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31 Oct 2020Endurance, INTERNATIONAL GT OPEN

Victory for Prette and Abril in Race-1 at Barcelona

Barcelona 31 October 2020

At the end of an exciting race full of twists and turns, Louis Prette and Vincent Abril at the wheel of the 488 GT3 Evo 2020 of AF Corse – APM Monaco claimed their fifth victory of the season in the Pro class.

Pressure. In a smooth start, Vincent Abril held onto second position while Stephane Ortelli immediately locked horns with Miguel Ramos for fifth. A contact between Klien and Millroy sent the latter sliding down the standings, with the Monegasque moving up a place to second in the Pro-Am ranking. Ortelli put pressure on the Portuguese, forcing the championship leader into a mistake that knocked him back down the standings, thanks to a group that had been recompacted after the entry of the Safety Car due to the spin that left Gosselin's Lamborghini stopped in the middle of the track with twenty minutes gone. The race then continued undramatically until the window opened for the obligatory stops. Abril in second, pitted thirty-one minutes from the end behind by Ortelli, fourth overall and second in the Pro-Am, thirty-two minutes from the chequered flag.

Safety Car. The eighty-five-second stop due to his results-linked handicap and position in the standings, knocked Louis Prette back into fifth while Angelo Negro lay in seventh overall. A second spin by the Lamborghini no. 4 brought the Safety Car back on track with twenty-three minutes to go. At the restart, the standings shifted dramatically with Prette passed by the other Pro class drivers, including Chaves who moved into second place. However, Prette did not lose heart and passed Crestani, before trying to make up an eight-tenths of a second gap to Chaves. Ten minutes from the end he found space inside Chaves's McLaren in the last stretch of the track and went on the attack. The two came into minimal contact, and the Ferrari managed to pass.

Leadership. Soon after that, a new twist reshuffled the standings as the Pro class leader, Salih Yoluc, veered slightly off-track in a battle with Osborne and Khodair, losing precious tenths and allowing Prette move past him into the class lead. The Italian driver continued to press, building up a small gap that he defended down to the line. He finished in the third position overall and first in the Pro class, while Angelo Negro was sixth in Pro-Am and eleventh overall.

Grand finale. With this finish, net of the exclusion of their worst results, Prette and Abril cut the gap to current leaders Ramos and Negro in the McLaren to four lengths. The championship will be decided on Sunday, in the second and final round in Barcelona.

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