Hockenheim: Akkodis ASP wins race 2

SRO

Sep 4

Race 2 was critical for Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy with the #88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG since Ricardo Feller and Mattia Drudi (#40 Audi) narrowed the gap to 0,5 points in the Fanatec GT Europe Sprint Cup Drivers ahead of race 2 (#40 duo clinched 16,5 points for race 1 victory and 1 point for race 2 qualifying while the #88 duo didn’t score a single point).

Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy with the #88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG reclaimed a 9,5 points lead of the Fanatec GT Europe Sprint Cup Drivers standings thanks to their victory in race 2 while Ricardo Feller and Mattia Drudi ended fourth.

📷 Luc Warnotte at Hockenheim: Race 2 winners: Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy with the #88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG.

At the start, Marciello jumped from P3 to P2. Shortly after, he took over Drudi to become leader. Marciello increased the lead in the #88 Mercedes-AMG before handing the car over to Boguslavskiy at the wheel who did control the race ending 7.049 sec. ahead of Legeret-Haase in Audi #11.

Three Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II ended behind the Mercedes:

Legeret - Haase with #11 ComToYou Racing Audi end second after jumping from sixth to second during the mid-race pit window.
Bastard - Niederhauser with #25 Sainteloc junior Team Audi end third after starting from P2 on the grid.
Drudi - Feller with Tresor Orange 1 #40 ended fourth since they were handed a five-second penalty for jumping the start which dropped them to sixth. Feller passed Rossi (#46 BMW M4 GT3) and Weerts (#32 BMW M4 GT3).

📷 Luc Warnotte at Hockenheim. #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3

After finishing third in the #32 BMW M4 GT3 Saturday Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts ended fifth place Sunday securing a third place in the Sprint Cup Drivers standings after six out of ten races. Charles Weerts (#32 BMW M4 GT3): “We managed to secure a podium and a fifth-place finish here, even though we didn't have the pace of some of our competitors throughout the weekend. The team did an outstanding job, making the most of the opportunities available to us here and keeping our championship hopes alive.” Source: BMW Group

📷 Luc Warnotte at Hockenheim. Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 #69.

Albert Costa and Thierry Vermeulen with Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 #69 end sixth overall.

📷 Luc Warnotte at Hockenheim.

Maxime Martin with #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 took a stunning start flying from P7 on the grid to P4. He entered the pit in P3 ahead of Vanthoor with sister #32. #32 team pitted faster enabling Weerts to leave the pit ahead of Rossi. With a bit more than 20’ to go Valentino Rossi (#46) was passed by Feller with the #40 Audi and Costa in the #69 Ferrari in the Südkurve (photos of that specific moment above) ending seventh.

Maxime Martin (#46 BMW M4 GT3): “We started seventh and finished seventh. There was certainly more potential, especially after my strong start where I was third. However, we had a minor issue during the pit stop that cost us some time.” Source: BMW Group