GRT, Grasser Racing Team claimed victory in this evening’s GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup race at Magny-Cours, but Luca Engstler and Jordan Pepper didn’t have it all their own way after starting from pole position.
Engstler controlled the opening stint aboard the #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, pulling out a two-second margin over Patric Niederhauser in the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R (992). Rutronik, however, was four seconds faster in the pits after Grasser had an issue with the front-left, enabling Sven Müller to emerge in the race lead.
Pepper quickly caught Müller, and drew alongside out of Turn 9 with 26 minutes to go. The pair briefly made contact on the run to Turn 11, but the German driver had the inside and Pepper was forced to concede.
The pair then settled in until a Full Course Yellow was deployed with 18 minutes to go, following an accident for the #112 CSA Racing McLaren GT3 Evo. On the restart six minutes later, Pepper fired up much quicker than Müller, and was able to cut underneath the Porsche on the exit of Turn 13.
The South African was able to draw clear before the Turn 14 braking zone, and pulled away to secure Grasser’s first Sprint Cup victory since 2018. The #63 Lamborghini duo also made it a record seventh different consecutive winning crew in the Sprint Cup.
“We knew we had a strong car in the early stages, so I tried to capitalise on the out lap”, Pepper said.
“With Sven, we had a bit of touching, and he pushed me off a bit, but that’s racing. I knew if I got another opportunity, I was going to grab it with both hands, and that restart was perfect for that.
“[I] caught him out on cold tyres, it was an awesome overtake, risked everything for it and pushed it to the end. We’ve had a tough Sprint season, so to get this win is super special.”
Müller comfortably held on to second, 1.243 seconds behind Pepper but almost 10 seconds clear of the rest of the pack.
Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde rounded out the podium in the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo, holding onto their Sprint Cup drivers’ championship lead. Having started 10th, Weerts climbed to seventh on the opening lap, with strong pit work vaulting them onto the podium.
Lucas Auer and Maro Engel were fourth in the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, ahead of the similar #9 Boutsen VDS AMG of Luca Stolz and Maxime Martin. Stolz and Martin were on course for a podium finish before losing out in the pit stops, but still sealed their best finish so far this season.
Gold Cup honours, in sixth overall, went to the #58 Garage 59 McLaren of Thomas Fleming and Louis Prette, ahead of the #25 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II and #777 AlManar Racing by WRT BMW.
Class pole sitter Chris Lulham lost out on the opening lap in the #69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari, when he was delayed by a spun #51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari of Alessio Rovera. Rovera, who had started third, was tipped into a spin at Turn 5 by Jim Pla’s #111 CSA Racing McLaren.
Pla was given a Drive-Through penalty for the incident, whilst AF Corse called Rovera into the pits to retire due to the damage sustained. To make matters worse for the Italian team, Marcos Siebert was also delayed and lost the Silver Cup lead aboard the #52 Ferrari.
Comtoyou Racing’s Kobe Pauwels inherited the Silver Cup lead in the #21 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, and the Belgian driver pulled out a commanding 11-second lead before the pit stop window opened despite a second lap incident resulting in a 10-minute Safety Car.
Jamie Day brought the Aston Martin home in seventh overall for their second consecutive Silver Cup triumph. The #52 Ferrari and #10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG completed the class podium.
The most significant victim of the Lap 2 incident was the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi, which was hit in the rear by the #64 HRT Ford Performance Mustang GT3 approaching Turn 5. The #99 Audi was forced into retirement, and Ezequiel Perez Companc and Alex Aka had to watch from the sidelines as the #21 Aston Martin took their Silver Cup championship lead.
Eighth overall was the #14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari, ahead of the #59 Garage 59 and #111 CSA Racing McLarens, with CSA Racing scoring its first Sprint Cup points of the season despite the Drive-Through penalty.
In the Bronze Cup, Bastian Buus and Bashar Mardini secured their second class victory of the season in 26th overall aboard the #89 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3.R (992). Buus took the lead on the opening lap, and Mardini was able to hold off a closing Darren Leung in the final minutes.
Leung’s #991 Paradine Competition BMW finished just 0.561 seconds behind, but was later assessed a 30-second penalty for an incident with the #112 McLaren. Leung and Isaac Tutumlu Lopez made contact whilst fighting for third, which resulted in the McLaren hitting the wall and bringing out the Full Course Yellow. This promoted the #81 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG to second, with the #85 Imperiale Racing Lamborghini finishing third.
Having started from the back of the 40-car field after losing overall pole to track limits, Dennis Marschall and Dustin Blattner fought back to fifth in the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari, but this wasn’t enough to prevent Buus and Mardini from claiming the drivers’ championship lead.
Race 2 at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours begins at 15:15 CEST tomorrow, with Qualifying starting at 10:30 CEST.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
