No.80 Lionspeed GP dominates GTWC EU Race 2 at Brands Hatch

Credit: Hallam Voice

Race 2 of the GT World Challenge Europe (GTWC EU) Brands Hatch round was a Lionspeed GP affair, as Bastian Buus and Ricardo Feller got revenge after a potential Race 1 victory was lost due to technical issues.

Despite not getting as good a start as the No.3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes of Chris Lulham, Bastian Buus retained the lead early on, in the No.80 Lionspeed GP Porsche, whilst the No.46 Team WRT BMW of Max Hesse suffered a bad first couple of laps, initially losing third to the No.48 Winward Racing Mercedes of Maro Engel and subsequently fourth place to Marvin Kirchofer in the No.59 Garage 59 McLaren.

The opposite could be said of the No.32 WRT car, as Kelvin van der Linde vaulted up four places in the first couple of laps, to find himself in fifth. Further behind the No.914 Razoon-more than racing Porsche was spun round by No.6 GetSpeed Mercedes, that later received a 15-second time penalty for causing the collision.

The leading Porsche then proceeded to gradually open up the lead, raging to get the lost win from Race 1, where the car retired half-way through with steering issues. After five laps the gap Buus had to second-place Lulham was 2.4 seconds.

Around the same point Alex Aka found trouble in the No.99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi, as double contact with the No.2 Boutsen VDS Porsche of Dorian Boccolacci resulted in damage and subsequent retirement, while eighth. The latter received -also- a 15-second time penalty for causing the collision.

After 10 laps the Top 4 cars were seperated by decent enough gaps, with Buus 2.7 seconds ahead of Lulham, with the Briton 2.8 seconds ahead of Engel, who himself was another 2.8 seconds ahead of Kirchofer. The McLaren struggled a bit with its pace, as three BMWs were right on its tracks throughout the first half of the race.

Race 2 was not going well for the No.50 Ferrari, as the Race 1 winner was all the way down in 16th for the majority of the race, paying for a not so good Q2 on Saturday.

After the Silver and Gold class cars pitted first after the 35-minute mark signaled the opening of the pit stop window, the leading trio of Buus, Lulham and Engel proceeded to pit simultaneously, while Van der Linde and Pepper went a bit longer, trying to overcut the cars ahead of them, a move that proved to be fruitless.

As the pit-stop cycle came to an end, Ricardo Feller, who took Buus' place in the No.80 Porsche, found himself at a comfortable gap of over five seconds from Dani Juncadella in second. At the same time, things got a bit tougher for the No.48 Mercedes, now driven by Lucas Auer, as a five-second time penalty was issued, due to a pit-stop infringement.

That meant he had to up his pace instantly to avoid losing his podium spot to fourth-placed Valentino Rossi. One driver who certainly gave his best though was Juncadella, as the Spaniard proceeded to chip away at Feller's lead, but the Lionspeed GP driver was in full control throughout the final part of the race, as the team won in dominant fashion, ''avenging'' the lost Race 1 win, with a gap of 3.3 seconds to Juncadella, who eased up in the final lap.

Credit: SRO/JEP

Third place went to the No.48 Mercedes after all, as Lucas Auer was able to open up a large enough gap to Rossi in fourth, that the previously mentioned five-second time penalty made no difference, with Dean MacDonald rounding up the Top five.

Gold class honours went to the No. 555 CSA Racing McLaren of Romain Andriolo and Simon Gachet who also ended up 10th overall, as the No.30 Team WRT BMW also got back its ''lost'''Race 1 win, being by far the best of the Silver class entrants, also ending up a pretty good eighth overall.

Race Results - Top 5

1st No.80 Lionspeed GP, Porsche - Feller, Buus

2nd No.3 Verstappen Racing, Mercedes - Juncadella, Lulham

3rd No.48 Winward Racing, Mercedes - Auer, Engel

4th No.46 Team WRT, BMW - Hesse, Rossi

5th No.59 Garage 59, McLaren - MacDonald, Kirchofer