The #69 Ferrari won the GT World Challenge Europe Race 1 in Valencia followed by the #63 Lamborghini and #58 McLaren, taking the Sprint Cup title fight to tomorrow.
Ferrari carried its dominance from practice into Qualifying 1 at Valencia. Kessel Racing’s #74 Ferrari set the pace and topped the overall sheets. The Bronze Cup runners surprised with the #74 Ferrari, #89 Porsche, and #93 Ferrari locking out the top three. The #51 Ferrari secured Pro Cup pole, while the #58 McLaren led the Gold Cup and the #21 car took Silver Cup honours. A penalty dropped the #51 Ferrari to ninth, handing Pro Cup pole to the #48 Mercedes. Championship leaders Charlie Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde struggled in the #32 BMW, ending only 23rd and leaving the Sprint title fight wide open.
The first Race of the Sprint Cup finale is underway
The track went green for Race 1 of the Sprint Cup finale in Valencia. Kessel Racing #74 held on to P1 as there were multiple crashes in the back of the grid, causing a Safety Car early in the race. Cars #66 and #991 are out of the race. The championship leader #32 was caught in the crashes from behind and got damage to the car, needing to repair the rear suspension. Second in the Championship fight, the McLaren #59 also took damage during the clashes at the beginning of the Race.
Quick restart after chaotic start
During a quick restart, the drivers were unprepared as they thought it would have taken the stewards longer to clear the debrief of the track. With 3 out of the five championship contenders damaged, the championship fight is completely open, while it seems that #48 has some slight damage on the car as well, due to contact with Jake Dennis in the #991 in turn 2. Through the restart, Dennis Marschall kept P1, leading the pack after 12 minutes of Race 1.
The #59 McLaren looked out of the race as Benji Goethe stepped out, leaving valuable championship points behind in Valencia’s Race 1. In contrast, the team boss of the championship-leading #32 confirmed they would return to the track, though several laps down and unlikely to score points. Lucas Auer, in the #48 Mercedes, fought to defend seventh despite heavy damage to the car’s left side, picked up in the chaotic start. At the front, Marschall kept control in the #74 Ferrari, pulling a gap of nearly four seconds.
Championship leader back out
After 25 minutes in the garage, the #32 BMW finally returned to the track, though the Sprint Cup leaders had a mountain to climb to catch the pack. Bronze and Gold Cup entries had set the pace in Valencia, locking out the top four positions. Behind them, Luca Engstler placed the #63 Lamborghini as the leading Pro Cup car, keeping the title battle alive. With that result, the Grasser Racing squad remained an outside contender for the championship.
The pit window opened, and the #11 Aston Martin ran off track. It stayed in the gravel and triggered a yellow flag in sector 2. At the same time, the first cars pitted for their mandatory driver change. Maro Engel replaced Lucas Auer in the #48 Mercedes. Jordan Pepper took over from Engstler in the #63 Lamborghini and kept the lead in the Pro Cup.
As pit stops began, the top nine cars in Race 1 all came from the Bronze Cup, with Marshall still leading. The Silver Cup runner in second place went off track and retired. The #32 BMW also stopped, and Van der Linde took the wheel for the second stint of Race 1 in Valencia.
Championship leading #32 out of the Race
Even though the championship leading car #32 did the driver change, it seemed as that they needed to stop the car. While the Gold Cup championship leader is up to P1 in the race, just as the track went full course yellow due to the #11 Aston Martin needing to be moved. With 20 minutes left on the clock, the track went green again as Thomas Neubauer overtook Dustin Blattner in the #74 Ferrari. It was another fast restart as the teams had only 12 seconds to prepare their drivers. While the pack in the upper midfield took out the fight of each other, the top 5 cars had bigger gaps between each other, leaving them having to catch up to the front if they want to fight for the win.
With 15 minutes left on the clock, 9 cars were out of Race 1 in Valencia, including 2 of the current championship contenders. Chris Lulham in the #69 Ferrari was able to enlarge the gap to #58 McLaren up to 7.345 seconds, while Pepper in the #63 Lamborghini closed in on the McLaren being under 3 seconds behind.
Last stretch of Race 1 in Valencia
As the #80 Lionspeed went off into the gravel, sector 3 was yellow again, though Rindone was fast to drive on, making the complete track green once more. With Lulham having an advantage of over 9 seconds to Louis Prette behind him, this could be the first Gold Cup Car that wins a Race overall. The last time a non-Pro Cup car won a Sprint Race was three years ago, in Valencia.
While the gap between the first two got bigger, Pepper in the #63 Lamborghini closed the gap to the #58 McLaren, challenging Prette for P2. With 4 minutes left on the clock the fight for P2 is still on while, Maro Engel fourth closed in on Pepper, though he is hold back by a car further back in the pack. After multiple laps of fighting, Pepper overtook Prette and is now in P2, gaining important points for the championship. With 1 and a half minute left on the clock car #9 turned on track, causing a yellow sector 1, though being able to drive on, he lost valuable points for the Silver Cup championship.
As the Final Lap is done, Chris Lulham in the #69 Ferrari put the Gold Cup car on P1, followed by Jordan Pepper in the #63 Lamborghini and Prette in the #58 McLaren. The Silver Cup Sprint Championship goes provisionally to the #21 Aston Martin, as they crossed the line first in their class.
