WRT, Winward and Garage 59 score points at Misano

SRO

Jul 21

Team WRT, Winward Racing and Garage 59 scored points at Misano to be on #GTWORLDEUROPE sprint cup overall provisional podium. Marciello snatched race 1 for Team WRT and Rossi’s third win in a row there, Kirchhoefer-Goethe won race 2 and Winward Racing closes on Team WRT in the Sprint Cups.

Team WRT leads teams’ overall standing

From a maximum potential of 35 points at Misano, Team WRT scored 22,5 points thanks to Marciello-Rossi win in race one and Charles Weerts-Kelvin van der Linde’s P5 in race 2. Team WRT scored one more point than runner up M-AMG Team MANN-FILTER, eight more point than third placed Rutronik Racing. With its victory in race 2, Garage 59 reduces the gap with Team WRT by 1,5 points and consolidate its fourth place in the GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE POWERED BY AWS TEAMS.

📷© Courtesy of BMW Group. Marciello-Rossi with BMW M4 GT3 #46

Marciello-Rossi race 1 win

During the first part of race 1, Rossi couldn’t driver faster than his third-placed starting position. Thanks to a fast pit stop, Marciello left the pitlane in P2, six seconds behind Vincent Abril who took over from pole man Alessio Rovera in #51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3.

Marciello closed the gap to under a second with nine minutes to go. One lap later, Raffaele Marciello took the lead to control the race, beating the Ferrari by 1.580 seconds. Marciello thereby secured a commanding third win for Valentino Rossi in Misano within three years.

Valentino Rossi (Team WRT, #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, 1st and 21st): “It was a very good weekend. We won a race, and just having a win on the board changes the whole season. I really enjoyed it, because we were competitive from the beginning. I drove well and kept improving throughout the weekend. Racing with Raffaele is a pleasure - he did an amazing job. The car was also very strong. The penalty on Sunday was really unfortunate - just a small mistake, but after the drive-through, the whole race was gone. Another podium would have been great. Maybe we could even have fought for a second win of the weekend.”

Raffaele Marciello (Team WRT, #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, 1st and 21st): “Overall, it was a very good weekend. The win on Saturday - especially sharing it with Valentino in front of the amazing Italian fans - was fantastic. Unfortunately, I made a small mistake entering the pits on Sunday and we got a penalty. That was disappointing, because a second podium would’ve been a perfect way to finish the weekend.” Source: BMW Group

Lucas Auer and Maro Engel new leaders of GTWChEur drivers

Thanks to a P4 in race 1 and a P2 in race 2, Lucas Auer and Maro Engel take the lead of the GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE POWERED BY AWS DRIVERS with the same 106 points than Weerts-van der Linde and reduce the gap to one point with Weerts-van der Linde in the GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE POWERED BY AWS SPRINT CUP DRIVERS

Mercedes AMG #48 — 📷 © Courtesy of SRO. Lucas Auer and Maro Engel with #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 #48

Garage 59 wins race 2

Marvin Kirchhoefer and Benjamin Goethe gave McLaren a first win since nine years in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup, thanks to Goethe in #59 Garage 59 McLaren 720s GT3 Evo resisting pressure from Lucas Auer in the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. Only 0.517 seconds separated the two cars at the finish line.

📷 © Courtesy of SRO. Garage 59 #59 Mc LarenT3

van der Linde-Weerts keep Sprint Cup lead

Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde completed a double podium for BMW M Motorsport by finishing third in Saturday’s one-hour sprint on the Adriatic coast. The fifth place in race 2 were important points for them to keep the Sprint Cup championship lead.

📷© Courtesy of BMW Group. van der Linde-Weerts with BMW M4 GT3 #32

Kelvin van der Linde (Team WRT, #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, 3rd and 5th): “Mixed feelings after this weekend. We came to Misano with very high expectations, and we weren’t quite able to meet them. Still, third and fifth place are important points for the championship. We're still leading the Sprint Cup, which is a positive. We now head to some circuits that might be a bit tougher for us. Hopefully, we can find some more performance and come back stronger.”

Charles Weerts (Team WRT, #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, 3rd and 5th): “We definitely expected to be stronger. Third and fifth weren’t what we were hoping for, especially on a track that usually suits us well - and with the championship entering a crucial stage. Unfortunately, a few unexpected challenges affected our performance. There are areas we need to analyse more closely, but we’ll keep pushing.”