• Feller and Buus win thanks to an exceptional pit stop by the crew of the No. 80 Porsche
• Lismont and Montenegro win silver and move onto the podium in the overall standings for Team WRT
• Rougier and Kell impress with the gold medal for CSA Racing
• Paradine wins bronze thanks to Leung and Farfus
FINAL RESULT: MAGNY-COURS RACE 2
Lionspeed GP reignited their Sprint Cup title quest by winning the second race of the GT World Challenge powered by AWS weekend at Magny-Cours.
Ricardo Feller and Bastian Buus snatched victory thanks to another ultra-fast pit stop from their team, which saw the No. 80 Porsche move from fourth to first place during the pit window after passing the first phase behind Christopher Haase in the No. 84 Eastalent Racing Audi.
Nicki Thiim, who started from pole position in the No. 7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin, was almost immediately handed a 10-second penalty for a jump start. This penalty appeared to benefit the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren, which held second place throughout the first stint with Marvin Kirchhöfer at the wheel.
The leading duo had built a significant gap over third-placed Haase, giving McLaren a comfortable margin for their pit stop. But the race was thrown into disarray by a red flag, brought on by a spectacular crash involving reigning Bronze Cup champion Dustin Blattner. The No. 74 Kessel Racing Ferrari was hit by his class rival, Rinat Salikhov, as they approached the Adelaide hairpin, sending the Ferrari into the inside wall before it crossed the gravel trap. Blattner was subsequently taken to hospital for further examination.
The accident caused significant damage to the barriers, leading to a red flag stoppage to allow track crews to carry out repairs. The opening of the pit lane was also delayed. The race restarted behind the safety car, thus wiping out the gap between the leaders and the rest of the field.
This directly benefited Lionspeed GP. And it wasn't the first time this year that the team had executed an exceptional pit stop, with Feller handing over to Buus. Their crew was even a full second faster than everyone else, gaining a significant advantage over the #59 McLaren and the #84 Audi.
As a result, Buus took the lead in the standings. He was followed by the Silver Cup leader, Matisse Lismont, who had taken the #30 Team WRT BMW from Ignacio Montenegro and benefited from an exceptional pit stop by his team to finish second overall. The #50 AF Corse Ferrari was in third place, followed by the Rutronik Racing Lamborghini.
The delay in the pit window shortened the second stint, but allowed for a superb battle for third place. After a difficult start with its new car, Lamborghini seemed to have found the solution today. Patric Niederhauser put in a good early performance before handing the wheel to Luca Engstler in fourth position. The German driver, dissatisfied, executed a masterful overtake on Thomas Neubauer, driving the No. 50 Ferrari.
Buus piloted the No. 80 Porsche to overall victory, a result that could prove crucial given the struggles faced by Lionspeed's main title rivals. Lismont finished second overall, securing another Silver Cup win and moving closer, along with Montenegro, to the class title. The joy was palpable on the podium, with Engstler completing the podium and giving the Lamborghini Temerario its first-ever GT World Challenge podium finish.
It was followed by the No. 50 Ferrari and the No. 84 Audi, while the No. 111 CSA Racing McLaren finished fifth overall and took the Gold Cup class victory. Arthur Rougier completed the first stint before James Kell took over, the Englishman holding off pressure from Dean MacDonald in the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren in the closing laps.
In the Bronze Cup, the Paradine Competition team secured its first class victory of the year thanks to Darren Leung and Augusto Farfus. The #991 BMW, in contention for a podium finish from the start, moved to the top of the standings following a 20-second penalty imposed on the #87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG for its collision with the #74 Ferrari.
The #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG, victorious on Saturday night, finished only eighth on Sunday after a delayed pit stop, while the #48 Winward Racing entry dropped to 19th following an even slower refueling stop. The #32 WRT BMW also endured a nightmare race. Starting from pole position, Kelvin van der Linde had all his lap times deleted due to a technical infringement, relegating his car to the back of the grid (44 cars). He initially made a rapid recovery, but ultimately retired after contact.
The GT World Challenge powered by AWS takes a four-week summer break before resuming competition with an Endurance Cup round at the Nürburgring from August 28-30. The next Sprint Cup event will take place at Zandvoort, which will host the series for two 60-minute races from September 18-20.
