Rinat Salikhov and David Perel won the Pro-Am class in Race-1 of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe, held on Sunday at Brands Hatch. The German team also took third place in Race-2.
Race-1. The 488 GT3 of Rinaldi Racing secured the victory after the Ferrari of Louis Machiels veered off track and out of the race. The AF Corse driver was leading the race impressively, tailed by the German team's car with Salikhov at the wheel. After the mandatory driver change, David Perel fended off the attacks of his rivals, crossing the finish line in first. In the Am class, the HB Racing crew of Florian Scholze and Wolfgang Triller took the chequered flag in eighteenth overall and first in their category.
Race-2. Less than three hours after the opening race, the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe drivers returned to their cars to compete in the second and final outing of the weekend. The Ferraris in the Pro-Am class didn’t do as well as they could have in the 60-minute race, even if Rinaldi Racing’s second podium gave the German team reason to be optimistic for the rest of the season. The Ferrari race climaxed on lap six when Rinaldi Racing no. 333 triggered a multi-car accident, with the blameless Andrea Bertolini among those who came off worst, being forced to retire. The race officials penalised Perel’s car with a drive-through, although the Race-1 winners still managed to secure an honourable third place. The HB Racing pair, Wolfgang Triller and Florian Scholze, finished in seventeenth position overall and first in the Am class.
Next events. The next round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup takes place in the United Kingdom, when the cars compete at Silverstone on the weekend of 11 and 12 May. The Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe competitors return to the track from 28 to 30 June at Misano.
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