FIA GT1 – Portimao: Mercedes, first!

Of course the main race will be held tomorrow. But Mercedes can already boast today of having won an event in the FIA ​​GT1 world championship after its success in the sprint this afternoon. Starting from the second row of the starting grid, the No. 38 All-Inkl.com SLS AMG of Markus Winkelhock and Marc Basseng triumphed, notably thanks to the great pit stop made by the mechanics of the German team. “The car was really good, emphasizes Basseng. Much more consistent than we expected this weekend to be honest, as we lack straight line speed. The guys did a great job during the pit stop. Perhaps this is the area where we can make the difference in tomorrow's race, but it will be a tough battle again. We have a big engine with a lot of torque, but it will be difficult for us to stay ahead of the BMWs”.

Little in spirit in qualifying, the BMW Z4 Vita4Ones were able to move up the hierarchy to take second and fifth place, that of Michael Bartels-Yelmer Buurman showing himself more to his advantage than his counterpart, entrusted to Mathias Lauda and Nikolaus Mayr- Melnhof. At the end of the race, Buurman managed to steal second place from the No. 8 Audi R32 LMS after a sumptuous battle. And if the third place of this Audi from Oliver Jarvis-Franck Stippler is to be highlighted, what can we say about the rise in the McLaren MP4-12C n°1 of Hexis Racing… Starting 12th, Stef Dusseldorp and Fred Makowiecki finished just off the podium. Enough to hope to be able to shine tomorrow, during the championship race.