Akkodis ASP Take Titles As Ferrari Takes 1-2 At Barcelona
Raffaele Marciello, Jules Gounon and Timur Boguslavskiy. are the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup Champions, with Marciello and Gounon clinching the title for the second consecutive year, the #88 Akkodis ASP trio scoring a fifth place finish in the season finale at Circuit de Catalunya.
Marciello and Boguslavskiy meanwhile have sealed the overall GT World Challenge Europe drivers’ title ahead of the Sprint Cup finale at Zandvoort in two weeks time with Akkodis ASP taking the corresponding teams’ championship.
The Barcelona race win was taken by polesitters Alessio Rovera, Robert Shwartzman and Nicklas Nielsen in their #51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 but only after the #777 Getspeed Performance Mercedes AMG received a post-race 5 second time penalty after a lap 1 infringement (Maro Engel having contact with Jordan Pepper leaving the #63 Lamborghini in the gravel) saw the subsequent penalty only issued in the last 20 minutes of the three hour race.
The #51 Ferrari had led from the start, tailed by the sister #71 car but both lost out in the first pit cycle to an efficient turnaround from the GetSpeed crew, the gaps kept tight with a first stint interrupted by a pair of Safety Car periods in the first 60 minutes with the first stops coming under a Full Course yellow after Valentino Rossi ended up in the gravel in his WRT BMW.
The final stint too saw a lengthy Safety car interruption for an extensive clear-up after oil was dropped by the #40 Audi over a substantial proportion of the track, yet another Safety Car period coming soon afterwards after an accident for the #56 Dinamic Porsche, during which the AMG penalty was given.
The race went back to green flag running with around 10 minutes remaining leaving little chance for the 5 second penalty to be offset by Luca Stolz in the #777, the Ferrari pair staying in range until the flag with Rutronik Racing’s Porsche claiming the final podium spot, the penalised #777 finally classified fourth.
The #54 Dinamic GT Porsche finished today’s race in sixth overall, followed by the #87 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG. The top 10 was completed by the #159 Garage 59 McLaren, the #25 Saintéloc Junior Team Audi, and the #98 ROWE Racing BMW which had been n title contention. Coming g in to the final round.
There were title celebrations too in the Gold Cup, Silver Cup and Bronze Cup, with Pro-Am having been settled last time out at the Nürburgring.
Notably, each class was won by a different GT3 manufacturer, with Mercedes-AMG, Audi, Lamborghini, McLaren and Porsche all earning Endurance Cup silverware in 2023.
Comtoyou Racing secured both Gold Cup titles. The #21 Audi was carrying a problem during the latter stages but still came home fifth, ensuring that Maxime Soulet and Nicolas Baert comfortably sealed the drivers’ crown.
The teams’ championship went to a tie-break with Winward Racing, the Belgian squad triumphing by dint of having two wins to its rival’s one. It caps a superb first season in GT3 racing for Comtoyou, which announced on Saturday that it will join forces with Aston Martin in 2024.
Boutsen VDS took class honours for the race, its first Endurance Cup win of 2023, an important result for the #9 Audi of Panis/Di Folco/Eteki as they remain firmly in the fight for the overall Gold Cup title.
The Gold Cup podium also featured the #157 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG and its sister #57 entry. The top three Gold Cup finishers came home line astern in 13th, 14th and 15th overall.
Grasser Racing earned the Silver Cup titles in style. The Austrian squad took a one-two finish at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the #58 Lamborghini of Crestani/Tweraser/Neary bagging victory and the sister #85 of Schmid/Hites/Van Berlo finishing second to wrap up the drivers’ championship. This was Grasser’s first title success since winning the overall Endurance crown in 2017.
The final spot on the Silver Cup podium went to the #53 AF Corse Ferrari, which was a one-off entrant for this weekend’s event. The #56 Dinamic GT Porsche had been set for the third step of the rostrum but crashed heavily with less than 20 minutes remaining.
Not for the first time this season, the Bronze Cup swung several times during the race. Victory ultimately went to the #188 Garage 59 McLaren of Ramos/Prette/Chaves, despite a spin during the first hour. It was followed by the #91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche, which was one spot shy of snatching the title, and the #44 CLRT Porsche.
Despite some justifiable nerves in the garage, the Bronze Cup title went to the Garage 59-run #93 Sky Tempesta Racing McLaren crew of Chris Froggatt, Jonathan Hui and Eddie Cheever III. They finished sixth – their first time not on the podium this term – to narrowly take the Endurance Cup crown.
Eddie Cheever – #93 McLaren
It was tough but I was thinking about last year and the bad season we had so to become Champions this year, when there are so many good drivers in our category, is amazing. It’s a dream come true and to do it with Jonathan and Chris, I couldn’t ask for more.
Jonathan Hui – #93 McLaren
I knew it would go down to the wire. This is what battling is all about. With such a high-quality grid, with such fierce competitors, I’m glad we managed to hold on until the end. I’m absolutely delighted. We’ve raced together for five seasons so winning this championship means the world to me.
The overall Bronze Cup titles have been won by Alex Malykhin and Pure Rxcing, despite the #911 Porsche not finishing today’s race. The Lithuanian-licensed team has thus secured an automatic invite to next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, this the first time that an automatic invitation has been awarded to a class winner in the SRO-run Series.
Pro-Am was settled before the weekend in favour of Car Collection Motorsport, but the race still produced an interesting outcome as ST Racing with Rinaldi scored a maiden series win. The #38 Ferrari of Tan/Tutumlu López/Hanafin beat the #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini to earn a popular triumph.
Pics copyright Jues Benichou/ Patrick Hecq/ SRO
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