Zandvoort – C1: Drudi and Feller win, Valentino Rossi on the podium

• What if this Race 1 at Zandvoort was a turning point in this final of the Sprint Cup of the GT World Challenge Europe 2023? The outcome of Race 2 on Sunday will tell us, but Mattia Drudi and Ricardo Feller (Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II No. 40 – Tresor Orange 1) performed excellently in the fight for the title.
• Starting in pole position, Ricardo Feller had an eventful first stint on a drying Zandvoort track after a downpour passed a few minutes before the start where there was no shortage of incidents. Despite the tricky conditions, the Swiss managed to take the lead and thus leave the Audi to his teammate Mattia Drudi for the second half.
• Placed second behind Thierry Vermeulen (Ferrari 296 GT3 No. 69 – Emil Frey Racing) after the wave of stops, the Italian waited behind his rival. This result then allowed him to provisionally return to three lengths behind the championship leaders Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy (Mercedes-AMG GT3 No. 88 – Akkodis-ASP). But Mattia Drudi preferred to attack rather than ensure and went on the offensive.
• Thus, five minutes from the checkered flag, he attempted an attack from the outside at the first corner which left Thierry Vermeulen no chance. The Belgian wanted to respond but Mattia Drudi was uncompromising when defending his position and was thus able to take the checkerboard in first position. A result which, coupled with the 4^e place of the duo Marciello-Boguslavskiy, allows the Transalpin and Ricardo Feller to take the lead of the championship by 2,5 lengths with one race remaining. Nothing is over!
• Reigning champions, Dries Vanthoort and Charles Weerts (BMW M4 GT3 No. 21 – Team WRT) are no longer in the running after their 6^e place this Saturday.

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