Blancpain GT – Buhk and Perera confirm in the main race at Misano

Winners yesterday in the qualifying race, Franck Perera and Maximilian Buhk logically and easily won the main race at Misano this Sunday, at the end of an event mastered from start to finish by the duo of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 n°84 from HTP Motorsport.

Au départ, Franck Perera contient les assauts de la Bentley Continental GT3 n°7 – Team M-Sport de Vincent Abril, parti de la troisième position, pourtant le mieux parti au feu vert. Le Français ne peut toutefois prendre le meilleur sur le tandem Perera – Meadows, ce dernier maintenant la Mercedes-AMG GT3 n°90 – AKKA-ASP en deuxième position.

A few places further on, Marcel Fässler's race (No. 8 Audi R5 LMS – Team WRT) was interrupted at the end of the first lap, with a puncture and damage to the left front.

Perera leads Meadows and Abril at the end of the first lap, followed by Felix Serralles (Mercedes-AMG GT3 n°88 – AKKA-ASP) and Romain Monti (Audi R8 LMS n°26 – Saintéloc) past Enzo Ide (Audi R8 LMS n°1 – Team WRT).

The second racing incident concerned the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT85 – HTP Motorsport of Szymkowiak-Schiller, involved in a collision with the No. 3 Lamborghini Huracan GT63 – GRT, and penalized with a drive-through.

After a quarter of an hour of racing, the positions are solidified in the top 10, Franck Perera gradually increasing the gap against Michael Meadows at the head of the race. The Frenchman will have a lead of more than seven seconds when the driver change window opens.

The HTP Motorsport ride

If Meadows, Abril, Monti or even Eriksson immediately dive into the pits, the leader Perera continues his effort, just like Felix Serralles. The latter stopped a lap later, leaving Perera alone on the track at the head of the race. Like the day before, HTP Motorsport extended its first stint by two laps, which allowed Maxi Buhk to calmly leave as leader.

The German precedes after the driver changes the No. 3 Bentley Continental GT7 of Steven Kane, put under pressure for second place by Dominik Baumann (Mercedes-AMG GT3 No. 86 – HTP Motorsport).

Dani Juncadella follows in fourth position with the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT88 of Team AKKA-ASP which took over from the No. 90 of Marciello-Meadows, thrown out of the top 10 after pit stops, where a bad nut tight ruined a hitherto exemplary race.

Maxi Buhk won alone with more than twenty seconds ahead of Steven Kane, who held off Dominik Baumann until the end. Dani Juncadella finished fourth ahead of the Saintéloc Racing Audi R8 LMS of Haase-Monti, the best representative of the brand on the rings.

In difficulty on Saturday, the ROWE Racing BMW M6 GT3s raised the bar this Sunday with 6th and 7th places for Eng-Blomqvist and Krohn-Palttala. Rob Bell, associated with Andrew Watson, hoists the first McLaren 650S GT3 of Strakka Racing in eighth place ahead of the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 n°63 – GRT of Bortolotti – Engelhart and the Audi R8 LMS n°3 of Team WRT of Schothorst – Dennis, which saves a point after a weekend marked by electrical problems.

Twelfth behind Endo Ide – Christopher Mies (Audi R8 LMS n°1 – Team WRT), the reigning champion having gone off-course during his stint, Fabian Schiller and Jules Szymkowiak pocketed the Silver Cup while in Pro-Am, the Ferrari 488 GT3 n°333 from Rinaldi Racing from Matschull-Keilwitz wins.

Ranking Main race Misano to come

Find the full report of the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup season opener in Misano, in AUTO issue 2108hebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.