GT World Challenge EU Recap - Brands Hatch

On the 3rd of May, GT World Challenge Europe took place at the Brands Hatch circuit marking the first sprint race weekend for the series. Find out what happened in the Brands Hatch GT World Challenge EU recap!

(Image Credits to GT World Challenge EU) 

Sprint Race 1

Race 1 at Brands Hatch had a chaotic start to the GT World Challenge Europe’s first sprint race of the season. This race saw the #10 Boutsen VDS car DNF on the first lap after it hit the barrier and went into the gravel at Sterling. This led to quite a bit of the race being under a safety car and parts of it were red flagged.

During the red flag, reporters on the GT World stream spoke to Thomas Neubauer and asked “What did you think of Arthur’s start, I mean he maintained position and pressure from behind?”

Neubauer responded “I mean with the first sprint start of the season, I was not expecting less for sure. There's a lot of cars out there, Arthur did a brilliant job, he’s in P2 after a very good qualifying session, let’s see how it goes after they start the race again but it is quite positive from our side for now.”

The #50 AF Corse Ferrari of Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer ultimately took the win, but not because they crossed the line first. The #3 Mercedes-AMG entry of Chris Lullam initially claimed the victory, however the car received post-race penalties that reshuffled the order and led the #3 car to finish in 13th. This was what promoted the Ferrari to the top step, rewarding what had already been a strong and consistent performance by the team. There were two other non-classified finishers at the end of this race which was the #80 Lionspeed GP and the #9 Tresor Attempto Racing.

The results for the first race were as followed:

Overall

#50 - AF Corse (Ferrari) - Arthur Leclerc, Thomas Neubauer

#2 - Boutsen VDS (Porsche) - Morris Schuring, Dorian Boccolacci

#32 - Team WRT (BMW M) - Charles Weerts, Kelvin van der Linde

#31 - Team WRT (BMW M) - Amaury Cordeel, Jordan Pepper

#14 - Emil Frey Racing (Ferrari) -  Konsta Lappalainen, Matteo Cairoli

Silver 

#9 - Pure Rxcing (Porsche) 

#5 - Optimum Motorsport (McLaren) 

#30 - Team WRT (BMW M)

#34 - Walkenhorst Motorsport (Aston Martin)

#6 - GetSpeed Team BartoneBros (Mercedes-AMG)

Gold 

#51 - AF Corse (Ferrari)

#58 - Garage 59 (McLaren)

#111 - CSA Racing (McLaren)

#555 - CSA Racing (McLaren)

#163 - VSR (Lamborghini)

Pro

#50 - AF Corse (Ferrari)

#2 - Boutsen VDS (Porsche)

#32 - Team WRT (BMW M)

#31 - Team WRT (BMW M)

#14 - Emil Frey Racing (Ferrari)

Sprint Race 2

From the moment the lights went out, the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche entry of Ricardo Feller and Bastian Buus looked in control. It started at the front after a strong qualifying performance on Saturday. This race saw two non-classified finishers - the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing and the #58 Garage 59 car. The #80 Lionspeed GP car went from a non-classified result in the first race to winning the second sprint race at Brands Hatch and managed to take home points for the team and managing to put them in fifth in the team standings.

Both Feller and Buus were spoken to following the race and got told “Well, no mechanical issues during that race and you were absolutely faultless, dominant from start to finish, we saw Dani try and hunt you down towards the end but you had it covered, how satisfying was that result?”

Feller responded  “It was very good, we’re very happy especially after the result we had in Race 1, Bastian had a great start, keeping the car in P1 but like you said we had a good gap after the pitstop because the Merc at one point was catching up quite a bit but I’m very happy to be here for the whole team”.

The results for the second sprint race were as followed:

#80 - Lionspeed GP (Porsche) - Ricardo Feller, Bastian Buus

#3 - Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing (Mercedes-AMG) - Daniel Juncadella, Chris Lulham

#48 - Winward Racing (Mercedes-AMG) - Lucas Auer, Maro Engel

#46 - Team WRT (BMW M) - Valentino Rossi, Max Hesse

#59 - Garage 59 (McLaren) - Dean Macdonald, Marvin Kirchhöfer

Silver 

#30 - Team WRT (BMW M)

#5 - Optimum Motorsport (McLaren)

#52 - AF Corse (Ferrari)

#34 - Walken Horst Motorsport (Aston Martin)

#9 - Pure Rxcing (Porsche)

Gold 

#555 - CSA Racing (McLaren)

#51 - AF Corse (Ferrari)

#163 - VSR (Lamborghini)

#77 -  KPX Motorsport (BMW M)

#111 -  CSA Racing (McLaren)

Pro

#80 - Lionspeed GP (Porsche)

#3 - Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing (Mercedes-AMG)

#48 - Winward Racing (Mercedes-AMG)

#46 - Team WRT (BMW M)

#59 - Garage 59 (McLaren)

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