– Garage 59 wins its second victory in as many races ahead of Grasser Racing
– The gold medal goes to Evrard and Magnus with the victory of Saintéloc Racing
– Silver stars Day & Pauwels make it a hat-trick for Comtoyou Racing
– Winward Racing claims first bronze medal in 2025 thanks to Salikhov and Dienst
FINAL RESULT: Magny-Cours Race 2
McLaren waited nine years between Sprint Cup victories before returning to the spotlight at Misano. The British marque has now won twice in 14 days thanks to Garage 59 drivers Marvin Kirchhöfer and Benjamin Goethe, who triumphed in Sunday afternoon's race at Magny-Cours.
The No. 59 McLaren crew is the first winner of the 2025 campaign and will head to the Valencia finale next month firmly in the fight for the overall Sprint Cup title. They edged out the No. 63 Grasser Racing Lamborghini, which won Saturday night's opening race and nearly claimed another victory on Sunday.
Kirchhöfer started from pole position after dominating qualifying. But while the No. 59 McLaren was more than half a second ahead of the No. 63 Lamborghini in the morning session, there was no such disparity in the race. Jordan Pepper was able to stay with the German driver throughout the first stint, weakening only slightly as he approached the halfway point.
The Grasser crew was a little quicker in the pits when Luca Engstler took the wheel, but it wasn't enough to overtake the Garage 59 car. If there was to be a change for the lead, it had to happen on the circuit. While the McLaren had been slightly ahead during the first half of the race, the advantage was now shifting significantly towards the Lamborghini. Indeed, Engstler was almost immediately on Goethe's heels and seemed to have much better speed in the third sector.
Goethe had to widen his car to keep the Lamborghini at bay. He was able to catch his breath when a yellow flag was waved with 10 minutes left in the race to remove the No. 111 CSA Racing McLaren, which was in the points with Jim Pla at the wheel. The green flag was shown with enough time for two laps, resulting in an incredibly close race to the finish.
Once again, Engstler closed in on the McLaren. But, as he did last time out at Misano, Goethe absorbed the pressure and didn't give his rival a chance to overtake. They were neck and neck when they crossed the finish line, with Goethe winning by just 0,156 seconds, the smallest winning margin of the season.
This result moves Kirchhöfer and Goethe up to second in the drivers' standings. They are now just 1,5 points behind the No. 32 Team WRT BMW duo of Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts, who finished third in today's race after moving up from sixth on the grid. Weerts chased the leaders late in the race but lacked the pace to challenge for victory.
The No. 51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari finished fourth, while the No. 96 Rutronik Racing Porsche finished fifth, allowing the German team to retain its title. Boutsen VDS finished its weekend in sixth, followed by the No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG. The latter progressed from 16th on the grid, although Maro Engel and Lucas Auer now face a battle to retain their drivers' crown.
For the second race in a row, the #69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari missed a chance to win the Gold Cup. Thierry Vermeulen led the first stint, securing a solid third place overall, but his teammate Chris Lulham collided with the #3 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari during his lap. Thomas Neubauer was subsequently penalized for the incident, while Lulham suffered a costly puncture. The #50 Saintéloc Racing Audi of Paul Evrard and Gilles Magnus thus claimed its second victory of the season and moved back to within 25 points of the class lead.
Comtoyou Racing continued its astonishing Silver Cup run by winning for the third time in a row. Jamie Day took pole position, but was left behind by Mex Jansen (BMW #991 Paradine Competition) early in the race. The #21 Aston Martin moved back into the lead thanks to a quick service from the Comtoyou team, putting Kobe Pauwels in the lead for the race to the flag, with the #10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG taking second place. Given their recent performances, Day and Pauwels will enter the final as favorites to win the silver crown.
The Bronze Cup points changed hands for the second time in as many races after Sunday's race. Victory went to the #81 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Rinat Salikhov and Marvin Dienst, with the latter holding off Dennis Marschall (#74 Kessel Racing Ferrari) in the closing stages of the race. Marschall benefited from the good work of teammate Dustin Blattner, who worked his way up the order during his stint. The Kessel Racing crew has a one-point lead over Bashar Mardini and Bastian Buus (#89 Lionspeed GP Porsche) heading into the deciding race.
The GT World Challenge powered by AWS was part of a packed schedule at Magny-Cours, which kicked off the summer season with nearly 10 hours of racing from the FFSA French GT Championship and the FFSA French Touring Car Championship, among other series. The event also featured four pit stops and a host of other fan activities, as well as on-site camping, attracting 21 people to the French venue.
A total of eight titles in four classes will be at stake when the Sprint Cup concludes at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo Valencia from September 19 to 21. Before that, the Endurance Cup will resume at the Nürburgring (August 29-31), which will mark the first long-distance event since the famous CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
