive moments as Koch pulled clear for a convincing second victory this term, in turn earning the Pro-Am points lead as a further reward.
The Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG pairing of Vannelet and Beaubelique put in another star performance aboard the #87 car to climb from 11th to seize the Am class spoils and Iron Cup victory, while the pass on Andersen in the closing stages also earned an impressive second overall. Andersen and Birch followed for their third Fanatec GT2 podium this year, ahead of the #89 RTR Projects X-BOW of Lisa and Homola.
The #53 Akkodis ASP entry of Gibon and Bourret earned their best result so far in fifth after fending off the attacks of Leroy’s Maserati. Despite a positive start, the race unravelled for De Doncker and Hezemans as the Motorsport 98 car was hit with a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pits, dropping them to seventh ahead of Kaffer and Doppelmayr.
Alfredo Hernandez Ortega finished ninth in the #7 BDR Compétition by Grupo Prom Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 to cap off a competitive Invitational class debut, while Tamburini and Leonardo Gorini rounded out the top 10 after suffering a mid-race puncture in the #1 Maserati. That capped off a tough day at the office for LP Racing, as the sister #2 car of Philippe Prette cut a tyre following contact with the KTM of Dominik Olbert (Razoon – More Than Racing), forcing the Italian to retire.
Now at its halfway mark, the Fanatec GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli next heads to Hockenheim in Germany for the fourth event of the season on 19-21 July.
Images courtesy of SRO
