Blancpain Sprint Cup: Lamborghini win sets up three-way decider
Lamborghini drivers Mirko Bortolotti and Christian Engelhart have taken their third Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup victory of 2018 in the opening Nurburgring race of the weekend
The #63 Huracan GT3 of started on pole and make a clean getaway to remain in front, and never looked to come under pressure from the #1 Audi of Christopher Mies and Alex Riberas behind.
Mies crossed the line in second after the #1 Audi needed major repairs in the morning due to a crash in second qualifying.
A strong start from Riberas got the Audi past the #14 Lexus of Albert Costa in the opening lap.
Costa tried to fight back but could not make a pass stick and after the pitstop his team-mate Christian Klien dropped to sixth.
That allowed Will Stevens and Dries Vanthoor to claim third, with Vanthoor taking the place from Andrea Caldarelli in the final stages of the race, making minor contact in the process.
The #19 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Caldarelli and Ezequiel Perez Companc had taken third from the ASP Mercedes that was at the front throughout the race before fading.
Michael Meadows and Rafaello Marciello took advantage to complete their rise to fifth after starting down in 10th, with blistering pace from Maciello in the second stint making up for Meadow's slow start to the race in the the #88 ASP Mercedes.
By getting into the points the pair remain in second position in the Sprint Cup title fight, sitting behind Mies and Riberas, with one race left to run.
Victory for Bortolotti and Engelhart also helps them close the gap and ensures three crews go into Sunday's finale in championship contention.
Results - 29 laps
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | A.Riberas, C.Mies | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 1h00m14.392s |
2 | W.Stevens, D.Vanthoor | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 1.615s |
3 | E.P.Companc, A.Caldarelli | GRT Grasser Racing Team | Lamborghini | 3.635s |
4 | M.Meadows, R.Marciello | Akka ASP Team | Mercedes | 12.784s |
5 | A.Costa, C.Klien | Emil Frey Racing | Lexus | 17.191s |
6 | S.Schothorst, K.van der Linde | Attempto Racing | Audi | 19.330s |
7 | N.Jamin, A.Christodoulou | Akka ASP Team | Mercedes | 20.445s |
8 | P.Schothorst, P.Kaffer | Attempto Racing | Audi | 21.995s |
9 | N.Siedler, M.Palttala | Emil Frey Racing | Lexus | 22.686s |
10 | S.Gachet, C.Haase | Sainteloc Junior Team | Audi | 22.997s |
11 | S.Leonard, R.Frijns | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 23.561s |
12 | M.Bortolotti, C.Engelhart | GRT Grasser Racing Team | Lamborghini | 27.057s |
13 | N.Stievenart, M.Winkelhock | Sainteloc Junior Team | Audi | 27.840s |
14 | A.De Leener, R.Feller | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 30.697s |
15 | V.Atoev, A.Korneev | Akka ASP Team | Mercedes | 36.560s |
16 | H.Haupt, L.Stolz | Black Falcon | Mercedes | 54.589s |
17 | N.Bastian, J.Manchester | Akka ASP Team | Mercedes | 4 Laps |
- | L.Moraes, D.Dupont | 3Y Technology | BMW | Retirement |
- | R.Salikhov, D.Perel | Rinaldi Racing | Ferrari | Retirement |
- | P.B.-Bhakdi, C.van Dam | Kessel Racing | Ferrari | Retirement |
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