• Gounon and Juncadella triumph thanks to an impeccable drive on the French course
• Boutsen VDS wins an emotional Gold Cup victory with Magnus and Knutsson
• Lismont and Montenegro are irresistible in Silver; the Team WRT duo triumphs once again
• Salikhov and Dienst secure the Bronze medal for Winward after 2Seas' penalty
FINAL RESULT:MAGNY-COURS RACE 1
Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella led the Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing team to its first overall victory in the GT World Challenge powered by AWS during Saturday night's Sprint Cup race at Magny-Cours.
Starting shortly before sunset, this 60-minute race marked the halfway point of the Sprint Cup season. This result reignites the title fight, with Verstappen Racing now posing a serious threat to the reigning champions, Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde.
Gounon started from pole position for the second consecutive race and, as in his last outing at Misano, maintained his advantage through the opening corners. This time, however, he managed to build a comfortable lead from the very first stint, giving his team a valuable cushion during the pit stop.
As Gounon sped off into the sunset, the chasing pack was led by two other AMG drivers: Kiern Jewiss in the No. 222 2Seas Motorsport car and Lucas Auer in the No. 48 Winward Racing car. Auer had made a blistering start from fourth on the grid but was unable to overtake Jewiss, the reigning British GT champion.
Thomas Neubauer, driving the #50 AF Corse Ferrari, made a strong start to the race. He got off to a flying start, climbing from ninth to fifth place thanks to a daring overtake on the outside of the #46 Team WRT BMW driven by Max Hesse. A few laps later, Hesse regained the lead in the Ferrari, but Neubauer immediately responded. The situation became even more complicated for the BMW, as Kobe Pauwels (the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin) capitalized on a brilliant opportunistic move to snatch sixth place.
As a Bronze Cup entry, the #222 Mercedes-AMG was required to make a minimum pit stop time. This should have allowed the #48 Winward Racing entry to move into second place, but the former series champions lost several seconds during their stop, playing into the hands of AF Corse and Comtoyou Racing. The second stint therefore began with Juncadella leading in the #3 Mercedes-AMG, followed by Arthur Leclerc in the #50 Ferrari, Nicki Thiim in the #7 Aston Martin, and Maro Engel in the #48 Mercedes-AMG.
Initially, it looked like Juncadella was headed for victory, but with 20 minutes remaining, the race was neutralized by a full circuit closure, caused by a multi-car collision that left the No. 84 Eastalent Racing Audi stranded inside the circuit.
The safety car remained out for several laps without intervening. At the end of the incident, Leclerc significantly reduced the gap to Juncadella, the Ferrari driver appearing to regain his pace much more quickly than the Mercedes-AMG. A few nervous faces appeared in the Verstappen Racing garage as the gap narrowed.
But Juncadella quickly regained his rhythm, stabilizing the gap at around 2,5 seconds. The gap remained unchanged until the checkered flag, with the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG taking the victory and marking another important milestone in the development of Max Verstappen's GT3 project.
Leclerc and Neubauer finished second, while Thiim and Pauwels secured the first-ever Sprint Cup podium for Comtoyou Racing and Aston Martin, their first in seven years. Auer and Engel took fourth place, followed by the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren and the No. 46 Team WRT BMW.
Kelvin van der Linde finished seventh in the #32 Team WRT BMW, making up valuable time during his stint and thus limiting the gap to Verstappen Racing thanks to several decisive overtakes. The #10 Boutsen VDS Porsche took eighth place and won the Gold Cup, a much-appreciated victory, thanks to Gilles Magnus and Robin Knutsson. This was the Belgian team's first win since the passing of its legendary patron, Marc van der Straten.
After leading the overall standings in the first phase, the No. 222 Mercedes-AMG retained the Bronze Cup lead following Charles Dawson's stint with Jewiss. The British duo crossed the finish line first, but a post-race time penalty for speeding during the FCY proved costly. This penalty allowed the No. 87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG to take the lead, giving Rinat Salikhov and Marvin Dienst their second consecutive class victory.
The Silver Cup went to Matisse Lismont and Ignacio Montenegro, driving the #30 BMW of Team WRT. The young duo had qualified second in their class but secured pole position following the retirement of the #21 Aston Martin of Comtoyou Racing, which was sidelined by a technical issue. This pole position allowed the BMW to cruise to victory and its drivers to extend their championship lead.
However, the gap at the top of the Sprint Cup standings has narrowed to just seven points, half of what it was before Saturday's race. Weerts and Van der Linde remain in the lead, but Juncadella is within striking distance, while Auer and Engel have also closed the gap. Qualifying for the second race of the weekend will begin at 10:50 CEST on Sunday, followed by 60 minutes of competition at 15:30. Both will be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel.
