Brands Hatch – Race 1: Leclerc and Neubauer inherit the victory, a cold shower for Verstappen Racing

The GT World Challenge Sprint Cup kicks off at Brands Hatch, following the opening round of the...Endurance at Paul Ricard, it lived up to all its promises. While the strategy seemed to have designated an indisputable winner on the track, the stewards decided otherwise. At the end of a finale marked by a flurry of penalties, the Ferrari 296 GT3 The AF Corse car #50, driven by Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer, took the victory. A first win for the Monegasque driver in the discipline, at the expense of a heroic but penalized Chris Lulham.

From the very first laps, the tension rose a notch. At the front, the Porsche The No. 80 911 GT3 R Evo, driven by Ricardo Feller, immediately lost the lead in Race 1 to Arthur Leclerc. Further back in the field, the No. 10 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of Robin Knutsson from Boutsen VDS was dashed against the barriers, a cruel reminder of his incident at Le Castellet. This accident brought out the safety car immediately to allow for repairs to the barriers. Shortly after the restart, the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II entered by Tresor Attempto Racing went off the track, driven by Alex Aka. With Race 2 scheduled just a few hours later, any serious incident risks jeopardizing the rest of the weekend.

In the stands, the Verstappen Racing achieved a flawless performance. By delaying the stop of the Mercedes BenzThe #3 AMG GT3 Evo, driven by Chris Lulham and Dani Juncadella, took the lead. However, the leader was quickly placed under investigation for not having made a proper pit stop. The verdict: a 5-second penalty added to the final time. Chris Lulham then launched a memorable sprint, managing to build a sufficient gap over the #50 Ferrari to the finish line, virtually securing his victory.

The joy was short-lived. After crossing the finish line, a second penalty was imposed for failing to respect the yellow flags. With this new penalty, the crew ultimately slipped to thirteenth place in the race. A similar disappointment for Valentino Rossi and Max Hesse. Also penalized, the drivers of the BMW M4 GT3 Evo No. 46 fall to sixteenth place in the overall standings.

This dramatic turn of events propelled Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer to the top step of the podium. For Leclerc, it was his first victory in the championship. The AF Corse duo finished ahead of the #2 Boutsen VDS Porsche 911 GT3 R (Dorian Boccolacci / Morris Schuring), while the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 (Weerts/van der Linde) completed the podium. It's worth noting that the day's pole-sitters, Bastian Buus and Ricardo Feller, finished last for Lionspeed GP.

In the Gold Cup, AF Corse doubled its tally with Matias Zagazeta's victory in the Ferrari #51. The Silver Cup, meanwhile, smiled upon the Porsche #9 of Pure Rxcing, driven by the duo Malykhin / Nesov.

Brands Hatch – GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup
The classification of Race 1

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