WRT takes the double in Misano!

WRT has found the recipe for victory and even filed the patent. No one else has the right to win in GT World Challenge Europe. Or rather, no one succeeds.

The Belgian team signs the double in Misano for the first race of the sprint cup. The duo Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts beat the pair Kelvin Van der Linde and Ryuichiro Tomita. WRT wins two weeks after winning the 3 Hours of Imola. The difficult year in 2019 now seems far away.

However, we wouldn't have bet on them at the start. When the lights went out, the Tech 1 team's Lexus RCF in the hands of Thomas Neubauer and Jules Gounon at the wheel of the CMR Bentley Continental GT3 took off.

Nothing to eat until the mid-race refueling. And there were dramas. The pit stop allowed the Bentley to take the lead. Just after, the second-placed Lexus broke its engine. Surrender. Another cruel end for the team with its 100% French crew. At Imola, she was already in the top 5 overall and at the head of the Silver category before the pit stops delayed her. Still ahead in performance, it cannot translate into results for the moment.

His misfortunes allowed Nelson Panciatici to take off in the Bentley. The Frenchman, who was making his first race in GT3, seemed untouchable. But behind, the battle raged for sixth place. A platoon had formed behind the Mercedes AKKA-Asp driven by Benjamin Hites in Silver cup.

The pressure, too strong, resulted in a hit on the car. She spun then was harpooned by the No. 33 Audi… from the WRT team.

Funny coincidence, since the incident led to the exit of the safety car which brought everyone together. On the first lap after the restart, Dries Vanthoor, second with the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo of Team WRT, dove off the rope to complete an incredible overtake on Nelson Panciatici.

It dragged in its wake the sister car driven by Kelvin Van der Linde. Eight minutes from the end, the race was over. “I was happy with the arrival of the safety car” smiled Dries Vanthoor upon arrival. “I saw that he was having difficulty in his first flying lap, I took the opportunity to dive. »

The two Audis from Team WRT are ahead of the Bentley from CMR which, for its debut in the sprint cup, achieves an excellent result. Behind, the Haupt Racing Mercedes-AMG driven by Luca Stolz and Maro Engel made a good comeback from ninth to fourth place. On the other hand, a disappointing result for the Mercedes of AKKA-Asp, which had been weighed down by the poor qualification of Timur Boguslavskiy. Despite a few overtakes from Raffaele Marciello, she finished ninth.

In Silver, victory went to the #26 Audi of the Saintéloc team, driven by Simon Gachet and Steven Palette. In Pro-Am, it’s Ferrari of Sky Tempesta Racing which won in the hands of Eddie Cheever and Chris Froggatt.